Jewish Music?

As I’ve noted, I like all kinds of music – pop, rock, r & b, jazz, show tunes, big band, some classical, plus all types of “fusions” of  these genres…and even an occasional country song (love some of those lyrics!)

Lately, it sort of randomly occurred to me that music I like is “Jewish.”  NOTE: I’m dropping the quotes for the rest of this post, but you can put them there in your head if you need them.

So what does that mean? Music written by Jews? Performed by Jews? About Jewish subjects? Hebrew lyrics? Yiddish Lyrics? Israeli? Ladino? I’m guessing there are many other possible definitions and invite your feedback if you have some. Read on for my take.

Some are easy – like Benny Goodman. Clearly he was influenced by klezmer music (Ziggy Elman’s trumpet solo on And the Angels Sing is as klezmer as it gets!) Benny was Jewish, but Dixieland music is pretty much all klezmer music, and Jews were not much of a factor in Dixie. 

Of course Benny played the clarinet which is a Jewish instrument….so is violin (Yeedl mit dem feedl – my brother has great lyrics for that song, but in Yiddish; that whole thing might end up in another post.)

George Gershwin? A Jew, and I love that he actually co-opted the melody for blessing the Torah and used it in Porgy and Bess for It Ain’t Necessarily So which is sung by black characters about the Bible.

On the other hand, there are Beatles songs that are Jewish…at least they are to me, e.g., And I Love Her, Girl, and If I Needed Someone – note each song is written and sung by different people, none Jewish as far as I know.

There are Allman Brothers songs that are Jewish, for example, Midnight Rider and In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.

Neil Young? Plenty of Jewish songs.

Santana? He actually played a Yiddish standard at Bill Graham’s funeral.

Even the Rolling Stones (I’m not really a fan) have Paint it Black which is a Jewish song by my reckoning. Squeeze and Talking Heads and Joe Jackson and even Coldplay (I do listen to some more current stuff after all) have Jewish songs too.

The above are just examples. Just about every artist I like has done songs that are Jewish. Likewise just about every one hit wonder song I like is Jewish.

Pretty much all folk music is Jewish – and yes I know a lot of those writers and performers were/are Jewish, including Mr. Zimmerman. Woody Guthrie was not Jewish, but his wife was, so Arlo is Jewish. Latin music is all basically Jewish, and so is a lot of Reggae, and definitely a lot of Motown and Stax. 

Bruce Springsteen is not Jewish and neither is his music – and as many of you know, most of his music has not really held up for me over time. Well, maybe Spirit in the Night is Jewish – but that’s about my hometown! (I’m quite sure you’ll be reading more about Bruuuuce in future posts.)

Dizzy Gillespie was not Jewish, but a lot of his music is…and I’m not just talking about his version of Eretz Zavat Chalav, a Hebrew folk song which he learned on a trip to Israel. He also does an amazing version of a Russian folk song Dark Eyes (aka Ochi Chornya) – many people think it is Jewish – on a record he did with Stan Getz…who was Jewish.

In fact, I have a very vivid memory of driving out of Jerusalem very late one night in a Mini Subaru (a 3 cylinder car with an engine so small that it actually sat under the driver’s seat – I only found that out when it broke down and we opened the hood and the trunk and found there was no engine in either place!) and hearing a set of music on Israeli radio that included Tangled Up in Blue and Erev B’Tunizia as the DJ called it (if you haven’t figured it out, the song was A Night in Tunisia.) Dylan and Dizzy in the middle of the night on the highway which snakes up/down the hills to/from Jerusalem…how amazing is that!

But I digress; back to my liking Jewish music.

Not long ago, I was explaining this discovery to my business partner and pal Harry (another important Harry in my life) who is extremely – much more than I am – knowledgeable about music. As I was blathering on, I eventually said something about how all of those San Francisco-based bands from the late 60’s played Jewish music, e.g., Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and of course – perhaps especially – Jefferson Airplane.

Around that time, the Coen Brothers’ movie A Serious Man had been released (spoiler coming for those of you who haven’t seen it – which is a shame….see it!) At some point later, Harry very calmly asked if I had seen it and I replied not yet. He suggested that I would like it and that I should call him right after so we can discuss it. Imagine my reaction at the end of that movie. I will summarize the scene: The Rabbi who was the Hebrew School teacher had confiscated the kid’s transistor radio, and he clearly had been listening to it. His great insight in the climactic scene of the entire film was, “Ven da trute is found to be lies, you know da joy vitin you dies.” Obviously there are others who think Jefferson Airplane is Jewish music too! Yes, I know there are at least some Jews in the band, but there were no Jews in many of those other bands who were based in San Fran around that time.

Anyway when that movie ended that day, there was one crazy Jew in the crowd laughing hysterically and dialing Harry as soon as the credits started to roll.

So what does it all mean?

I think that my definition of Jewish music is music with a “krechts.” Great – now I have to try and translate that! A krechts is kind of a combination of a sigh and a moan, but it’s not necessarily sad. In fact, much of what I’d call Jewish music is very happy (there are songs actually called freilachs – freilach means happy.)

In musical terms – not that I’m so conversant – I believe it’s “minor key.”  To me, it seems like there is a little something lacking or unfinished about it… looking forward, hopeful really, but also a bit wistful – very much in keeping with Jewish values, e.g.:  

·         Tikkun Olam – fixing, or perfecting, the world…something we strive for, but it’s never quite done

·         Waiting for Moshiach (the Messiah) who has never come…yet!

·         Rabbi Tarfon teaching that while we may not ever complete the task, we are not at liberty to ignore it…we are obligated to keep trying

Yes I like other kinds of music (including many songs in major keys!), but something about that “Jewish” music really touches me.

Double Standards?

I don’t like double standards or – as someone who was very uncomfortable when confronted with his own double standard once called them – different standards…and if you can figure out the difference, please enlighten me.

I’m in favor of a Palestinian State, assuming that it will be a state where Jews and everyone else can also reside, just like Arabs, Christians and Muslims can reside in Israel.

I am not in favor of a Palestinian state that will be Judenrein, no more than I am in favor of an Israel that is free of non-Jews, or any other ethnically cleansed place

I am not in favor of a state that is sworn to Israel’s destruction.

I love that there is an organization of Rabbis for Gaza. I’d really love it if there was an organization of Imams for Sderot. And I’d be ecstatic if there was a Palestinian or other Arab chapter of Peace Now (Shalom Achshav in Hebrew) with an Arabic name.

I don’t buy the argument about the importance of contiguity – have you ever heard of Alaska? If there are peaceful relations, people can cross each others’ borders safely and easily… or at least as easily and safely as we can cross through Canada on our way to/from Alaska.

Boycotts of Israel? When Elvis Costello doesn’t play the U.S. because of how Native Americans are treated, I will begin to take him seriously. For now, I’m boycotting him – although I have not yet deleted the Squeeze songs he was involved with (speaking of which, I truly believe that there are many closet Squeeze fans.) And when Alice Walker laments the treatment of women, much less gay women, in Saudi Arabia – or GAZA! – as passionately as she speaks out about Palestinians, I will pay more attention.

I don’t believe in unbalanced pre-conditions in negotiations. If you are going to impose a pre-condition on one side, there should be a pre-condition on both sides. Otherwise you are creating an imbalance and who wants to enter a negotiation under those circumstances?

I – along with anyone who stops to think about it – know that there is a proven pathway to peace between Israel and its neighbors, and it has nothing to do with settlements or freezes. In fact all it takes is for the other side to recognize Israel as a Jewish State (can we still be talking about this 60+ years later? Talk about a double standard!) and to renounce violence.  Egypt did it – settlements were dismantled, very painfully – and Jordan did it, and there’s peace with both. It has been tried twice and it has worked both times, so why not focus on an approach that has a perfect record of success, as the first, best path forward.

On the other hand, complete Israeli withdrawal from all of Gaza, and abandoning every settlement there led to nothing but ongoing rocket fire in to Israeli territory that virtually nobody (save those sworn to Israel’s destruction) believes is disputed. The Gaza withdrawal was so thorough that even Jewish bones were removed from the cemeteries! So it is quite certain that simply making any place entirely “sanitized” of Jews does not lead to peace.

I do not condone every action ever taken by Israel. If mistakes were made in Gaza they should be investigated and dealt with appropriately. In fact, there are investigations ongoing and actions have, and are, being taken. Likewise, Hamas or the PA or whoever is the ruling force in Gaza should find people firing rockets in to Israel and take proper action. I have not heard that is happening in any way by anyone.

No rational person can dispute that if there were no rockets from Gaza, there would have never been any incursion to Gaza!  In fact it literally took years of rocket fire before Israel took action. Where was the international outrage? Or screams for investigations? Or demands that perpetrators be found and tried? Where was the UN?

I yearn for a just peace, a peace where Israel lives with its neighbors like other countries do – why would, or should, Israel “settle” for anything less?

Double standards are essentially an insidious, if subtle, form of prejudice, and they don’t work.

From the Center

I’m a man in the middle.

I consider myself a centrist (more on this below); and I’m certainly in middle age, ok – probably “late” middle age; I have a generation ahead and one behind; and I might add I’m a man happy to be in the middle.

About being a centrist:  Those who know me have often heard me quote my cousin Harry, one of at least two important Harrys in my life, who has been known to ask, and then answer...

Q: How do you define an extremist?

A: Anyone to the right or left of ME.

Of course by that definition we may all be centrists…and in fact we can remain centrists even as we and our positions may shift left or right, and that has certainly been known to happen. 

I feel somewhat secure in my self-definition as a centrist because many people I know think I’m a left wing lunatic, and probably just as many think I’m a right wing reactionary (I may be a centrist but I’m a passionate one) – so I must be smack in the middle, exactly where I want to be.  I’m not an extremist after all.

Anyway, why a blog? Why not? (I’m a Jewish centrist – and we have been known to answer questions with questions.)

I think about a lot of things – life is such a deep, rich adventure – and I often have strong, rational, by my own standards for sure, points of view about many subjects. I also love to communicate, and I especially love persuasion – perhaps that is why I do marketing and sales for a living.  Maybe I need an outlet; in fact it seems like I do!

In any case, I’m writing a blog – and while it’s my blog, I invite reaction and response. My wife wanted to be my partner in this blog…and she might be someday, but for now, this is my blog!

Topics will most certainly vary, but I plan to address family, religion, politics, Israel, food...and wine, culture (well pop culture) and friends. Maybe work – probably not fashion, but you never know. I hope it will be fun and funny a lot of the time, but to be honest, it’s also very likely to be serious some of the time. In other words, I expect it to be about LIFE.

For today, I’m sharing a subject that has been a topic of discussion in our home many times over the years…“things” vs. “experiences.”

Usually this comes up when we talk about whether to take a vacation, or spend stupid sums of money on an extravagant dining experience – in other words, something that will end relatively soon; or to buy something (needed or otherwise) which has a longer...in many cases much longer... “shelf life.” 

I like things – especially things like a great bottle of wine, or an amazing meal, or a beach vacation….okay I know those are experiences, and I do like some things that are not experiences, but I really LOVE experiences.

I love going to Israel and Italy – every single time!! I love being by the ocean, especially in Eastern Long Island, every single time. I love cooking with and/or for friends and family every single time.

When I think of what has brought me the greatest joy and the happiest memories, I always think about experiences, not things.

Before signing off, a musical musing or two (or a few):

I have always really loved music...many styles and genres. By way of example, I once was checking out of a record store (remember those!?) with records by these artists: Lou Reed, Dizzy Gillespie, The Spinners and Tom Tom Club. The clerk actually asked if all of those were for me – and that made me smile.  I guess I’d call my tastes eclectic, but as my friend Billy used to say, “We like ‘good’ music.”

A question I have asked many times – is there a greater difference between the good Elton and the bad Elton, or the good Stevie and the bad Stevie, referring only to their own songs, even if co-written… while happily acknowledging that both have done some great covers, including Beatles songs, e.g., Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (among others) by Elton and We Can Work it Out by Stevie.  For what it's worth, I think it's Stevie.

And if not for one song, don't you agree that The Pretender by Jackson Browne may have been a perfect album from start to finish? By the way, if you have to ask which song, you are not entitled to an opinion on this topic.

John or Paul? I'm firmly on the fence (although Lennon really has grown on me over time).

A final thought – do you remember the joy of discovering the “other side” of the album after you got sick of listening to the side that had the song you originally wanted.  Abandoned Luncheonette is one I recall, although the last song on that second side is one of the worst pieces of filler I’ve ever heard!

I invite your feedback dear reader(s), and until next time, I remain…"A Man in the Middle."