Documentary filmmaker has a ‘Hava Nagila’ in her heart

By Elyse Glickman
Published on February 27, 2013

"Hava Nagila” is one of those songs, like “Celebration” and “Auld Lang Syne,” that brings back memories and gets stuck in one’s head. In fact, “Hava Nagila” is so ingrained in American pop culture that many non-Jews can readily identify it, and high-profile non-Jewish recording artists, including Harry Belafonte, Connie Francis and Glen Campbell, count their renditions as a career highlight.

One Israeli Creation for the Weekend

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on February 15, 2013

One Israeli Creation for the Weekend

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on September 7, 2012

Iran denies report of AC/DC song playing from computers at nuclear site

Published on August 2, 2012

Iran denied a report that some computers at the country’s nuclear facilities were hit with a virus that shut them down and played the AC/DC song “Thunderstruck” at full blast.

Another Bad Seder [VIDEO]

Published on March 30, 2012

Clergy push Debbie Friedman song

Published on January 13, 2012

About two weeks before she died, Debbie Friedman stood with Rabbi Joy Levitt at the piano in Levitt’s Manhattan apartment, and she shared with her friend a melody that the legendary singer and composer would never have the chance to record.

Holiday Card Etiquette

By Julia Bendis
Published on December 23, 2011

A 6-year-old’s interpretation of Greenday’s ‘Holiday’ song…

By Julia Bendis
Published on November 9, 2011

The Maccabeats spoof OneRepublic in ‘Book of Good Life’ [VIDEO]

Published on September 26, 2011

Rosh Hashanah parody of "Good Life" by OneRepublic

Rosh Hashanah remix to the Muppets’ ‘Mahna Mahna’

Published on September 19, 2011

Shana Tova!

1,500 raise voices in song to remember Debbie Friedman

By Rachel Heller
Published on February 15, 2011

As the piano struck the first notes of Debbie Friedman’s “Elohai N’Shama,” Cantor Linda Kates paused before the approximately 1,500 people gathered in the sanctuary at Valley Beth Shalom (VBS) and recalled a story about how the late singer-songwriter energized a crowd of Jewish students while teaching them the song.

Debbie Friedman remembered at funeral in words and song

Published on January 12, 2011

Singer-songwriter Debbie Friedman was eulogized at her funeral by friends, rabbis and fellow musicians in words and through her songs. Her acoustic guitar lay on top of her casket during Tuesday's funeral service at Temple Beth Sholom in Santa Ana, Calif., the Orange County Register reported. Friedman, whose music transformed Jewish worship in synagogues and summer camps, died Jan. 9 at the age of 59 after being diagnosed with pneumonia and admitted to a hospital a few days earlier. She blended the folk music roots of the 1960s and 1970s and combined them with traditional Jewish prayers and liturgy, and was frequently described as the "Joan Baez of Jewish song."

No Bieber Fever Here!

By Julia Bendis
Published on December 9, 2010

MUSIC VIDEO: ‘Chanukah, O Chanukah’ (extra kvelling version)

Published on December 12, 2008

We don't know anything about YouTube user Birdman445 except that she posted the most kvell-worthy version of 'Chanukah, O Chanukah' we've ever seen.

Lebhar’s Dream

By David Suissa
Published on August 6, 2008

Our Moroccan ancestors, the rabbi explained, were Torah romantics. They were so in love with Shabbat that they didn't want it to end

Comedy singer drawn to Jewish thought—but not shul

By George Robinson
Published on December 13, 2007

It is commonplace that the best comedy is essentially serious. Of course, clichÃÂ(c)s often have an underlying truth, so maybe that explains why Rob Tannenbaum, one half of the comedy-music duo, Good for the Jews, playing at the Knitting Factory on Dec. 14, is both a very funny guy, and nevertheless someone who discusses his work in surprisingly sober terms.

A Night at the Fais Do-Do

By Robert David Jaffee
Published on October 5, 2006

Just south of the 10 Freeway, in a nondescript part of Culver City stands Club Fais Do-Do.

Song of the Sons

By Rabbi Perry Netter
Published on June 29, 2006

The centerpiece of the third section of the Tanach, the section known as Ketuvim (the Writings), is the Book of Psalms. The Book of Psalms contains some of the most majestic poetic images in the history of the Hebrew language.

‘Cabaret’ Glides Into Shoah-Era Tango

By Roberto Loiederman
Published on May 11, 2006

Jewish Tango Cabaret -- a performance at the New JCC at Milken in West Hills on Saturday, May 13.

Find Your Melody

By Rabbi Toba August
Published on February 9, 2006

This Shabbat is called Shabbat Shirah and is named for the "Song of the Sea" sung by Moses and the Israelites after they experienced the redemption at the splitting of the Red Sea. What was it, the rabbis asked, that evoked shirah, song, at this point and not earlier when they actually left Egypt? What propels the song to burst forth from their lips? When are we motivated to truly sing the song in our hearts?

Bob Dylan: In His Own Lyrics

Published on October 13, 2005

Nods to religion in Bob Dylan's song lyrics.

My Brilliant Masterpiece

By J. Keith van Straaten
Published on September 8, 2005

All the Casanovas open with some killer line.

I stick my foot into my mouth every single time.

If I were a great artist, I would use my expertise,

Turn this foolish scene into my brilliant masterpiece. -- Don Conoscenti

That's the chorus of a song by a singer-songwriter I stumbled upon while trying to think of something to say to a girl in a music club in Kentucky.

In the midst of wishing I knew what to say, I listened to this troubadour with a whole song about wishing he could know what to say.

Noa Back With New Album, Daughter

By Kelly Hartog
Published on November 18, 2004

Renowned recording artist Noa, known as Achinoam Nini in Israel, is currently at home basking in the glory of her latest creation.

And no, it's not a new album.

It's her daughter, Enéa. "It means 'her eyes' in Hebrew," says Noa, who has written a song with the same title.

For the Kids

By Abby Gilad
Published on September 9, 2004

Summer is over, now the real work starts.

Mr. ‘Saturday Night’

By Michael Aushenker
Published on May 24, 2001

If there are two blockbuster motion pictures that stand as the defining pop-cultural phenomena of the 1970s, they are, arguably, "Star Wars" and "Saturday Night Fever." And while "Star Wars -- the Broadway Musical" is probably not as far-off as we may think, "Saturday Night Fever -- The Broadway Musical" is already here. As in here ... in Los Angeles.

Composing Life

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on November 30, 2000

On the cover of Jack Bielan's new CD, "From the Heart of a Jewish Soul," a pianist plays as his keyboard expands and spirals heavenward. Below, the glow from two yahrtzeit candles joins the keys soaring into the clouds.

The Lady Behind the Dancing Man

By Wendy J. Madnick
Published on August 24, 2000

Around the end of August, every year for the past 20 years, the Chabad Telethon comes around. It gets so you can't drive anywhere without seeing the purple banners featuring the silhouette of a man wearing tzitzit and dancing joyously to some unheard song.

‘Strange Fruit’ and Stalinism

By David Evanier
Published on August 24, 2000

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
David Margolick, writer of books and articles on legal issues for The New York Times and Vanity Fair, has hit a raw nerve with his haunting book, "Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday, Cafe Society, and an Early Cry for Civil Rights" (Running Press). The book is an account of the scalding impact of one song - a song about a lynching - on scores of Ameri-can activists, writers, musicians, artists and intellectuals.

Being Perfect

By Rabbi Steven Z. Leder
Published on March 23, 2000

Consider the lyrics of Cheryl Wheeler's song "Unworthy":

Ten Days of Atonement

By Jamie Pachino
Published on September 2, 1999

A year after my father's unexpected death from a kidney transplant, I returned home.

Six months earlier, my mother had sold our house, the one I had lived in my entire life.

Director Comes Full Circle with ‘The Envoy’

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on April 8, 1999

In 1961, a saddened and disheartened 23-year-old Algerian school teacher and musician named Gaston Ghenassia was merely one of the thousands of refugees on a ship bound for France, leaving his homeland in the aftermath of the Algerian Revolution. Little did he know at the time how defining a moment it was to become in his life.

Life Imitating Art

Published on November 19, 1998

"Of Thee I Sing" is a show for the ages.