Art, there wasn't much klezmer music around, even among those who sense of Jewishness was strong, for roughly 40 years (1940 to 1980). Cantorial music has not been heard much, outside the synagogues, in many decades. Those with a keen interest in Jewish music were (mostly) listening to Israeli music and/or Shlomo Carlebach and/or Debbie Friedman (not that there's anything wrong with that).

If you want to try to appreciate klezmer, you may find the music of the revival more accessible than that of the 1920s and 30s. A good place to start would be the Itzhak Perlman CD, In The Fiddler's House.