Hearing the Torah Singing Back at Me
We cannot escape our history; as a people, faces and names may change but the stories do not. For this reason, and because art imitates life, lyrics heard in today’s secular songs are informed by ancient sacred texts. In fact, I can't listen to Spotify without hearing the Torah singing back at me.
The Language Only Our Soul Can Speak
Here Comes the Sun came on. My tummy sank with the tractor-beam sound of the descending Moog at the beginning, giving birth to George’s serene voice and guitar. It’s still with me right now, and will be when I die.
Seeking a Spiritual Sucker Punch
If we’re praying for peace, let’s find our fervent desire for a better day somewhere in our souls. If we’re praying for healing, let us channel our terror of mortality and the grief of loss into the hope of a long, healthy life with those we love.
When Punk Rock Fights Nazism, I Hope You’ll Invite Me to the Party
Our hands, our fingers, can be used for battle. But this battle needs to come from art. It needs to come from music. It needs to come from writing. So long as it’s honest, it’s good. It needs to be hard, fast, intelligent, a vessel for the Divine.
These Things Will Happen
We want to believe that we are nearly immortal. We make plans days and weeks and years ahead despite never knowing if we’ll be alive to see them fulfilled. We have almost no control over our destinies and that is enough to terrify anyone.
Prayer is a Time Machine
Isn’t that interesting -- how sitting alone, underneath headphones, captivated by music recorded in some far-off time or place -- can make you feel as though you are at the very center of the universe?
When The New Becomes Holy
I started telling myself, “Temple sucks, Judaism sucks, and Jewish music is super lame.” That was when [Green Day’s] Dookie came out and Kurt Cobain had just died. The music was grunge and emoting in a way that the one-four-five happy-clappy type Jewish folk music just really couldn’t accomplish. I still loved camp and song sessions, but I was finding a new kind of music for myself.
In Pursuit of '90s Rock
Music moves us. But the right music, well the right music can be truly transformational.
What Goes into a Punk Rock Cover of the Shema?
Not everyone can relate to going to a synagogue and sitting down. It can be kind of boring. If I scream “Shema Yisroel” at the top of my lungs, maybe people will get into it a little more, really feel it. You’re supposed to feel it. You’re supposed to be on fire for it.
Demanding Peace
Today, in America, we know what it means to live in relative peace and prosperity. But what did our ancestors feel while praying for peace in times of war, famine, or plague?