The Lord's Song in a Strange Land

Reviews / Votes

"In his fascinating The Lord's Song in a Strange Land, Jeffrey Summit, rabbi and Hillel director at Tufts University, studies the link betwen music and identity--spiritual and cultural--in five very different metropolitan Boston congregations....Well-written [and] accessible to anyone interested in the role of music in prayer."--Jerusalem Post "Jeffrey Summit's well-researched book on contemporary Jewish worship in America is a superb way of understanding what keeps Jewish communities inspired and motivated."--Elie Wiesel "Useful to students in general religious as well as musical studies...this work gives an insider's insights and understanding, and a scholar's attention to the world of Jewish diversity." --Notes "Lucidly written and argued...impressively reaches out to a number of readerships." --Journal of Religion "Jeffrey Summit takes insider ethnography home to Boston, exploring Jewish worship across denominational lines and musical boundaries. An eye- and ear-opening exploration of the changing nature of musical tradition in American Jewish life." --Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Harvard University, author of Let Jasmine Rain Down: Song and Remembrance Among Syrian Jews "The Lord's Song in a Strange Land is ethnomusicology on a grand scale. It is the study of the way Jews negotiate identity through the music they sing. There is no other book quite like it in terms of its comprehensive scope, depth of insight, and attention to both specific details and comprehensive lessons that the details demonstrate. It is, quite simply, at one and the same time, a marvelous survey of synagogue music, synagogue worship, synagogue worshipers, and the state of Jewish identity at the close of the twentieth century, with chapters that combine scholarly acuity, accessible prose and interesting observations intended for general readers as well as specialists. This is necessary reading for rabbis, cantors, synagogue music committees, classes on religious identity, and just plain curious readers who know music matters and want to know why."--Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Professor of Liturgy, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion "Using as a motif the mystical-romantic Sabbath eve hymn, Lechah Dodi, Summit traces the evolution of melodies through five Boston congregations. He deftly guides the reader--musician and layperson alike--through the religious and musical history, explaining the subtle yet powerful interdependence of sociology, theology, and music. The result is a religious and musical feast. Required reading for anyone who ever hopes to sing a hymn." --Lawrence Kushner, Rabbi-in-Residence at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York