Some of My Best Friends Are Jewish

I have always wanted to say that line. It’s one you grew up hearing as the ultimate sign of the unenlightened, only the statement was:
Some of my best friends are Black!

To which my mother would always say:
And when was the last time you invited your best friend to your house for dinner?

Well, actually, some of my best friends do happen to be Jewish. And I never invite anyone to my house for dinner but I’m at their homes all the time for dinner, Passover – you name it. and I love Jewish soul food: bagels, latkes, matzo ball soup, kugel, chopped liver… I know the Bubbies, and the Rabbis, I speak a bit of Yiddish on occasion and I have performed at more Jewish weddings than you can wave a stick at! Jewish American culture feels comfortable to me. Even my guys (The Shivers) get it. One wedding in paricular brought it home to The Shivers. The bride & groom asked four relatives who were Holocaust survivors to stand up and be recognized. Everyone applauded – including me & the Shivers. I was bawling of course. These folks had concentration camp numbers tattooed on their forearms. Who can deny the poignancy of a moment like that – especially when you are the descendant of slaves?

We did a Jewish wedding on Sunday night and it was great fun. The folks stampeded to the dance floor. I called a lovely mix of music so that everyone could dance. There is always a mix of young & old at most weddings. However, there is a huge difference between what kids like now and what folks liked who were young during the sixties and seventies. Hip hop is something that not everyone can relate to, so you gotta mix it up so as not to keep anyone out of the fun. I refuse to keep an entire generation out of the loop. So, I will throw out some hip hop (the Shivers can play hip hop like you can’t believe!) but then I have to make sure that the baby boomers get their due and then one must always throw in the standards for some nice slow dancing and a little rockin’ swing never hurts. And of course Michael Jackson is the great equalizer – as is Earth Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder & Aretha Franklin.

I love Jewish wedding ceremonies because they include traditions that have been passed on for generations: the Chuppa, the Rabbi speaking in Hebrew, the breaking of the glass – it’s all so different from my own religious background and so very lovely. And these same rituals can be traced back two thousand years! I really enjoy the wedding party afterwards because I get to sing for the Hora! The Hora is a traditional dance of joy and celebration performed by folks holding hands and moving in a circle, slowly at first and then the tempo accelerates to a frenzy. ( I usually speed it up until all the participants are breathless and sweaty and howling with laughter.) The Hora is performed to Jewish Folk songs sung in Hebrew. You may not know this about me but one of my biggest dreams is to sing in another language. So obviously, I love singing for the Hora. I never grow tired of singing Hava Nagila. It just tastes good rolling off the tongue and singing in Hebrew makes me very happy. (I have got to learn some more songs for the Hora) Nothing makes me happier than leading my band of (mostly) African Americans performing the Hora because my band plays everything really well. If it’s music, we can play it and we can play a killer Hora. But for this particular wedding I brought in violinist/singer Ruby Harris to lead the Horas and my band followed his lead switching rhythms as he ran through the gamut of Jewish Folk Songs. He fiddled and sang in Hebrew and the guests danced and danced and danced. The Hora originated in the Balkans but it is a part of many different countries and cultures. The music is a gorgeous mix of many music traditions: Gypsy, Klesmer and Israeli music so it feels very “folky” and ethnic. I love it.

The Jewish tradition is rich with ceremony, prayers and songs. I believe that any group of people who have had a history of being oppressed, has to be strong and rich with culture because they have had to fight hard to hold onto their traditions. My people’s traditions (culture, language and any ancient traditions) were stripped away and/or beaten out of them during slavery days. I feel very close to any group of people who have a direct link to their roots – be it through songs, dance, language or prayers. It’s a beautiful thing. They are very lucky.

Mazol tov!