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Correspondence

March 1, 1973

Letter from Michael Tabor about Yarmulkes in Public, Language, Intellectual Growth, and Music (1973)

General Jewish Thought
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Correspondence

Letter from Michael Tabor about Music and Jewish Thought in England (1969)

Dear Rabbi Lamm, I was eagerly awaiting your reply and hoped that for once a question of mine would be understood and answered with some depth. I was not disappointed by your prompt reply. You satisfied me completely with your usual articulate presentation. I am truly grateful. As you point out, this particular issue of integrating one’s cultural activities into Avodas Hashem is not really fundamental to my basic religious quest. I would like to mention that I am not the conductor of the L.S.E. orchestra. To have this position one must be able to play several instruments and have a deep knowledge of music, both theoretical and practical. I have a more humble position: as first violin I am consequently called the leader. This involves leading the string section if they get in trouble — they are meant to follow me if they sometimes get lost when, for example, they forget when to come in after a few bars’ rest. This keeps me on my toes throughout the performance of a work. For my efforts I get paid 15 shillings a rehearsal, which happens to pay for my weekly bus fares.As I said in my letter, I get a tremendous kick out of playing and listening to music. Although I can listen for hours to Beethoven’s later string quartets, especially the penultimate one in A minor, I am more spiritually moved by some of the *devekus niggunim* of the Chabad Chassidim. Even though they are badly reproduced on the records that Lubavitch have brought out, I can appreciate the *penimus*, the mystic yearning and spiritual longing that especially characterizes the 10 *niggunim* the *Alte Rebbe* composed. They penetrate into my very being. This is something my father, who is quite musically knowledgeable, can’t see. I answer him that he does just not understand. I look forward to the day when I can attend a *farbrengen* at 770 Eastern Parkway where the singing on festive occasions, so my Chabad friends tell me, is really spiritually inspiring and satisfying.You say that I have experienced a sp…
General Jewish Thought

Correspondence

Letter from Michael Tabor about Seminar on Traditional Jewish Values and the Message of the Torah (1970)

It was an unexpected surprise to be invited to join the J.F.S seminar at Carmel College. Nearing the end of my second term at L.S.E. it came as a welcome and pleasant break from my local studies to spend Shabbat in the company of a friendly and intelligent group of sixth formers. The food excellent, the accommodation good, the singing and davening was inspiring. Above all, the atmosphere that fevered the seminar was a most enjoyable experience that I shall always remember.I don’t know how learned one can be as a Jewess today. This is the real challenge—detached from the problems of culture and science. Whether … I do believe, and such views will have their place.As for the question of education’s greatness—it is concerned with the lives impacted, not just presentation.The students in this session were stimulated, compelled in their own minds to explore, and I personally hope that this vital topic will come alive. It is not enough to live by rote or by custom. There was not real opportunity to communicate all the points raised—nevertheless I feel that the core was achieved.I would like to think further, but for now Torch also refers to how one absorbs the biblical sources that shape vital identity in our age.---A gleam of light follows:Perfecting the condition of the physical world is of utmost importance. God is acutely concerned with the human situation in society, as a brief perusal of the prophets will reveal. Life is full of contradictions, paradoxes and tensions. Any thinking person faces conflicts—between the demands of one’s inner and outer life. If one concentrates on the former, one may lead a stunted, ghetto-like existence. If one follows the latter to extremes, one loses all sense of identity with one’s Jewish spiritual heritage. The ideal is the synthesis—but this requires the maturity to see the forest and the trees on both sides, a perennial challenge.Thus, as to the Torah’s message to the world: we must first understand what it means to us—in the tot…
General Jewish Thought

Correspondence

Letter from Michael Tabor about Synthesizing Educational Disciplines and Music (1970)

Dear Rabbi Lamm, I trust you are well. I was reading over my last letter to you recently, and I felt perhaps it was rather aggressive and even a little rude. I apologise and I hope this is not the reason you have not yet replied. Besides the Lubavitcher Rebbe, you are one of the few rabbis I can respect and to whom I can look for some guidance and inspiration. Intellectually I am very lonely here in England. Without intending to be arrogant, I am able to talk with scientists about science, philosophers about philosophy, Halakhists about Talmud and halakhah, and artists about art. But I also want someone who can correlate and synthesise all these disciplines into one magnificent unity. Am I expecting too much?I do not know if I mentioned that I have composed some music which is an expression of my experiences over the last few years. I have been told that in parts it sounds like Bartók and in others like Stravinsky! I would love to arrange it for a quartet or quintet. I have an especially lovely theme for the cellos and violas floating about at the back of my mind. There is only one catch: I do not have the technical know-how to notate and arrange the music.This again illustrates the point that it is not enough to have intuitions and feelings. There is a need also for a discipline, a technique and ability to express one's true potential. Only in this way can it become manifest. Similarly with Halacha and the discipline of daily living.I just don't have time to study music really seriously. One cannot do everything one would like to, but even this doesn’t mitigate the frustration. The only consolation is that I can play my piece, which is still in a state of flux over four basic themes, on my violin and my sister's viola.I hope it is not an imposition asking you to write when you have time. I again apologise if I was rude. I am an angry young man, but I hope not for a lost cause!ntn
General Jewish Thought