Music and Ritual in Jewish Rites of Passage

     How does the music in Jewish rites of passage create its own sense of ritual? How does secular music also develop its own religious connotations and become incorporated into religious contexts?

     Judaism has four major rites of passage: the Bris (circumcision ceremony), the Bar Mitzvah (entrance into adulthood), Marriage, and Death. These rites of passage are a form of ritual for every Jew that separates sections of that person's life. These rituals are similar to any other religion, and they all use music in order to do authentic religious work. 

     These ceremonies incorporate both Jewish based along with pop culture based music to help with the rite of passage. In all of these cases, the central music during these ceremonies is prayer. In most Jewish ceremonies, these prayers are always the same, but are done slightly different depending on the synagogue. The prayers in these ceremonies are usually sung by a Cantor or a Rabbi (some have the congregation or the people doing the rite of passage joining in) with an organ usually playing for a beat, creating a unique situation as each person will sing the prayer differently. These rites of passages also have non-musical rituals such as the breaking of glass during the marriage ceremony, which serves as a way of connecting the community through similar actions.

     The reception after these rites of passage is where music has its largest effect. First off, by having receptions at different venues it creates a unique experience every time. In every Jewish reception, there are certain musical rituals that are always repeated. This begins with the prayer for the cutting of the Challah to the most recognized example, the Hora. The Hora involves the entire party (bringing them together as a community) and also recognizes the person (or people) who is undergoing the rite of passage by lifting him or her up in a chair. 

     Modern times are also created a situation where music has become even more prevalent in these rites of passages, especially at Bar Mitzvahs. As someone who attended an overwhelmingly Jewish Middle School where you would attend a Bar Mitzvah almost every weekend during the seventh grade, I observed the similarities of music at all the receptions. All of these receptions used the same pop music for the dancing part of the reception (every party had a dance floor). Even though the music was always the same, I would always flock to the dance floor and dance to my favorite beat. The space, along with the different DJs, created a different experience every time that gave me energy to do the same time every time. These dance floor routines was just like any concerts where the people knew when and where to perform certain actions. These actions make the audience "follow" the music just like during the prayer at the synagogue. 

     All of these rituals are cyclical and "appeal to the whole person weaving together bodily gesture, speech and the senses...and bind[ing] [them] to a community of shared values," while at same time creating a slightly different routine that make them want to participate in the ritual again (Livingstone, 99). This shared community applies to both the religious Jewish ceremony and the secular reception that copies many religious functions through its use of music.