Is Music Kosher? A History of Jewish Song in Prayer and Beyond (Part 3): Are the Maccabeats Kosher? Harmony and Dissonance in Renaissance Italy
Nowadays, few people have an issue with a group like the Maccabeats enhancing the davening with vocal harmony. But, in 1605, when Rabbi Leone Modena allowed an a cappella choir in his synagogue in Ferrara, Italy, people complained. Also controversial
was his friend Salamone Rossi’s synagogue motets composed in a Renaissance style. Are there limits on what Jewish music can borrow stylistically from elsewhere?
Meet the speaker
Yosef Lindell
Yosef Lindell is a lawyer, writer, and lecturer living in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife and two sons. He has an MA in Jewish history from Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Graduate School and a JD from NYU School of Law. For four years, he was an editor of the Lehrhaus, an online forum for Jewish thought, and now serves on its consulting editorial board.Yosef’s writing spans several genres, including science fiction, but he primarily focuses on Jewish history and…