So You Think "Yiddin" Is Something New??

The Yiddin song coming from Ghengis Khan is funny, but it is not something to get upset about. And indeed, many modern Jewish songs borrow melodies from non-Jewish sources.

The phenomenon of borrowing melodies from the gentiles in order to put Jewish songs to it is nothing new. Indeed, many niggunim come from Russian marching songs and the like.

Ah, but that is the Rebbe, who can elevate the impure and make it kadosh. But in general, oy-va-voy! All the old niggunim, no one objected to, for they had some spiritual core, and so it was all appropriate. But today, it is different, and everyone doing this is an oysvorf.

Not so. Some rabbonim were yelling about it even way back when, but others argued that it was permissible.

Here is an appropriate Chida (Rav Chaim Joseph David ben Isaac Zerachia Azulai (1724 – 21 March 1807)):

ברכי יוסף אורח חיים סימן תקס ס"ק ה ו. דין ג.
דברי דברי תשבחות או שיר של הודאות וכו'. בספר מעשה רוקח פ"ח מהלכות תפלה נשאל על המשוררים קדיש וקדושה לחן שירי נכרים, והאריך לאסור, ובכלל {דבריו} הביא דברי מהר"ם די לונזאנו בספר שתי ידות דף ק' שכתב בשם ספר חסידים (סי' תשסח) ויזהר מי שקולו נעים שלא יזמר ניגונים נכרים, ודקדק שלא כתב שירים נכרים, דזה פשיטא דאסור, אלא נגונים נכרים, כלומר אף דהשיר הוא קדוש, הניגון נכרי יפסידהו, וכו' ע"ש. ונעלם ממנו דברי מהר"ם די לונזאנו עצמו שם בספר שתי ידות דף קמ"ב שכתב וז"ל, וזאת היתה לי סיבה גורמת לחבר רוב שירי על ניגוני הישמעאלים, וכו' וראיתי קצת חכמים כמתאוננים רע על המחברים שירות ותשבחות לשי"ת על ניגונים אשר לא מבני ישראל המה, ואין הדין עמם, כי אין בכך כלום, עכ"ל. וע"ש מ"ש הרב מהר"ם די לונזאנו בענין זה, ומה שהשיג על מהר"י נאגר"ה בשירותיא.

He notes that is the Sefer Maaseh Rokeach in Hilchot Tefillah, he was asked about those who sand kaddish and kedusha to melodies of gentiles, and he forbids. And along the way he brings the words of the Maharam di Lonzano who cited the Sefer Chassidim that one whose voice is sweet should take heed not to sing gentile niggunim, and makes a diyuk from the fact that he did not say shirim (songs) but rather niggunim (melodies). Yet, points out the Chida, the Maharam di Lonzano writes elsewhere that he himself composed Hebrew lyrics to Arabic melodies.

Furthermore, he writes, a few Chachamim complain about those who compose Hebrew lyrics and praises to Hashem based on non-Jewish melodies, but the law is not like them.

So it is nothing new to compose Hebrew words to non-Jewish melodies. And it is nothing new for people to complain about it -- but ignore 'em.

Another important thing to note is that we see all these piyyitum, and zemirot. People nowadays put them to tunes, or try to adapt them to tunes. (Deror Yikra goes to almost anything, including "Can You Tell Me How To Get To Sesame Street?") But in fact, in many cases, they were initially composed to match the meter, beat, etc., of existing tunes. I wonder for how many of these we know the initial melody.

Note: and now I see this post from BlogInDm, who noted this Chida first, three weeks ago, though to a different purpose.

Is Copyright Infringement Lo Tignov? Lo Tachmod? Or Something Else?

That is the post on William Patry's blog. Which is relevant in terms of hyperventilating people yelling borrowing tunes and remaking them as Jewish songs is a violation of "lo signov." Halacha is halacha, it is not subjective, and you don't get to just make it up to suit your subjective opinion. An excerpt from his post:

In Judaism, a different source is looked to address copyright issues, hasagut gevul ("infringement of boundary"), a form of trespass originally, and found in Sefer Devarim, Parsha Shoftim (19:14), which admonishes: “Do not move back the boundary of your neighbor.” See generally, The Principles of Jewish Law 344–345 (Menachem Elon ed., 1975, Encyclopedia Judaica, Jerusalem) and earlier post here for a quote from Elon). Elon also refers to a later recognition “of a full legal right in respect of one's own spiritual creation.” Id. at 346. See also Adin Steinsaltz, The Essential Talmud 78–79 (1992) (discussing copyrights granted by various European communities in the mid-18th century for the printing of the Talmud and disputes that arose).

My former colleague at Cardozo, Rabbi David Bleich, has written that in the very early rabbinic literature, the issue discussed was attribution of authorship rather than proprietary rights in the words spoken (it was an oral tradition at the time). See David Bleich, 2 Contemporary Halakhic Problems 121-131 (1983). Thus, in the Mishnah Pirkei Avot (6:6), in discussing the 48 qualities of character that permit one to understand Torah, one necessary quality is

"repeating a saying in the name of the one who said it. For you have learned this: Whoever repeats a thing in the name of the one who said it brings redemption to the world, as it is said: And Esther said to the king in the name of Mordechai (Esther 2:22)."

Check it out.

P.S.:

(A copy of the Mona Lisa by Mike Gorman, 1974. Mike ought to be ashamed of himself! The picture on top is of Ghengis Khan.)