The Commentator

…every piece of knowledge which enriches the mind in any direction helps to enrich not a little the Jewish outlook on man and nature which it is sought to attain.

                                                                                                Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirschⁱ

Our society suffers from a peculiar inability to see matters as being subtle and complex, preferring to lump them into large categories of good and bad, right and wrong, appropriate and inappropriate.  It is for this reason that so many instinctively shudder when they hear the term “popular culture;” to them, these words connote nothing but the glorification of dangerous behavior like drinking and drugs, or immoral behavior such as adultery or promiscuity.

As such, the immediate desire of many is to shelter their children from the nefarious influences of these songs or movies, preferring to hide them within a soft cocoon until maturation. At this point the transition from child to adult is completed as quickly as possible with as little exposure to the outside world as possible. I find this attitude problematic and incomprehensible. To deny the beauty and utility of today’s music, movies and overall culture is to claim that God cannot be found within these worlds. It is to limit God, to claim that he can only be found within the study house, the place of learning and within the literary texts that speak to the highly educated. But God cannot appear within the radio song, the contemporary movie or the TV show; here God is made an outcast and somehow does not exist.

The Chassidic masters explain that everything in this world can be used for good or bad, and that all things can serve to testify to God’s greatness. The Ba’al Shem Tov explained that “a believer of the highest degree does not differentiate between study of a holy volume or study of a child’s prattle or even of a gentile’s talk for, if he considers it well, he can extract from everything a lesson in Torah.”ⁱⁱ This idea echoes the Arizal’s understanding of kelipot, the shells that cover over the pure and brilliant spark of truth. It is man’s task to transform the kelipot nogah, (veiled sparks), to uncloak them and uplift them. How does he accomplish this? By something as simple as reciting a blessing over a piece of food, which elevates the food and infuses it with holiness. Every material item contains “sparks of holiness that are released when that item is used for the sake of heaven.”ⁱⁱⁱ If this is the case when one merely recites a blessing before eating a piece of food, how much the more so can a Torah-observant Jew elevate a popular song by listening to it and drawing inspiration from it, thereby releasing sparks of holiness.

The question becomes, what exactly do teenagers and adults find in contemporary music? Do they truly listen to it in order to learn from it and to assimilate lessons that will aid them in going about their lives as Jews, or do they listen to it for pleasure and enjoyment? The answer to this is multi-faceted. Intriguingly, although people do not necessarily think they listen to music for reasons other than pleasure or because it’s what everyone else is doing, they are consistently learning.

There are songs for every person and melodies to awaken every teenager. Some songs, such as Linkin Park’s “Numb,” focus on the emptiness that comes of constantly trying to imitate others, even one’s parents, and the importance of forging one’s own identity. This idea powerfully echoes statements made by the Rav, who explains that “I never wish to wear the mask of another person in order to ingratiate myself with the masses … I rejoice in being alone and individualistic. If I am found wanting, then my achievements may very well be inconsiderable. However, if I am a pygmy, at least I am a pygmy who possesses the Divine Image. I must chart my own path.”^iv  Other songs, like Nickelback’s “If Everyone Cared,” focus on the need to be kinder toward one another, to embrace humanity rather than to engage in war or cruelty toward one another. Some songs, like Switchfoot’s “This is Your Life,” ask questions: “This is your life/ are you who you want to be?” Others, like Hoobastank’s “Crawling in the Dark,” suggest that there are no easy answers. Lyrics may be personal or universal; from Dashboard Confessional’s “The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most,” which explores the masks we wear and find so hard to take off, to Speechwriter LLC’s condemnation of society through its hit “Clones.”

Contemporary music, far from being consistently trashy, dirty or otherwise flawed, often allows for beautiful messages. Music is not above critiquing itself and its perceived shallowness, but it is also an outlet for the constantly growing adolescent. It is even an asset, for it allows for the clarification and absorption of new ideas and philosophical systems, and a way to harmlessly fight against a perceived oppressor while learning about oneself. Supposedly lowbrow music and theoretically highbrow culture discuss the same themes and attempt to get at the same idea – the meaning of life.

If this is the case with music, what of TV shows and movies? Surely these, exclaims the suspicious parent, are rife with references to drugs, sex and other undesirable elements? TV is ruining my child! Not necessarily. As with all things, this very much depends upon the child and the TV show in question. I know that I in particular have learned much from various TV shows, most specifically the popular Heroes and Grey’s Anatomy. These television shows allow me to see and learn about myself as reflected through the personalities and character traits of their protagonists. They also provide me with the situational contexts to consider problems, dilemmas and moral quandaries that engage us in everyday life. Heroes explores the moral dilemmas of individuals granted superpowers. If I had the power to read minds, travel through time or manipulate machines, would I use it for good or evil? And what is good and evil? Can one determine that the only way to save the world is to stand idly by while countless lives are lost in a preventable tragedy, or must one do everything in one’s power to avert this tragedy, even if people continue in their wicked ways? Is it ethical to kill a child who is being manipulated by evil people and may indirectly cost you your life, or must one refrain from harming an innocent?

Ethical dilemmas are also rampant on the beloved Grey’s Anatomy, medical drama extraordinaire. These range from medical ethics to the important questions of relationships and friendships. What defines a friendship? What is a true relationship? Are lies ever acceptable? The show’s characteristic use of voice-overs at beginning and end reveal the nugget of knowledge that the episode will demonstrate. Meredith Grey, the show’s central character, asserts, “Communication. It’s the first thing we really learn in life. Funny thing is, once we grow up, learn our words and really start talking the harder it becomes to know what to say. Or how to ask for what we really need.” Isn’t that a truth? The beauty of this show, once again, is that many watch it for its soap opera appeal; people are attracted to the sex, the drama, the good-looking actors and actresses. They do not realize that they are learning. Having eavesdropped on the conversations that take place in the elevators as our Thursday night Stern coterie heads back upstairs after watching, I can assure you they are.

If TV shows are simply a more palatable form of showing ourselves to ourselves, it follows that movies do this to an even stronger extent. When watching movies, we are able to identify with the characters, to see ourselves in them, to take on their problems and questions and gauge the truth of their answers. Some movies exist to entertain, certainly; there are “chick flicks,” action movies and romantic comedies. But there are darker movies and these are the ones that truly speak to us; the ones that cause us to question ourselves and our beliefs. Best picture winner Crash and last year’s jarring, gritty Babel have that quality in common.  In every scenario that arises in the films various people’s lives intersect and we are asked to judge people only to realize that we cannot because judging another is utterly impossible. Does this not echo a Judaic dictum, that of judging each person favorably? It may be even better to realize that we cannot judge at all…

The famous Maggid of Dubno once explained why he chose to speak to people through parables rather than bluntly and strongly in a more conventional and straightforward manner. He explained why he chose to use parables in the form of a parable. There once was a child who was sick, he related. The child would not take his medicine. Finally, the doctor found a method through which the child to would take his medicine – he would give him chocolate-covered pills so that the child would not taste the bitterness.

Our lowbrow culture is exactly what the Maggid’s parables once were, a palatable way of critiquing ourselves.  It allows us to recognize all that is wrong with us and all that is flawed as well as our disguises, masks and the veneer that society wears. It is the appealing package in which ethics, morals and other philosophical ideas are wrapped; one tastes the chocolate rather than the bitterness of the medicine. There are many who have no idea they have even been given a pill. They are too busy relishing the taste of the chocolate on their tongue, learning without even realizing it. And this is the most effective way of teaching – to learn through what is pleasurable and seems completely devoid of important content. Parables over fire and brimstone speeches. Contemporary culture to the rescue. Chocolate covered pills.

Chana Wiznitzer is a staff writer for Kol Hamevaser

ⁱ Judaism Eternal by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Chapter XVII, “Relation of General to Jewish Education”, page 211

ⁱⁱ Tales of the Baal Shem Tov by Yisroel Ya’akov Klapholtz, Volume 5, page 48

ⁱⁱⁱhttp://www.chabad.org/library/article.htm/aid/361900/jewish/Kelipot-and-Sitra-Achra.html

^iv The Rav: The World of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik by Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff, Volume 2, pages 226-227

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