I went to the most recent Kol Zimrah minyan (prayer meeting) on Friday night and had a great time- I ran into various friends from college, camp, and various other walks of life, and the service was led by Judith of KesherTalk fame.
Now, KZ encourages attendees to bring musical instruments- mostly guitars, drums, and the occasional flute. But one guy brought a great instrument that I hadn’t seen in years: the Jew’s Harp.
I should mention that when I was in fifth grade, my school brought in a gentleman by the name of Charlie Maguire, who was introduced to us as one of the nation’s foremost Jew’s Harp artists. So everyone in school was taught how to play the instrument, and we had a big concert in which we all accompanied Mr. Maguire.
However, the difference was, the instrument back then was introduced to us not by its proper name by rather as the “Jaw Harp,” which I suppose was the PC term at the time. Which came first, the Jew or the harp? That’s unknown at this point, although this history denies any anti-Semitic conotation, and points out that in the 16th century the instrument was known as a “Jew’s Trump.” Just watch, as the Donald horns his way into the Jew’s Harp market…