The Jewish service in Communist Hungary – a personal journey

Red ritual: Ritual music and Communism Summarizes the problems that hindered the practice of Jewish ritual music in Hungary during the Communist period. The music for the traditional Jewish service is described, as are the characteristics that made this music difficult for the modern middle class to accept. It is suggested that the specific character of Jewish ritual music contributed to its marginal position before and after World War II. The problem of Jewish identity as an ethnicity in Hungary, from the decades before World War II through the Communist period, is examined, along with the resulting isolation of the religious Jewish community. It is argued that the practice of the Jewish service as an underground activity transformed its music.