Intricate Temporalities: The Transfiguration of Proper and “Improper” Sounds from Christian to Jewish Environments

Three modes of communication situate the background of this paper. They relate to three realms of experience and to the intersections and conflations of their respective configurations. These modes are music, narrative, and ritual. All three engage us in the real present—they call our attention at a certain moment, they demand from us a blank duration for the projection of their inhering experiences, and they launch us into “unreal” presents whose mental fabrication they stimulate.² When we hear a story, listen to a piece of music, or attend a ritual, we are often willingly interpreting their messages by assuming.