Friday, June 12, 2009

Doing the brothers proud

Has a memo gone around announcing that Judaism will no longer accept influences from adjacent cultures? I ask because CorssCurrent's chief hip-hop correspondent says its improper for Yeshiva students to emulate urban dance styles, though he put it less delicately:

Frankly, the movements would have done the ‘bros’ in the ‘hood’ proud.

Ah yes, the ‘bros’ in the ‘hood'. Does anyone other than elderly white people feinting at relevancy still use that phrase? And why is is ok for Carlebach to speak of his "holy brothers" but still a source of Jewish bemusement that black people once used similar language? I still cringe at the memory of a seventh grade rebbe who thought it was hysterical to substitute a faux black ghetto accent for his natural Jewish ghetto accent and speak of "the brothers."

Anyway, along with making the racist suggestion that black people especially value dancing (done proud) Cross Currents is being stupid. Dance styles deemed kosher, like the tedious and ubiquitous circle dance, also are borrowed. Its not hard to imagine that 100 years ago, someone kvetched about how the young yeshiva boys were using movements that, frankly, would have done the local gypsies in the 'hood' proud.

(E_Fink wants me to mention that the rest of the article was good. He's right.)

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