Two Hebrew Union College Scholars Study Religious Jewish Women and the Arts

The ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are an important time in the life of Hebrew Union College. Cantorial and rabbinical students finish their Yom Kippur preparations for their student pulpits, many faculty members are engaged with their own Jewish communities and families, and all are contemplating their goals and hopes for the coming year. During this year's period between the holidays, we were privileged to spend three days in Israel at the pathbreaking conference "New Expressive Culture among Religious Jewish Women: Interdisciplinary Perspectives," sponsored by the Israel Science Foundation and Bar-Ilan University.

We were privileged to be among five international scholars invited to join approximately twenty distinguished Israeli scholars and musicians gathered for the three day conference. The first two days took the form of an extended group conversation at the beautiful Kibbutz Tzuba, approximately thirty minutes west of Jerusalem. This conversation provided a fascinating look at the continuities and disconnects of musical and other performances among religious Jewish women, primarily in Israel and the United States. Among many highlights was a conversation with Gila Bashari, one of the most important performers and teachers of Yemenite Jewish song, in which she performed several beloved pieces from the Yemenite sacred music repertoire.

There were teachings from several Israeli graduate students about their cutting-edge research on diverse topics such as a Haredi women's music conservatory, religious women's DJ schools, and the ways that the internet has changed women's performances of piyyutim (among other fascinating papers). The events organizers, Professors Naomi Cohn Zentner and Abigail Wood, gave the participants an inside look at their work, including papers studying the "ethical curation" of private music consumption among religious Jewish women, and the reenactment of High Holiday prayer services in women's Selichot concerts.

Each of us also participated in panels on theoretical directions for the study of religious women's artistic expression and women's musico-liturgical leadership. These two days at Kibbutz Tzuba were stimulating opportunities to engage deeply with the conference topic and to connect with these excellent scholars.

The third day of the conference took place at Bar-Ilan University and was structured as a formal academic conference that was open to the public. We each delivered a presentation during this portion of the conference. Karen spoke about her research on Israeli Haredi filmmaker Rama Burshtein. Burshtein has made two feature films to date: Fill the Void and The Wedding Plan. Her first film drove her into an international spotlight. Although there was an existing Orthodox women's film industry, in which women filmmakers and women casts create films for women audiences-Karen writes about this amazing phenomenon in her book, Women of Valor-Burshtein was offering something new. Never before had a Haredi woman made a film for a broad audience, one that included men and women together and was, moreover, steeped in sexual desire. Significantly, as I showed, giving my audience a taste of the film by playing its opening, Burshtein inverts the notion of the "male gaze" made famous by film scholar Laura Mulvey, giving her Haredi women full agency and making them the subjects rather than the objects of the gaze.

Gordon introduced new research on a nigun from the Chabad-Lubavitch community titled "Shalosh Tenuos," (lit. "Three Movements"). He traces the melody's journey as it was composed across three generations by important figures in the history of Hasidism, and several mysteries that accompany its history. He also analyzes an important moment in the life of the nigun, in which a group of twenty-two women recorded an album of Chabad nigunim, beginning with "Shalosh Tenuos." At the recording session, the group's leader drew on Hasidic mystical teachings about music to welcome the long-deceased composers into the room, as well as the generations of women who have sung this melody. Drawing on Harvard ethnomusicologist Dr. Kay Kaufman Shelemay's use of the concept of "the hidden transcript," Gordon sees this performance of "Shalosh Tenuos" as an instance in which the hidden transcript becomes public, broadening the meaning of the piece.

As is so often the case, some of our most significant experiences came outside of the conference papers. We had the opportunity to spend one night in Jerusalem, during which we visited the Western Wall for the late-night recitation of Selichot. Beginning at 12:15 AM, we joined approximately 100,000 Jews of all backgrounds in the recitation of the liturgy. The experience was both moving and fascinating: As the sounds of Sephardic chazzanut (cantorial singing) filled the area, we observed pre-election political messaging, interactions between secular and religious culture, and gender role navigation at the Kotel and the streets of Jerusalem following the service.

The following evening, we were invited to a Selichot concert by Bnot Netanel, a musical group fronted by three sisters from the Israeli Religious Zionist community. Performing music of the Selichot service and the High Holidays mixed with contemporary pop hits, and a mash-up between the two (think Selichot to the tune of ABBA!), the concert was a fascinating look at energetic and joyous musical-religious experiences by and for Orthodox women outside of the synagogue.

The conference was a fascinating and unique opportunity to delve deep into the world of contemporary religious Jewish women's expressive culture. We were very grateful to be invited, and proud to have represented Hebrew Union College at this unique and forward-thinking conference.