All posts tagged as: jewish identity
Jewish Sign Language and Blind-Deaf theater in Israel
For some reason, deaf Jewish themes have been coming up in conversation recently. Last Shabbat dinner, I met a guy a bit older than me who was scheduled to have a cochlear implant this week. That reminded me of a powerful documentary about “deaf culture” I once saw on PBS called Sound and Fury, which explores the tension between technology and tradition. In a separate conversation, I was reminded of a blind-deaf theater & restaurant in Tel Aviv/Yafo, Israel, called Nalagaat. If you find yourself on that side of the Atlantic, it’s a profoundly beautiful performance. If you brush up on your Hebrew sign language video, maybe you won’t be tongue-tied while trying to order a drink from the deaf bartenders at the café.
Who is a Jewish Musician?
Jesse Rifking of The Wailing Wall has an article in the latest issue of The New York Jewish Week entitled “Who is a Jewish Musician?” He talks to a lot of people (including me!) to get at the heart of the question, without ever really giving an answer that would keep an aspiring JDubber from considering themselves a Jewish Musician. Anyway, the article is great, so read it HERE. Full text after the jump.
Zaydee turns 80
I spent all weekend with the extended fam for a cousin’s bar mitzvah celebration, which culminated with an 80th birthday party for my Zaydee (poo poo poo). Zaydee is a man of humble means, whose resume reads janitor, milk truck driver, and chazzan. Can’t say who would have won a cantor-battle between him and Jeremiah Lockwood’s grandfather. During davening, a pretty standard revue of centuries-old Shabbat prayer melodies, Zaydee angrily turned to us and asked, “Who chose these tunes? It sounds like an Irish wake!” That stood alone as a pretty good zinger. But then he threw in this bold claim: supposedly, he and Bubbie stayed up ’til five in the morning with Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach the night that the singin’ rabbi composed his melody for Ein Keloheinu
. That might sound outlandish, except that Zaydee has a knack for backing up his stories with remarkable minutiae–in this case, a location: a club on 41st Street that was supposedly a well-known venue for Jewish and Israeli musicians. Anyone know the name of this place?
We love you, Zaydee. Keep those stories coming ’til 120 
So you think you can dance… Jewish
Brief recap of earlier post: I’m answering the call for a Jewish dance revolution. For inspiration, I’ve turned to Bhangra. Originally a Punjabi folk dance accompanying in a 15th century river festival, Bhangra as we know it owes its Pan-Indian and global appeal to the musical innovation of young Indians in the 80’s and 90’s, who were responding to their feeling excluded/occasionally beat up in the Diaspora. Their answer: blending Bollywood with house music–a heritage music fusion project. Gadzooks, you say, an Indian parallel to JDub! One difference: Bhangra music resulted in all sorts of dance spin-offs that have been popularized in popular film and TV shows, not to mention Basement Bhangra Mr. Bean’s Holiday full . We Hebrews still got a long way to go there.
Bhangra isn’t all fun and games: while the lyrics chirp about flirting and merriment, bhangra dancers are very particular about nailing intricate hand and foot positions, especially in the context of the intense inter-collegiate bhangra competitions that have emerged as something of a monster (usually followed by massive after-parties). And if YOU GOT SERVED taught me one thing, it’s that competition breeds trouble in group dynamics. **WARNING: Under no circumstances should you watch beyond the first five minutes of this film. Your brain will melt from boredom.**
If you’re a jew or judeophile, & want to advance the Jewish dance revolution, email me: hypersemitic_at_gmail_._com
it’s root, root, root for _______
[No disrespect to Mr. Gibson, but no post involving Jews and baseball is complete without this clip.]
Compartmentalized identity: it’s not just a mouthful, it’s a heartache. Just ask World Series MVP Albert Pujols, who declared his intention to bow out of a spring training game against the Dominican national team. Pujols wanted to represent the mother land, but apparently couldn’t find an insurer to cover him. So while Dominicana tunes up for the 2nd World Baseball Classic, Pujols will take the day off out of “respect.” I support his decision 100%. Plus, this news item is a welcome departure from stories of ridiculous tactics some athletes have used to weasel out of international matches with political foes.