Performers between East and West- Ideology and reality in the Yishuv

The history of performance in the Jewish community of Palestine before the foundation of Israel provides a rare opportunity for the study of the emergence of musical life in a highly heterogeneous immigrant society from its inception. Music served both as a powerful tool for social unification of the heterogeneous immigrant community and as means for preserving past ethnic ties. Eastern ethnic groups preserved their in-context performance, whereas the immigrants from Europe transplanted institutional models as means for social interaction. Based on the model of dichotomy of compartmentalization vs. syncretism, the study shows that despite ideologically motivated attempts at merging east and west, compartmentalization won the upper hand.