Join us for a dessert Melaveh Malkah and Havdallah, followed by a special talk with renowned Rabbi, speaker and scholar Jeffrey A. Summit

The Meaning of our Melodies: Music and Identity in Contemporary Jewish Worship

Why do Jews have such strong feelings about the music we use in prayer?  Contemporary Jews come together every week to sing and pray in a wide variety of worship communities. Through this music, these Jews define and re-define their relationship to the continuity of Jewish tradition and the realities of life beyond the sanctuary walls. In this lecture, I examine the symbolic meaning of our melodies. Through song, members affirm who they are—and who they are not—as Jews.

Rabbi Jeffrey A. Summit, Ph.D. has an appointment as Research Professor in the Department of Music and the Judaic Studies Program at Tufts University. He is the author of The Lord's Song in a Strange Land: Music and Identity in Contemporary Jewish Worship (Oxford University Press) and Singing God’s Words: The Performance of Biblical Chant in Contemporary Judaism (Oxford University Press). His CD Abayudaya: Music from the Jewish People of Uganda (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings) was nominated for a GRAMMY award. His CD with video Delicious Peace: Coffee, Music and Interfaith Harmony in Uganda (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings) was awarded Best World Music CD by the Independent Music Awards. He served as Executive Director of Tufts Hillel for 39 years and now holds emeritus appointments at Tufts as Emeritus Neubauer Executive Director of Tufts Hillel and Emeritus Jewish Chaplain. His research and writing focus on music and identity, music and spiritual experience, music and advocacy and the impact of technology on the transmission of tradition.