#jewish dance

[koenji]

Rachel Nadav (1912-2003), likely 1940s.

"Israeli ballet dancer, born in Aden (Yemen). In 1933 Nadav joined the ballet company of the dancer and choreographer Rina Nikova, a pioneer classic ballet dancer in Eretz Israel. Nadav became leading dancer of Nikova's "Yemenite Ballet Company" and performed around the country and abroad. In the early 1940s she founded a ballet company and integrated classic dances with Yemenite dances, influenced by Nikova's school, and inspired by biblical texts." x

[pargolettasworld]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDwwTTIeIg8

As a piece of music, this is a fairly unremarkable Israeli pop song from the early twentieth century.  The title means “Old Melody,” and the song is all about singing and dancing and raising a glass to the Old Melody.  Aside from the hoedown break toward the end of the recording, it’s a fine, if entirely unremarkable, song on its own merits.

What’s really interesting about it is that it’s one of the first pieces of music to be part of the grand not-as-old-as-you-think tradition of Israeli Folk Dance.  Israeli Folk Dance is actually a very specific popular art form -- it’s mostly Israeli, though a lot of the philosophy behind it is German.  It’s certainly dance, and there are people who really enjoy it.  Whether it’s folk dance or not kind of depends on how far you’re willing to stretch the definition of “folk dance.”  It certainly hews to Big Bill Broonzy’s definition of folk music:  “All music is folk music: I ain't never heard no horse sing a song.”

Israeli Folk Dance was invented in the 1950s by Rivka Sturman, who had grown up steeped in the expressive culture of 1920s Germany and who wanted Israeli children to dance “their own” dances, not folk dances they’d learned from Diasporic communities.  So she began to choreograph a repertoire of fairly simple, repetitive dances, and this song was one of the early ones she used.  She choreographed its dance in 1956.

By this point, of course, Israeli Folk Dance has become a generational art form, occupying the same sort of quasi-art, quasi-folk space as Scottish Country Dance or International Folk Dancing.  A lot of people enjoy it -- I’m not necessarily one of them, though I’ve been known to join in on occasion -- and this is one of the original pieces of music for it.

[magnetothemagnificent]

People hate Jewish resilience. They hate us in general, but they *especially* hate our resilience.

[gaelic-symphony]

Feels so surreal that it’s October again. Last October was simultaneously just yesterday and several lifetimes ago. October used to be my favorite month, but now I’m starting to believe that it will never stop being October, and it fills me with a gnawing sense of dread.

[bobemajses]

Russian Jews dancing secretly in a Moscow forest on Rosh Hashanah, 1977

[haveyouheardthisband]

[tikkunolamresistance]

hi i’m back to share a kindness i received today and some somber words:

a jewish tenant just came into the office and gave me a honey cake and prosecco to say thank you for helping her with rosh prep (getting her balcony cleaned up and some paint touch ups before the holiday) and to bring me some positivity and love on the one year anniversary of the October 7th Massacre.

i wasn’t going to say anything at all today because it’s just too much and there are far more eloquent people out here but this moment reminded me that even in our darkest times we have each other so why would i not share my thoughts with all of you.

today as i think about the last year, i am reminded of the strength of our bonds and the lengths we are willing to go to stay together. i am in awe of my community and how we have come together in the twelve months to fight for our ongoing existence in so many ways. i see how we have all been affected by this war so differently and yet we each take responsibility to stay true to our values in the face of hate and violence.

judaism isn’t just an ethnoreligion, we are a family. when one of you hurts i feel it too. when so many of us are hurt, we grieve together. we build back together, we grow together.

a year ago today, October 7th 2023, my friend evyatar david was kidnapped and today, October 7th 2024, is still being held in gaza as a hostage.

if there is ever a day to cry am yisrael chai, today is that day. i need to believe it.

i need him to hear it.

we will dance again.

we will bring them home.

am yisrael chai.

i love you all so fucking much.

please take care of yourself, be safe, and be proud of who we are.

[silly-little-zio]

💟✡️we will dance again✡️💟

[mylight-png]

I know it's been over a week since Simchat Torah, but I have thoughts so I'm writing them now. First of all, this was probably my most meaningful Simchat Torah thus far. It was my first time celebrating with my university's Chabad and it was great to be dancing and singing with everyone.

However, the way the celebration was advertised was with things like "we're going to dance again" and "we'll dance for them". I follow a few different university Chabads, as well as a few Chabads from near where I grew up. All of their Simchat Torah posts had the same message.

Simchat Torah is special for two reasons (well, for many reasons, but I'm bringing up two). Firstly, it's supposed to be the happiest day on the Jewish calendar. Not just a happy day. The happiest. Second, it's not a "despite" holiday. What I mean by that is it isn't one of the "they tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat/celebrate" holidays. Simchat Torah is about the joy of being Jewish, the joy of having the Torah. It's a celebration directly between us and Hashem. There is no "despite". (Of course, I am not a rabbi or a scholar, so if I'm wrong in this feel free to correct me, but this is what I was taught.)

What Hamas did was turn the happiest day on the Jewish calendar into the eternal anniversary of a tragedy. What Hamas did was take this holiday that was about our joy and love of Torah and being Jewish, and turned it into a "despite" holiday.

This is yet another thing they stole from us.

We dance despite what happened. We sing despite our heartbreak.

I found myself thinking, will Simchat Torah ever be untainted again? Will it ever stop being a "despite" holiday again?

Will we ever dance without thinking of those who couldn't, and never will again? Will we ever dance without thinking of those who were taken from us, either killed or not yet returned?

We will dance again, but will we dance the same?

[the-daughter-of-lilith]

Pro Palestinian activists need to address the obvious mischaracterization of Hamas as a "resistance" and watch the translated livestream footage of Hamas brutally slaughtering civilians on October 7th.

It's important to recognize the difference between a resistance army and antisemitism, instead of ignorantly promoting the death of Jews.

[nonjewishzionist]

Me, a leftist and a feminist since I remember, seeing all the antisemitism from the left and the feminists and be like:

[mixmangosmangoverse]

I can’t even look at art

An artist I follow just posted about the situation not being complicated. They had not said anything about the Israelis killed and I assumed they just weren’t gonna talk about it but now they’re talking about Israelis being evil and the situation not being complicated

I’m so done. How will I ever return to even looking at art anymore? Western leftists have truly no idea how much Jews and especially Israelis trusts they’ve broken over the course of October. So many of us can never return

[chanaleah]

tote bag I made (a few days ago)

[gaelic-symphony]

My friends, I share with you Rabbi Angela Buchdahl's sermon from Erev Rosh Hashanah this year, which I found incredibly moving and helped me process a lot of my grief from the past year. I hope it can help some of you who are struggling to find comfort and clarity in your mourning as well.

[bobemajses]

Jews dancing a traditional wedding hora in Daugavpils, southeastern Latvia, 1914

[fru1tt0ast]

hai guys :3