»Through music into conversation« | Jewish General

Can Jews, Christians and Muslims celebrate communion together? We asked ourselves this on the occasion of the Reformation anniversary at the German Evangelical Church Congress 2017 in Berlin.

We are members of the Trimum association. Crossing all religions, we sing against calls and hate chants that confuse their belief or disbelief with “being right at all costs” and consider foreignness to be something threatening. Or who can only see the potential for violence in religions and turn a blind eye to their potential for peace, their beauty and their wealth.

Trimum’s interreligious and interdisciplinary approach is unique in Europe. Jewish, Christian and Muslim musicians, theologians and cantors, scientists and composers jointly develop concepts and event formats for a peaceful and constructive coexistence of religions.

teaching house This is one of the reasons why our Interreligious Singing theme day at the German Evangelical Church Congress 2017 was funded by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, our choir and song book by the Stuttgarter Lehrhaus Foundation, and the event “Singing and Tasting – A Celebration of Diversity” at the German Evangelical Church Congress 2017 by the Foundation apple tree.

It was never a question of whether this religion or that group of people belonged to Germany. Everywhere you look there is discord. More and more news reporting on religious divisions, violence and intolerance. That’s why we celebrate diversity and make music for believers and those of other faiths.

What began as a temporary Stuttgart regional project under the auspices of the Stuttgart Bach Academy has grown into a nationwide movement.

Cultural and religious diversity is perhaps Germany’s greatest strength.

But what was actually going on with »Singen und Tasten«? What did the participants experience? Three central religious celebrations met in a joint service.

A Jewish cantor greeted the Shabbat with the traditional Kabbalat Shabbat liturgy. Protestant Christians celebrated communion. Muslims performed the Islamic evening prayer. Differences were clearly stated; those of other faiths enjoyed a limited right of hospitality within the framework of theological possibilities. They celebrated without being able to share everything. Choir, soloists and ensemble from Trimum created a music program. It showed the connecting as well as the borders, even the incompatible. And in the end, everyone met at an intercultural banquet.

APPRECIATION Participants and the press gave positive comments. “Differences are not blurred, but left in their traditional form, i.e. deliberately emphasized – and yet similarities are pointed out,” it read. The mutual respect – that was what everyone felt.

When I decided to study music, my teacher in Israel recommended that I go to Germany if I wanted to realize my special ideas. He gave me the name of Ihsan Turnagöl. At that time he was a lecturer at the State University for Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart.

I came to Stuttgart in 2002, learned German for six months, passed the entrance exam and studied classical guitar, ear training and music theory. Two years earlier, the ensemble »Asamblea Mediterranea« for Sephardic music had been founded by local musicians. In 2005 I took over the management. We had a lot of concerts, released CDs and were very successful with it. There were already tens of thousands of Klezmer ensembles back then, but few Sephardic music ensembles from Spain, Portugal or the Arab countries.

festjahr On the occasion of the anniversary year »1700 years of Jewish life in Germany«, the Central Council of Jews in Germany turned to me.

The question was: What music and knowledge about this enormous period of time did we want to show our listeners? I then also had contact with Hervé Roten. He is director of the European Institute for Jewish Music in Paris. The institute has one of the largest collections of Shabbat chants from Ethiopia, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia in the world.

Jewish artists have often adopted the styles of those around them. I also met Professor Karl Erich Grözinger, then Professor of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies at the University of Potsdam, for his advice.

tradition Of course, we were always careful to present Jewish music and Jewish tradition as beautifully as possible. In recent years, however, music has become a means for me to address social issues.

Salomone Rossi (c. 1570–1630), for example, was one of the few Jewish composers to gain employment at a court in anti-Semitic Italy. A ghetto for the Jews, curfews and yellow markings were part of everyday life at the time.

In the history of music, too, Rossi was for a long time listed as an Italian because of his name, but not as an Italian with a Jewish faith. In this program, which we prepared for the anniversary year, we address the ambivalent relationships between Jews and their non-Jewish neighbors in Europe. On the one hand there are centuries of cultural flowering in Spain and the Mediterranean region with an almost inexhaustible source of songs and texts. On the other hand, the experience of racism, oppression and even genocide.

My connection to Israel is very strong. My family lives there, but also in Australia and the USA.

This part of Jewish-European history has also left its mark on the music, which acts as a sounding memorial. The program is intended to promote a tolerant, culturally and religiously colorful and peaceful world. So I adopted Trimum’s approach – addressing social issues with art – to the ensemble work as well.

FAMILY I was born in Jerusalem in 1980. When I was three weeks old, my family took me to New York. From first to fifth grade I attended an orthodox school in Jerusalem. My parents were not practicing religion but wanted us children to grow up with Jewish traditions. Later I attended an international school in Bern. I graduated from high school again in Israel. Likewise my military service.

My connection to Israel is very strong. My family lives there, but also in Australia and the USA. In Germany I experience being Jewish differently than in Israel. Being a Jew there is taken for granted. I have a large network of musicians and good friends from many countries that are hostile to Israel, such as Syria, Iran or Afghanistan. This intercultural is a huge gift.

In Germany I am anything but assimilated. I’m integrated where it fits, very alien in other places. That’s why I address the feeling of home and being a stranger in my artistic existence. It’s my daily life.

UKRAINE When I observe the terrible war in Europe from the outside, I am just as helpless and worried as many others around me. I don’t know the situation in Ukraine and Russia. But as an Israeli I recognize a lot, because war has a lot in common – no matter where it takes place!
But I can say one thing with certainty: there are no wars because the people want them. The vast majority of people don’t want them.

In Germany I make music with people who come from almost every country with which Israel is hostile. Through the music we started talking, and through talking we became friends. These are friendships that would not be possible in Israel today.

That’s why I hope that the local cultural and religious diversity will not be called into question by a war. It is perhaps Germany’s greatest strength.

Recorded by Brigitte Jähnigen

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