The Design. Built to Last was the Grateful Dead's thirteenth and final studio album, released in October 1989. It's a fitting title to reapply to something that's actually managed to live up to that phrase: seventy-plus years and counting for the State of Israel, against daunting odds that would have sunk just about anything else.
Mickey Hart: The Band's Lone Jewish Member. Drummer Mickey Hart was raised in the heavily Jewish Five Towns section of Long Island; his Bar Mitzvah photo even made it into the band's official family album. He's also the only member of the Dead to ever perform in Israel, playing the Jerusalem Sacred Music Festival in August 2013, his first time in the country.
Uncle Bobo: Bill Graham's Improbable Life. My personal favorite connection in the whole Jewish/Dead connective web is the band's original promoter, the man who gave them their big break: the legendary Bill Graham, affectionately known among the initiated as "Uncle Bobo."
Graham is widely considered the father of the modern concert and festival. He's also, remarkably, a Holocaust survivor. Born in Berlin, he was sent by his mother to an orphanage after Kristallnacht and eventually smuggled out of Nazi-occupied Europe as part of a group of Jewish refugee children — a journey so grueling that many of the children who set out with him didn't survive it. His own mother was murdered at Auschwitz. He arrived in New York at eleven years old, alone, and went on to build an incredible legacy as the most consequential and beloved concert promoter in history. He had a life and career that brought success to dozens of bands and joy and music to millions of fans.
There's something both beautiful and chilling about that: one man survives unfathomable darkness, and turns his life into something that lights up the world for the rest of us.
Jews for Jerry. Beyond the band members themselves, no description of the Jewish/Dead connection would be complete without mentioning the "Jews for Jerry" subculture that grew out of the touring scene (its cousin, "Blues for Challah," too). Deadhead parking lots became known for their own version of Jewish community life on the road — Shabbat gatherings before Friday night shows, Passover candle-lighting between sets, and no shortage of themed t-shirts and bumper stickers.
Fans and crew alike have long analogized being on tour to traditional Jewish life. A weekend of shows as its own kind of Shabbaton, life on the road following the band as its own kind of wandering the desert, or the community's obsession with dissecting Robert Hunter's cryptic lyrics and debating setlists as its own kind of Talmudic study - all mirror in some way traditions Jewish fans grew up with.
All in all, it's just a playful design for the many Jewish Dead fans out there who want to wear both passions with pride. If you found any of this information fun and interesting, check out the external links below with expanded material on the subject, really fun reads!
Here's a great article written by Rabbi Saul Grife on the connections between Jews and The Dead from the iconic Relix Magazine. Relix ironically is owned by concert promoter Peter Shapiro (briefly featured in the documentary below), the closest thing we have today to dear "Uncle Bobo". And of course, he too is a Jew! Gotta Love the Jews!
Another fun article - this one from The Times of Israel, covering the ongoing legacy between the Grateful Dead and it's Jewish fans.
Here's a mini-documentary of the super fun and cool story how Bill Graham helped some orthodox Rabbis get a massive Hannukah Menorah erected in the center of San Francisco.
Another wonderful story connecting these two worlds is that of "The Promised Land" the Hebrew Grateful Dead Project. An Israeli musician - Sagol 59 - Took a bunch of Dead Songs and translated them hebrew, even altering some lyrics to personalize it with Israeli themes. The first video is an english speaking Israeli news channel covering the project. The second is a really great "I Know You Rider" from the project. Definitely worth a listen.
0 comments