There’s something about Klezmer music that makes me feel
nostalgic. Its style is heavily influenced by music played long ago in the
Eastern European Jewish Shtetls. It is said to be influenced by an even older
tradition, that of the High Priests thousands of years ago in the Jewish Temples.
But why would that music make me feel nostalgic? I’ve never been to a Shtetl -
they no longer exist - and I certainly didn't frequent the ancient
Temples. I can only assume that it is possible to inherit emotions and cultural
ties. This was the music that my Grandma and her family grew up with. This was
the soundtrack of their Shtetl, especially in the happy times, maybe even in
the bad times too.
I started listening to samples on YouTube. As
the music played, with songs often sung in Yiddish, the language that my family
spoke when I was a child, I watched with a growing sense of excitement. The
familiar semi-wailing tones faded from my brain as I focused on the grainy
photographs that were flashing onto the screen, one after the other, and,
excuse me if I use a Yiddish exclamation here,
“Oy Vey!”
I was looking at
pictures of people, real people, in the Shtetls of Eastern Europe in the early 1900s! That was when Grandma was there, a young girl struggling, starving. I’d
never seen such photographs. The hairs on my neck were tingling. I could
be looking at the very Shtetl where she grew up. I clicked on picture after
picture.
This is the part where Pinterest intervened. I was not allowed to look at the
best photographs (or so it seemed) until I joined their
Site. I’m not a technophobe but if I tell you that I asked Daughter if she knew
about Pee Interest, you’ll realise that I knew nothing. Once she had corrected
my pronunciation (it’s Pin-terest for those who are as ignorant as myself) she
then groaned,
“Why do you want to waste your time there?!”
“No!” I protested. “It’s not to view photos of food and
fashion!” and once I’d told her about the Shtetl photographs, she understood.
Three hours later, and with a bit of chatting and advice
from people on Twitter, I finally managed to set up an account and now have two
Pinterest Boards. At the moment they are private because I’ve not finished
sorting them, but as soon as they're better populated I’ll be posting up the link. I’ve
splattered this post with a few samples to give you an idea.
