Music and Memories: Where Do They Take You?

Recently, I started the New York Times 30-Day Challenge, and this past week, one of the non-exercise day challenges was this:

Choose a song you love that you want to share with another person and ask them to do the same. Tell them why you are sharing it — does it make you think of them? Does it explain how you feel? Or does it bring back a great memory? Don’t just listen and forget it. Take time to talk about it. This is a great challenge to help you connect with children, but you also can share it with a romantic partner or best friend.

My first thought was this Facebook post from March of 2019:

The power of music: This morning Hall and Oates' "Kiss on My List" was playing in Dunkin Donuts while I waited on line. Without missing a beat, I was back at Lafayette College, it was 1983...a Saturday night and Zete was spinning disks. My shoes were sticking to the dance floor, friends were nearby, and all was right with the world.

Then yesterday, during the weekly pre-Shabbat Zoom gathering of the JCC Association team, one of my colleagues, a former song leader, chose “Blowin’ in the Wind” as this week’s song. He described how he first heard it at home as a third-grader in 1989 and rightly noted that the sentiment and the lyrics are as apt today as they were when they were written back in 1963. While he sang, accompanying himself on the guitar, I refrained from typing into the chat that the song and I are the same age!

In fact, there are many songs whose opening notes magically whoosh me back to places and people from my past.

Play Billy Joel’s “My Life” and I’m immediately in Mrs. Ritter’s brown, two-door Plymouth Volare. Susie, my friend Amy’s sister, is driving, and a bunch of us are squished together in the back seat, heading home from the annual Franklin-Piscataway homecoming game. The radio’s blasting, and it’s as though Billy Joel is talking directly to us, high schoolers just starting to find our voices and try out our wings:

I don't need you to worry for me 'cause I'm alright
I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home
I don't care what you say anymore this is my life
Go ahead with your own life leave me alone

The same thing happens with “Evergreen,” but instead of in a car, I’m in Bound Brook, one town over from home, at my high school’s yearbook signing dinner, slow dancing with Ross Ignall. (Ironically, that year, the yearbooks weren’t back from the printer in time for the event, so we all signed staple bound booklets, specially assembled for the occasion.)

The opening bars of “You Are” by Lionel Richie are from the same era, and those notes whisk me to Easton, Pennsylvania. It’s freshman year and I’m in Ruef Hall, Room 307, with its matching comforters, curtains and rug—the most coordinated room on our floor and maybe in the entire dorm. It’s Saturday night, the music’s mellow, and my roommate Terry and I are chilling, waiting for the clock to strike 11 so we can head out for the evening—to Zete first, then maybe a stop at another fraternity house, or, to my favorite spot, the basement of Marquis Hall, to sit in an oversized faux leather booth at “The Leopard’s Lair,” for French fries and diet Pepsi. 

Two musical pieces, though, predate Lionel, Billy, Daryl, John, and Barbra.

Thanks to WQXR, this one came blasting into the living room at 12 Webster Road when there was still a stereo and speakers along the wall where a piano later sat. All four of us were in the room at the time, and as if on a whim, my mother said to the elementary school-aged Amy and me: “Does this song remind you of another one?” A few minutes of quiet listening, and… “Hatikvah!” I shouted, surprised at having made the connection to a song from an album of Israeli songs that played often on our stereo.

Naomi Shemer’s classic, “Jerusalem of Gold,” was another of those Israeli songs. It quickly became such a favorite that I chose it as the closing song for my bat mitzvah service. For many years, hearing its soulful refrain took me back to that night more than four decades ago. More recently, it’s brought me to the back patio of the King David Hotel from whence I caught a first glimpse of the walls of the Old City in 2004—on the first night of my first-ever visit to Jerusalem. A longtime URJ board member, Arthur Heyman, z”l, had accompanied me to the spot, creating what was then, and especially is now, a sweet memory indeed.

ICYMI: Tribute to Theodore Bikel

Photo: jewishjournal.com

Hop over to ReformJudaism.org to read my latest blog post, a tribute to Theodore Bikel, the prolific actor, musician, and nurturer of souls.  I will miss him, but am grateful for the memories of family and music he's left me.

#BlogExodus: Tell

Although I'd like to tell you more, the one thing I can tell you for sure is that I'm too old to stay up until 1:30 a.m. -- even if it's to watch a live-stream of 70-some rabbis having their heads shaved to raise awareness about and funding for pediatric cancer research.

Suffice it to say that for now, the next time I hear this:



I'll be waiting for the waters to part, paving the way for me to escape my Egypts, and giving me lots of opportunities to open new and different doors and windows in all facets of my life.

I look forward to telling you all about them after the fact, but for now, it's off to sleep for me.

Lailah tov, friends.

Inspired by Ima on (and off) the Bima, this post is one in a series marking the days of the Jewish month of Nissan leading up to Passover, which begins at sundown on Monday, 14 Nissan. If you want to play along, check out this year's #BlogExodus and #Exodusgram prompts.

A Mother-Daughter Jaunt to Miami

One in an occasional series of letters to my mother, z.l., that appears on this blog.

Dear The Mums,

Remember when you went to the URJ Biennial in Orlando in 1999 and how, when you told one of your friends it was your first trip to Florida, she asked, “Are you sure you’re really Jewish?!”

I was reminded of that exchange recently because Alan Mason, one of my friends, is, for the fifth time in as many years, directing what has become an incredibly popular and nationally known Jewish music concert in Miami.  Alan’s the program director of the Winter Jewish Music Concert, an annual event that began four years ago as a tribute to him on his 18^th anniversary as the director of music at Temple Israel of Greater Miami.

Since then, it has grown exponentially in size and popularity.  This year’s Winter Jewish Music Concert will be held on Saturday, January 19 at 8 p.m. in the Bertha Abess Sanctuary at Temple Israel.  That night, more than 25 singers (cantors, cantorial soloists and musicians) will, accompanied by Alan on the piano, come together from throughout South Florida and beyond to perform a lively mix of tap-your-foot, sing-along Jewish music, including liturgical, pop, jazz, folk, Israeli, Yiddish, Ladino, cantorial, beat box, magic and illusion, as well as other styles.  A capacity crowd of more than 700 will, as in the past, pack the sanctuary, while countless others will watch the first-ever live broadcast of the concert on Jewish Life TV. 

Although I’ve never made it to Miami for the concert (or for any other reason, in fact), I’ve seen video clips from previous concerts and I can tell you that you and I would love a pair of seats in the sanctuary.   

In an ideal world, we’d take a mid-winter, leave-it-all-behind mother-daughter jaunt to Miami to fill those seats.  Of course, this isn’t an ideal world and the best I can do this year is tune in to Jewish Life TV next Saturday night to watch and listen virtually.  I’m not sure what kind of electronics set-up you’ve got in your yeshivah shel mal'ah (or, come to think of it, if, given where you are, you even need video equipment to see and hear the concert!), but I hope you, too, will tune in—in whatever way works best—to hear the music and feel the enthusiasm.  You will love it!  If you need more information, there’s lots of it here on the concert’s website.

As always, I miss you lots and wish you were here.  Enjoy the music, The Mums.

Talk soon…xoxo,

~ Boo!

A Potpourri of Jewish Music

If you attended the URJ’s recent Biennial convention, you were, as always, treated to an array of terrific Jewish music from the likes of David Broza, Josh Nelson, Julie Silver, Dan Nichols, Joe Black, Noah Aronson, Michelle Citrin, Peri Smilow, and a host of others.  These dedicated and talented musicians kept our toes tapping, our hands clapping, our bottoms dancing and our voices singing from one end of the Biennial convention to the other.

Better than reading my words about the music, though, watch a few minutes (or the whole megillah) of the Kabbalat Shabbat Song Session to see and hear for yourself.  If you’re anything like me, before long, your own toes will be tapping, your hands clapping, your bottom dancing and your voice singing.

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If that’s not enough, plan to tune in at 8 p.m. on Saturday evening, January 14th for live streaming of Miami’s fourth annual Winter Jewish Music Concert.  Formerly known as the South Florida Cantorial Concert, this year’s event (which is beyond sold out!) will feature nearly two dozen cantors, soloists and other musicians performing a wide range of cantorial, Ladino, pop, classical, Yiddish, jazz and rap music from the Bertha Abess Sanctuary at Temple Israel of Greater Miami.  Martin Bookspan, longtime host of “Live from Lincoln Center” will be the guest host and Dr. Alan Mason will once again serve as the concert’s program director. "The sustained success of this annual concert," says Mason, "is due to the consistently high level of executive each performer brings to his or her selection, and the lack of any intrusion (introductions, thank you's acknowledgements) outside of the music."

For a sampling of last year’s music, check out this video:

To tune into the live streaming of the concert, click on this link at the appointed hour (8 p.m. on Saturday, January 14th).  

Happy listening!

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Finally, mark your calendars now for 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 11 when choirs from throughout New Jersey and the west Hudson Valley of New York will come together at Temple Emeth in Teaneck for a choral festival…and a chance for you to hear even more terrific Jewish music of all kinds.  Check back soon for additional details.

In the meantime, enjoy the music!

The Joy of Peri Smilow

Although I can’t carry much of a tune, I certainly do enjoy listening to them. The ones I click to most often on my iPod are those on the “Jewish” playlist – everything from Beth Schafer, David Broza and Julie Silver to Debbie Friedman, Kol B’Seder and the liturgical songs on the Union’s Biennial CDs. If I’m not listening to Jewish music, sometimes I’m writing about it. You can read some of my muscial musings here and here and here.

Over the weekend, I received a copy of Blessings, Peri Smilow’s new CD and, needless to say, I've listened to it a few times since then. With its beautiful music, lyrics and sentiments dancing in my head, I’ve decided that Nachshon ben Aminadav, the title character from One Small Step on the Freeom Music Project CD has to take a back seat at least for now (sorry, Nachshon) to Joy, my new favorite offering on the Blessings CD.

Of course the lyrics alone can’t begin to do justice to Peri’s rich, clear voice or the deep, smooth piano that accompanies it, but here they are nonetheless:

I wish you roses in the spring,
Fledgings on the wing,
Fireflies that sing your name.

I wish flowers in the grass,
Memories that last,
Shelter from the passing rain.

I wish you joy.
I wish you joy.
I wish you joy.

I hope the wind is at your back,
Keeping you on track,
That you never lack for love.
I hope you’ll walk beside your heart,
Even in the dark,
Guided by the stars above.

I wish you love.
I wish you love.
I wish you love.

So wherever you may roam,
Out there on your own,
Home is just a heart away.

I wish you joy.
I wish you joy.
I wish you joy.

Better than imagining these tender words set to music, get a copy of the new CD and listen for yourself. I know you won’t be disappointed.

Comfort Music

Today was perhaps one of the most difficult days of my professional life. Although I still have my job, many of my friends and colleagues at the Union for Reform Judaism were not so lucky. “Sad” and “emotionally exhausted” don’t even begin to scratch the surface of how we – individually and collectively – feel.

And so I’ve turned to “comfort music.” Pouring from my iTunes tonight as I go about the chores of the evening are the ballads of Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, the Carpenters and Harry Chapin, among others. And, although the songs can’t take away all the pain (or substitute for my favorite comfort foods -- chocolate pudding and mac and cheese), I do know all the words, can sing along (off key and loudly!), and, even if just for a little while, escape to simpler days and happier times.

You Do the Crime, You Do the Time

I admit it: I’m a Barry Manilow fan. Yup, ever since high school when Donna Joselson first introduced me to Tryin’ to Get the Feeling, the album with the sculpted piano player on the red cover, I’ve been a fan of this 70s crooner who just keeps on writing the songs. This One’s for You and Greatest Hits soon joined the vinyl disks that went around and around and around on the little phonograph in my room.

A year or so later, my parents took my sister and me to our first- ever concert -- Barry Manilow at the Garden State Arts Center, now the PNC Bank Arts Center. We had lawn seats, which is really a misnomer since there were no seats involved. Instead, we spread a blanket on the grass lawn behind the amphitheater – and it was BYOB (bring your own blanket). The folks a few feet away brought more than a blanket, but I, of course, had no idea about that sweet smell that wafted over to where we were sprawled out enjoying our pre-concert picnic. (Today, with the possible exception of my sister, none of us could any sooner get down on the ground for a picnic than we could get up from the ground at the end of the concert. But that was a long time ago…)

Even now (no pun intended!), all these years later, I sometimes find myself singing along (yes, I freely admit this) to Mandy, Weekend in New England, Can’t Smile Without You and I Write the Songs when they pop up in my iTunes player. Needless to say, therefore, I was maddened by an article in today’s New York Times about Colorado Judge Paul Sacco, who regularly sentences noise ordinance violators to one-hour, high volume Barry Manilow listening sessions.

Judge Sacco: sign me up!