Friday, March 04, 2005
Sparks From Israel
Karioke
I went to an interesting bar last night. The DJ would play the latest music from Rap to Rock to House and the audience would jump on the stage and the tables and dance completely uninhibited. Every so often the DJ would stop the music and give the audience a chance to sing Karioke. Now in America, if you were into ‘rap’ or if you were a ‘rocker’ you would usually have a certain attitude. There would be an image of toughness or aloofness that might go along with this music. But here, all of those attitudes that go along with the current music trends although they undoubtedly influence the Israeli youth, when the music stops and the Karioke begins the songs that these rappers and rockers choose to sing is not what I would have thought.
All I heard were traditional and sentimental Israeli pop songs. Suddenly the sexy MTV crowd transformed into a folk crowd singing and swaying arm in arm. Although Israeli’s are always thirsty for the latest world trends in music and pop culture, the attitudes and mannerism’s that manifest themselves in the west wash off like moss over here, to reveal the solid rock that lies underneath the current waves.
The influence of western culture is a serious challenge to the Jewish Nation, just as ‘Hellenism’ was to the Macabees and the ‘Enlightenment’ was to European Jewry. The alienation caused between our own roots and culture and the ‘times’ has always been the friction that was in the backdrop of our history. Today, these frictions continue, but are now contained within a Nation that needs each other in order to survive.
The young Sephardic man who after praying left the synagogue and put his kippa back in his pocket and the ‘rappers’ and ‘rockers’ who forgot their attitudes for a moment to sing folk songs describes the common ground to me that exists somewhere between religion and MTV. It’s more than Nationalism. As my British friend remarked to me in the Karioke bar, ‘We are a complex people, aren’t we’. I suppose so, especially when the Nation is beginning to come of age.
Every Day Heroes
Life is so full in Israel and so much fun. Israeli’s love to go out and they love to sing and dance and live. In my work place at least once a week many of the staff including the bosses, go out for drinks. This is not unusual. When they are not at work or going out, each one has their special interest. One is a DJ who spins records, another studies art and multi-media. Another plays pro-league soccer and one stunning woman studies languages and has traveled to over 20 countries in her 24 years. One day the artist received a letter that made him light up. What is it I asked him? He told me the army has called him up for service.
Every year soldiers return for a few weeks or a month of the year to train or to upgrade their skills, or even for action. He was excited to be reunited with his paratroop battalion
Karioke
I went to an interesting bar last night. The DJ would play the latest music from Rap to Rock to House and the audience would jump on the stage and the tables and dance completely uninhibited. Every so often the DJ would stop the music and give the audience a chance to sing Karioke. Now in America, if you were into ‘rap’ or if you were a ‘rocker’ you would usually have a certain attitude. There would be an image of toughness or aloofness that might go along with this music. But here, all of those attitudes that go along with the current music trends although they undoubtedly influence the Israeli youth, when the music stops and the Karioke begins the songs that these rappers and rockers choose to sing is not what I would have thought.
All I heard were traditional and sentimental Israeli pop songs. Suddenly the sexy MTV crowd transformed into a folk crowd singing and swaying arm in arm. Although Israeli’s are always thirsty for the latest world trends in music and pop culture, the attitudes and mannerism’s that manifest themselves in the west wash off like moss over here, to reveal the solid rock that lies underneath the current waves.
The influence of western culture is a serious challenge to the Jewish Nation, just as ‘Hellenism’ was to the Macabees and the ‘Enlightenment’ was to European Jewry. The alienation caused between our own roots and culture and the ‘times’ has always been the friction that was in the backdrop of our history. Today, these frictions continue, but are now contained within a Nation that needs each other in order to survive.
The young Sephardic man who after praying left the synagogue and put his kippa back in his pocket and the ‘rappers’ and ‘rockers’ who forgot their attitudes for a moment to sing folk songs describes the common ground to me that exists somewhere between religion and MTV. It’s more than Nationalism. As my British friend remarked to me in the Karioke bar, ‘We are a complex people, aren’t we’. I suppose so, especially when the Nation is beginning to come of age.
Every Day Heroes
Life is so full in Israel and so much fun. Israeli’s love to go out and they love to sing and dance and live. In my work place at least once a week many of the staff including the bosses, go out for drinks. This is not unusual. When they are not at work or going out, each one has their special interest. One is a DJ who spins records, another studies art and multi-media. Another plays pro-league soccer and one stunning woman studies languages and has traveled to over 20 countries in her 24 years. One day the artist received a letter that made him light up. What is it I asked him? He told me the army has called him up for service.
Every year soldiers return for a few weeks or a month of the year to train or to upgrade their skills, or even for action. He was excited to be reunited with his paratroop battalion
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