Free Republic

There are few pipe organs in the world that have a nickname, a feminine pronoun and a Facebook fan page. The Hazel Wright organ — just “Hazel,” to her admirers — was removed piece by piece in 2013 from Christ Cathedral’s shimmering sanctuary in Southern California’s Orange County, and shipped to Italy for repair. At the time, the fifth-largest pipe organ in the world was suffering from an infestation of bugs. Its pipes were melted, its trumpets corroded. Nearly a decade and $3 million later, Hazel is back in the fully remodeled sanctuary, and heavenly chords from her pipes once...

To some lovers of classical sounds, organ music seems irremediably goyish, despite outstanding achievements by such Jewish composers as Aaron Copland and Arnold Schoenberg in writing for the so-called “king of instruments.” For these, “The Organ and Its Music in German-Jewish Culture,” recently published in paperback, will be a real ear-opener. Its author, musicologist Tina Frühauf, notes that “until the Middle Ages, the organ was not officially permitted in any Christian liturgy inasmuch as instrumental music was associated… with the Jewish services once held in the temple at Jerusalem.”Even after organs appeared in churches and became taboo for synagogues, there...

A rare pipe organ, manufactured in Mason City over 100 years ago, may soon have its “glorious sound” forever silenced. An effort conducted over the past two years to sell the instrument — the price today is $1 — has failed, said the Rev. Martha Rogers of Christ Episcopal Church in Cedar Rapids, where the organ is housed. “We certainly want to see it preserved,” Rogers said. “It’s playable; it’s been maintained. “But unless someone comes forward in the next couple of weeks or so, the organ will be dismantled and sold for parts.” The instrument is only one of...

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is demonstrating an appalling ignorance on the Iranian nuclear issue and the threat it poses to world security. In fact, several times during the recent GOP debates he blamed the animosity against the U.S. in the Middle East on America's foreign policy. Paul recently argued on "Fox News Sunday" that sanctions should be removed altogether to get Iran to act differently and that the U.S. response to Iran's nuclear pursuit was an "overreaction." He added that Iran does not pose a threat to either the U.S. or the region. The congressman from Texas insists that...