Posted April 8 2008
Knockin’ On Zimmerman’s Door
While my current employment in Jewish entertainment media has come up in my posts from time to time, I’ve never quite had enough gall to publish one of my playlists. I do so today on two counts. On the one hand, I know that if I had opened this up here, I would have had a much more complete list of songs that fit my criteria. Really though, it is the reaction I got to the show that I want to share.
Shushan Purim 2008
MaMaSh radio program
Theme: Jewish Music from Secular Sources
Inspiration: Dave’s Comment to an Article on Jewneric
| Time | Artist | Song | Jewish | Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02:54:47 | John Zorn | Maskil | √ | Classical |
| 03:06:51 | Josh White | Joshua Fit the Battle of Jerico | × | Gospel/Blues |
| 03:12:12 | Phish | Avenu Malkenu | ~ | Jazzish/Jewy/Phishy |
| 03:25:15 | The Byrds | Turn! Turn! Turn! | × | Folk/Rock |
| 03:31:48 | Don Mclean | Jerusalem | Unlikely | Folk/Rock |
| 03:40:22 | Golden Gate Quartet | Ezekiel Saw The Wheel | × | Gospel/Blues |
| 03:44:36 | Bob Marley | 400 Years | Who’s Asking? | Reggae |
| 03:53:58 | Gary Lucas | Adon Olom | √ | Classic Jewy |
| 04:08:34 | Neil Diamond | Jerusalem | √ | 70’s Rock |
| ~04:15? | Don Mclean | By the Waters of Babylon | Overlay | |
| 04:25:27 | Peter Himmelman | Achdut | √ | Jewish/Rock |
| 04:36:14 | Steven Bernstein | Let My People Go | You’d Think | Classical |
| 04:40:56 | Bill Cosby | Noah | × | Stand Up |
| 04:55:52 | Bob Dylan | Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door | √ | Folk/Rock |
Now, you’d think that this playlist is benign and harmless, but I wouldn’t be writing about it if it was. My first reaction came during the show in the form of an email. Sarah, one of my favorite commentators (because of how well versed she is in music as an art), thought that my playlist was not radical enough for Shushan Purim. Most of these songs, she claimed, could easily be tucked into any of my regular shows.
On the whole, she is correct. I have snuck Jewishy songs by secular Jewish musicians into shows in the past. I’ve managed to sneak in artists like Allan Sherman, Arlo Guthrie, Dean Friedman, Kinky Friedman and even Tom Lehrer. Bob Dylan made his first appearance on my first show as Shabtai Zimmerman (singing the Hava Nagila Blues). This show wasn’t about getting away with the occasional song. This was about dedicating a show to the concept.
I got my second comment from the control room operator at my station. He was my #1 fan that morning. “Really digging your show tonight. Never thought I’d be here at this station and listening to some Phish. Great stuff.”
On Monday, I got a phone-to-email text telling me how I abused Purim by using it to play music with non-Jewish tunes. He didn’t care about the content, it wasn’t Jewish-style enough for him. I thought I finally shut him up by asking him to ask his rabbi if these songs were inappropriate instead of assuming the answer. He wrote back that he’d rather waste my time than the rabbi’s.
Rabbi Yehudah Levin, one of the world’s biggest opponents to anything different than how it was in the olden days (also renowned as a crazy man by much of the population), has taken up the issue of modern influences in Jewish music. However, this past Wednesday on his radio program he advocated the song “A Few of My Favorite Things.” Sung by a female in a movie (The Sound of Music), this song has no connection with Judaism and barely any redeeming social importance at all. (He also wrote and sang a parody to the Banana Boat Song.) With that, I decided very comfortably that my songs were not inappropriate even for those who object to non-Jewish music in general.
The biggest objection I would think anyone would have to my playlist would be Neil Diamond’s Jerusalem, where “Jerusalem” could be replaced with “the store” and the song would make more sense. (”On my way to the store.”/”When does the store close?”)
I think I know the opinion of most of the people here, that anyone who found something objectionable in my playlist doesn’t deserve to own a radio. But if your comments are different, I’d love to hear them. Also, I’d like to know: would you qualify my playlist as Jewish or is it just Judeo-Christian?
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8 Comments currently posted. 
Dave Weinberg says:
Benji Rosenzweig says:
A few other great jewish songs are
Neighborhood Bully by Bob Dylan ( Shamai)
By the River of Babylon by Sublime
the entire albim of skin by Peter Himmelman
Enjoy the listen
Benji
leah says:
For the “email to text guy” , please ask him for a Jewdar spectrum, I would like to know what makes music Jewish.
Here is my thought, Music is universal, it transcends all races, most religions ( I say most because some religions aren’t allowed to listen to music), perhaps that sounds of ou ma ma ma, and oy oy oy oy can make a song appear to be from a Jew but it certainly doesn’t make music Jewish.
Example A– Oy Oy Oy Say Can you see? By the dawn’s early light… What so proudly we whined…
~Anyhow, I often go off to a tangent so bare with me~
“I have a dream that my ideals of music will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the race/ethnicity/religion/stereotypes of the singer but by the content of their rhythms and melodies.”
Here is to everyone listening to Lipa Schmeltzer! -The End-
I refuse to call you Weed. Kudos.
David Gertler says:
Dave-
Your inspiration drives us every day! Where would Jewneric be without it?
Benji-
Neighborhood Bully is an amazing song and I had considered having it on my playlist. It was suggested to me not to play it as it might be taken as too seriously political for a post-Purim show. I’ll try and sneak it in for Israel’s 60th.
The truth is there are so many “By the Rivers of Babylon/Waters of Babylon” that I decided to just go with Don Mclean’s which I consider to be a classic.
Peter Himmelman, for those of you curious enough to wonder but not curious enough to click the link to his webpage is Bob Dylan’s Shomer Shabbat son-in-law; and the most traditionally Jewish of the artists on the playlist, the song I played, Achdut, is currently available only off his website.
Leah-
The disadvantage and relevance of him using a phone to send me messages is that we each had to limit our thoughts to 160 characters at a time- greatly dissuading detailed discussion.
Moshe Grussgott says:
Yes! Thank you, I’ve been saying this for years: that so much of our “Jewish music” from the yeshivish and modern orthodox worlds, is in fact nothing but techno and boy band nonsense with no spiritual value, other than the fact that they’re using hebrew words (the song “yehei, yehei” by the chevra comes to mind) whereas so many non-Jewish or non-Orthodox artists have made seriously profound and spiritual songs bases on the Bible which should qualify as Jewish in that they’re more religiously meaningful..I actually have a playlist like the one you have in my “Jewish music” section in my Ipod..a couple good ones not on your list:
I am that I am, Peter Tosh
Halleluya, Leonard Cohen
Shema Yisrael, Sarit Hadad
Also, so many negro spirituals and Marley/rastafarian songs
leah says:
Negro Spirituals? Moshe please do enlighten me. What is a NEGRO spiritual?
David Gertler says:
Point of reference for Negro Spiritual as the name of the style of music:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_(music)
Aside, of course, from the website: http://www.negrospirituals.com/
Moshe Grussgott says:
Ha thanks David yeh I probably should have specified that that’s actually the official term for certain old African American Christian worship songs, although it’s obviously no longer PC today, the term is maintained b/c that’s what it was always called in the past. (Hope no offense was taken)
I’m touched that I (and Phish’s “Avinu Malkenu”) am the inspiration for this great compilation.
Rock on Weed!