Page 28 - Jewish News_August-2020

28 August 2020 JEWISH INTEREST

Joshua Nelson: “Prince of Kosher Gospel”

By Arlene Stolnitz
nce again, stories come my According to Nelson, “We ob- on YouTube, Nelson talks about his the Jewish Congregation of Venice. A
way in the most interesting served all the holidays, festival days views in Meaning of Life. He cred- retired educator from Rochester, New
Omanner! If you read my article and Shabbat.” He remembers walking its his grandparents with his love York, she has sung in choral groups
last month about the Sarajevo Hagga- to shul, Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel, in for Judaism and speaks of Hannah for over 25 years and also sings in
dah Musical, you will remember that South Orange for services and Hebrew Senesh as a role model, then sings a The Venice Chorale. Her interest in
one of the best things to come out of school. With a penchant for music, he beautiful rendition of “Eli Eli.” Mc- the preservation of Jewish music of all
the current pan- attended Arts High School in Newark kinds has led to this series of articles
demic was my and later spent two years living on a Bride on the other hand, who dedi- on Jewish Folk Music in the Diaspora.
discovering the kibbutz in Israel. He studied at Hebrew cated his book to his mother with Crossword Puzzle
online Forward Union College and Hebrew Univer- the inscription, “A Black Man’s Solution to puzzle on page 19
Book Club. A sity of Jerusalem. Upon his return, he Tribute to His White Mother,” nev-
recent book we taught Hebrew School at Temple Shar- er identified with Judaism because
read was Color of ey Tefilo-Israel for many years. of his mother’s aversion to her early
Water by James Nelson’s style, one that he calls” experiences with the religion. With
McBride. With kosher gospel,” blends the music of two situations that are similar, yet
attention to the American Gospel and Jewish music different in many ways, I could not
Arlene Stolnitz Black Lives Mat- creating a fusion of exciting sound. help but note the comparison of
ter movement, we read this book with The great gospel singer, Mahalia Jack- both gifted black men, each with
“a new eye.” One of the members of son, was a huge influence on him. He Jewish mothers and black fathers,
the group posted a video that spoke of is equally at home singing “Mi Chamo-
Joshua Nelson, who refers to himself cha” in gospel style or Jackson’s “How and how each has responded in a
as the “Prince of Kosher Gospel.” The I Got Over” from MLK’s Civil Rights different way.
book club reader thought Nelson’s mu- Campaign (Washington, D.C. 1963). Arlene Stolnitz, founder of the Sara-
sic was the perfect backdrop for our Other influences on his style include sota Jewish Chorale, is a member of
book, especially since McBride is not Aretha Franklin and Louis Armstrong.
only a writer, but a composer and saxo- He claims there is no conflict between
phonist. gospel’s Christian content and Jew- K’zohar Ha-Ivrit
All of that sparked my interest ish liturgical music. “You know black
since the moniker “Prince of Kosher people were not Christians coming off Tiq-vah – Hope
Gospel” certainly is unique! the slave ship.” By Dr. Rachel Zohar Dulin
Here’s what I found out. Joshua A popular entertainer, he has enter-
Nelson was born to a Jewish mother tained listeners the world over. His CD n these difficult days of social (Pro.10:28).
of Romanian descent and an African- “Brother Moses Smote the Water” is an unrest, we are still fighting the Nationally, too, tiq-vah is the
American father. As a young boy, he example of how, with the Klezmatics, Iravaging consequences of the Coro- power behind renewal and rebuilding.
first heard gospel music when looking he uses gospel in his music. And then navirus, which invaded our universe a Yesh tiq-vah, ‘there is hope,’ declares
through his grandmother’s record col- there is his unique rendition of “Adon few months ago. Throughout this time, Jeremiah to all those who mourned the
lection. It made a profound impression Olam,” sung in a way you have never we listened to the advice of health ex- tragedy which befell the Land of Israel
on him, and many years later he was heard before. “I try to make music so perts and other ‘mevinim’ who, with (Jer. 31:17). And the prophet Hosea
able to fuse his memory of that music the listener will hear something and their knowledge and wisdom, hoped echoed Joshua’s prediction that the
with the music of his Jewish heritage. feel it as well.” to help us face desolate land will become petakh tiq-
Joshua Nelson was raised in East Oran- So what has this to do with the pandemic. And vah, “a gate of hope” (Job 7:25; Hose
ge, New Jersey, by his grandparents, James McBride’s Color of Water then, upon us rose 2:17).
observant Jews who traced their heri- and Joshua Nelson? Both men have an awful “social The noun tiq-vah is derived from
tage back to Senegal. They instilled in Jewish mothers and black fathers. virus” of injus- the verb le-qa-vot, which appears 47
him a strong love for Judaism, in spite But the family influence was quite tice and racism, times in the Bible and depending on
of his diverse background. which weakened context, has several meanings. Le-qa-
different for each of them. In a video us by increasing vot means ‘to twist,’ ‘to stretch,’ ‘to
our physical and strain,’ ‘to wait tensely,’ ‘to endure,’
emotional chal-
‘to expect,’ ‘to gather,’ ‘to collect’ and
SAVE DATE! acle that in time of such accumulative ‘to hope.’ Interestingly, the noun qav,
Dr. Rachel Dulin
lenges. It is a mir-
the
meaning ‘measuring line’ (Isa 47:13),
distress, we are able to hear the echoes
It is not surprising that the verb
of hope. Hope is God’s gift, of strength, is also derived from this root.
which arms us psychologically to fight le-qa-vot and the noun tiq-vah are at
battles and prevail. the center of many idioms. For ex-
The Hebrew word for ‘hope’ is tiq- ample, be-qav ha-b’ri-ut, literally “in
vah. Many of us are familiar with the line of health,” implies the state of
word Ha-tiq-va, meaning ‘the hope,’ good health (Shulkhan Arukh 6;2). It is
which is so appropriately the name of probably echoing the belief that lines
Israel’s national anthem. Indeed, tiq- on one’s hand determine one’s fate.
vah is ingrained in our Jewish collec- M’-leh tiq-vah means ‘full of hope,’
tive psyche. It is not surprising that the whereas cha-sar tiq-vah means ‘hope-
noun tiq-vah is repeated 32 times in the less.’ Tiq-vah nikh-ze-vet implies ‘lost
Bible, mostly injecting positive and en- hope,’ whereas ani tiq-vah means ‘I am
couraging thoughts in times of peril. hopeful.’ We will end with the words
According to the biblical text, tiq- of Jeremiah: yesh tiq-vah le-a-cha-ri-
vah is allocated to most people: poor tekh, which literally translates to ‘there
(Job 5:16), foolish (Pro. 26:12), believ- is hope for your future’ (Jer 31:17).
ers (Job 14:7), parents (Pro. 19:18), In these difficult moments, ani tiq-
those who suffer (Jer. 29:11), those who vah. I am hopeful that the words of the
build the land (Josh 2:17) and those Israeli national anthem continue reso-
who plant trees (Job 14:7). Throughout nating in our minds assuring us that
the Bible, the writers declared that tiq- od lo avdah tiq-va-tey-nu, namely, ‘we
F ederation renews faith (Job 6:8). In short, as the of qav ha-bri-ut and not to lose the tiq-
2020
have not lost our hope.’
vah uplifts the spirit (Prov 23:18) and
I wish all our readers the blessing
writer of Job observed, “you will be
secure, for there is hope” (Job 11:18).
vah that we will see qav or, ‘a line of
From this perspective tiq-vah helps
light’ at the end of this dark tunnel.
C elebration us to recover in time of adversity, re- Dr. Rachel Zohar Dulin is a professor
conquering our self-respect. It is not
of biblical literature at Spertus Col-
surprising therefore that, on the other
lege in Chicago, and a retired adjunct
hand, the Wisdom writer observed that
College in Sarasota.
the wicked is devoid of tiq-vah (Pro. professor of Hebrew and Bible at New
11:23) and thereby doomed to fail
Sunday, November 8, 2020

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