A Review of the book "Let Jasmine Rain Down"

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ETHNOGRAPHY REVIEW: LET JASMINE RAIN DOWN

Let Jasmine Rain Down, by Kay Kaufman Shelemay is a great work both in length and

detail. Through the pages of this work, we find a plethora of knowledge handed down from many

prominent Jews of Syrian descent that have propagated around the globe. The diaspora

communities that our researcher and writer focuses on are those located in the USA, Argentina

and Mexico. I have discovered many concepts of Judaism that escaped my understanding, and

come to know that music serves not only as a way to entertain, but also as a key to maintaining

memory in the sense of where we come from, where we are going, and what is expected of us

along the way.

Book Summary

After a brief introduction in which we are quickly walked through the definition and

meaning of a pizmon, the chapters in the book by Shelemay are organized in the form of six

essays which begin with an introduction to the subject based on as many well-known pizmonim

traditionally in use in modern Syrian Jewish diaspora communities. The author brilliantly uses

the background of each pizmon and the surrounding story to explain her main points during the

assigned chapters. Thus, in chapter one we learn about Sur Yah El (which means Rock, Lord,

God) as an example of “Song and remembrance”. Attah El Kabbir as “Music and Migration in a

Transnational Community”. Ani Ashir Lakh, “Judeo-Arab Musical Tradition.” Ramah Evarai,

“Lived Musical Genres”. Yehidah Hitna’Ari, “Individual Creativity, Collective Memory”. And

finally, Melekh Rahaman, as an example of the “Community In song”.


All essays are extensively illuminated by comments from people who form part of the

Hadish community in Argentina, the USA and Mexico, as well as evidence of usage in the home

city of Aleppo, where these particular diaspora communities come from.

Viewpoint

Interestingly, this book is mainly been compiled as a research project for

ethnomusicologist Kay Kaufman Shelemay. Although there are points in the book where I feel

her research may be biased due to her ties to the Jewish community, I find that her work (and

that of her colleagues) has been done in an attempt to present the results of her study in an

unbiased/neutral way.

This book also had many familiar parts, as chapter 5 in our course book (Soundscapes)

deals precisely with Music and Memory in three case studies, one of which was titled “The

Syrian Jewish Pizmon” (Soundscapes p.232). Shelemay also states, as does our book, that

“virtually all Jews of Syrian descent today live outside of Syria” (Let Jasmine Rain Down p.64),

and provides (in chapter two) a much more precise outline on Jewish history in Aleppo, which

our book provided in page 233, illustrating Jewish presence in the city from 1000 BCE to the

early 1990’s CE.

Shelemay quickly jumps to the stories that make pizmonim tradition great, quoting at

length from individuals in her case study. Many people whom she quotes cannot remember exact

dates or events, but the moral behind the story, the city, the feel of good-old Aleppo remains

constant and distant, almost as if a mirage of thought. Indeed, D. Tawil speaks of tradition thus:

“It has been said that… if you can’t remember where that song came from and when it was sung,

that it has become already tradition” (Let Jasmine Rain Down, p.25). There is a constant theme


of pizmonim remembrance written in the text, yet there is also forgetfulness for the city from

which all Syrian Jews came from. Indeed it is the purpose of our writer to show that while direct

recollection of the original home of the diaspora may be lost, key facts and legends are preserved

in the pizmonim tradition. The individual and the community unite forming a collective (p.10)

which can be investigated by using a “…cross-disciplinary stance by joining detailed song

analysis to ethnographic description in the “preludes” and wedding both to the more synthetic

and interpretive chapter essays” (p.13).

The Impact of Music in the Syrian Jewish Community

It is quite evident that Halabi1 culture depended both in the past and currently on their

musical traditions to keep together as a community and to remember their traditions. Their

pizmonim are a part of every happy celebration and are embedded into their memory through the

usage of traditional Arab popular songs with Hebrew words added in poetic composition. “Thus

people and genealogies are memorialized in pizmon texts, while geography and place are

implicitly mapped through melodic usage” (p.50). In other words the Arab tunes that make the

song “catchy” and “exciting” remind de Halabi of the location from whence they came, while the

Hebrew words praise the people for which the song is made, keeping their genealogies intact and

also remembering the god of the Jewish religion and traditions.

I found the fact that Hebrew words are both used as names and regular words extremely

interesting. Since these songs are used in a religious sense, they are perfectly acceptable for the

synagogue, yet the names of those whom it was dedicated to, and the composer, are embedded

into the text in various and smart ways. Thus, anytime anyone recalls a popular pizmon, the

thought of those dedicated to come back to memory, as well as the catchy Arabic tune from

1 Lit. Of or from Aleppo


distant Aleppo, and the praising of God all at once. This is a very effective method, since

children who are taught pizmonim in school or family life remember the songs when they

become older (p.37).

In addition, the Jewish tradition is heavily ingrained in family and worship, each of which

is accompanied by singing, although not always by instruments as it is the case with the Sebet.

All of these family gatherings create a sense of family unity, passing on cultural traditions

essential to the children born in the new communities. These children will be responsible for its

maintenance in the future: “So we want… our younger people to grow into it, to be familiar with

it, so that they do not feel estranged and feel “What kind of oddball would do it?” And, they have

grown into it” (p.167).

Also interesting was the fact that Syrian Jews were looking to “purify” Arab songs by

borrowing the popular tune and adding Hebrew words for it. Many Arab love songs are turned

into Hymns of praise to God in such attempt, making them tolerable for Halabi usage (p. 96).

Different Maqamat (styles), “the science behind Arabic music “ (p. 118), are used depending on

the Arab song’s composition, giving the community both a sense of purification and

entertainment, which keeps young people interested in pizmonim.

Conclusion: Understanding the Syrian Jewish Diaspora

I have really come to understand this community better through this book, especially as I

read the individual commentaries by participants, witnesses and the like who, through simple and

honest words, express their feelings about the music they have come to love so much as a symbol

of their heritage. I can also identify the issues they now experience with the modernization of

their culture. Whether it is through cassettes (I am sure it is CDs and .MP3 now) or the


introduction of women into singing and composing, this community faces the need to adapt to a

changing environment that seems to be closing up on them. However, our writer puts it best in

her closing statement: “… the songs serve to anchor and validate the present while providing a

pathway for the future through which the community may sustain its identity and exist at its

fullest as a “community in song”” (p.230).

There seems to be no doubt that through it all Syrian Jews have found the perfect way to

communicate their traditions, values and genealogy to the next generation. Throughout the day,

during the Sabbath, early in the morning, during commemorating rituals, as they grow, as they

learn… indeed, in every little corner of the Halabi life, there is a song waiting to be sung, a

memory, a loved one that has passed. Family unity, religious values and memory make the

pizmon and the Halabi very successful traditionalists.

J. A. Caballero Prieto

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A Review of the book "Let Jasmine Rain Down"