Home beyond Borders and the Sound of Al-Andalus. Jewishness in Arabic; the Odyssey of Samy Elmaghribi

Jessica Roda,Stephanie Tara Schwartz

doi:10.3390/rel11110609

Abstract

In their conversation about music, Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim discuss a process of seeking home in music and literature. For Moroccan-Jewish superstar Samy Elmaghribi (Solomon Amzallag), who migrated to France and Israel and then settled for most of his life in Montreal, Canada, the reference to Al-Andalus through the sound of the nouba became his home. Beginning his career in his native country of Morocco as a singer and composer of modern Moroccan music, in Montreal, Samy Elmaghribi became the cantor in the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, the oldest Jewish congregation in Canada. Based on ethnographic research and investigation within the archives of the artist, the authors suggest that Samy Elmaghribi created a sense of home in music, a homeness, one that transcends our present understanding of Arabness and Jewishness, religiosity and secularism, tradition and creativity. Focus on Samy Elmaghribi, an artistic persona emblematic of his generation, demonstrates how the contemporary reassessment of renowned Jewish artists’ North African heritage is often misread in light of the political present. This example encourages us to rethink the musical legacy to which these North African Jews contributed beyond what is labelled Judeo-Arabic, traditional, religious, or secular.

Highlights

As one of the superstars of Andalusian music, who had to reinvent himself in Canada and Quebec, Amzallag created a homeness through music that blurred several boundaries between tradition/creation and secular/sacred, rooting himself as a Moroccan Jew in Montreal yet transcending geographical territory and time
This paper thereby suggests that Samy Elmaghribi creates a homeness in music, a homeness in Al-Andalus that transcends our contemporary understanding of Arabness and Jewishness, religiosity and secularism, tradition and contemporaneity
In 1955, Samy Elmaghribi had been a temporary resident in Paris, where he used to travel for work, and received a contract to perform at Soleil d’Algérie, a North African Cabaret (Silver 2020)

Summary

Introduction

As one of the superstars of Andalusian music, who had to reinvent himself in Canada and Quebec, Amzallag created a homeness through music that blurred several boundaries between tradition/creation and secular/sacred, rooting himself as a Moroccan Jew in Montreal yet transcending geographical territory and time. This music, anchored in the heritage from Al Andalus that he received in Morocco, symbolized a home for individuals nostalgic for this mythical past. This paper thereby suggests that Samy Elmaghribi creates a homeness in music, a homeness in Al-Andalus that transcends our contemporary understanding of Arabness and Jewishness, religiosity and secularism, tradition and contemporaneity. We will see how this homeness is reinvented today to respond to the challenges of modern times

Performing Jewishness in Arabic

Samy’s

Making Home in Montreal

Cantor

Affirming Homeness in Al-Andalus