E-Book of Articles - World Federation of Music Therapy

Amir, Dorit: The Role Of Music Therapy In Establishing Cultural Identity ...
religious than others, and among the non religious there are students who are
traditional (keep Kosher homes, go to the synagogue on the high holidays,
etc.), and there are students who don't have anything to do with religion.
Rosi is a religious student who lives in a Jewish settlement in Judea and
Sumaria (the West Bank), and culturally - in her principles, ideas, behavior
and belief system she belongs to the right wing organization - "Gush Emunim",
the people of "the complete, whole Eretz Israel". Their belief system is that
the West Bank is an integral piece of the land of Israel, belongs to the Jews
who have lived there since the time of the Bible; It was released in the six
days war and it is the Jews' right to live there.
Rosi's presentation consisted mostly of Israeli songs, some of them
religious songs that are identified with the settlers in the occupied territories.
I found myself having a very strong reaction to this presentation. Some of the
hasidic* songs gave me a very spiritual feeling and yet, the more the
presentation continued, the more I found myself feeling angry and upset. I felt
that I don't like this person because of her total immersion and identification
with the right wing religious culture, the culture that I totally disagree with its
ideas and its deeds evoke strong angry feelings within me. I felt that I could
not find Rosi, as an individual, unique human being through the presentation.
Group members had mixed feelings about Rosi's presentation. Several group
members said that they couldn't relate at all to this presentation due to its
heavy religious and right wing song repertoire, some shared that even though
they have a similar belief system, they could not identify with Rosi. They felt
as if she lost and even erased her individual identity for the cultural identity,
and that started a very heated discussion. The group then became
microcosms of the torn and split Israeli society. I focused the discussion on
questions like: what is the "right" balance between "personal identity" and
"cultural identity"? what happens if the two are extremely unbalanced?
Maybe the work with Rosi will be around this theme. Maybe, as the group
continues its path, Rosi will be able to open herself up to other types of
songs, develop a more personal taste by listening to other presentations,
learning new songs and remembering songs from her childhood.
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