Tribal impulse: Jews rock, too

new york | Here's an easy one: What do Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and Paul Simon have in common? Great, influential songwriters? Right.

Jewish? Right again.

Now here's a tougher one: What about hip-hop pioneers Beastie Boys, alternative chameleon Beck and Scott Ian from the metal rock band Anthrax? Also songwriters — arguably of a more modest scale. But did you know they're also members of the tribe?

This sort of pop trivia fascinates New Yorker staff writer Jeffrey Goldberg and Washington Post staffer David Segal, so much so that the two friends, together with XM Radio executive Allen Goldberg (no relation), decided to make their obsessive hobby of Jew-counting into a sideline career.

Their nonprofit organization Jewsrock launched its Web site(www.jewsrock.org) last month, and has already become a Jewish cultural hit with its hip, irreverent style and features including essays, profiles, photo galleries, a blog and the infamous "Jew or not?" quiz.

A quick scan through the essay titles provides an accurate idea of the site's tone: "His Sharona" on the leader of The Knack, Doug Fieger; "Dropping the Baum: The Real Names of Jewish Rockers," which focuses on Gene Simmons, nee Chaim Witz; and "And the Dreidel Will Rock," on Van Halen's David Lee Roth.

And of course, there's the main feature — the "Challah Fame," an exhaustive and still growing encyclopedic compilation of Jews that rock.

"It's a great blessing to be Jewish, but it's also not the easiest thing in the world. This Web site is the extension of the 'Hank Greenberg is Jewish' phenomenon," Goldberg told The Jerusalem Post in a recent telephone interview from Washington.

"It came out of a joke. But when we started thinking about it, it's not a bad thing for young Jews to be proud of — with the rise of anti-Semitism globally, and the problems that Jews are facing on campus."

Jewsrock is funded in part by the Natan Foundation, which is devoted to building Jewish culture and identity, and New York philanthropists Nina Rosenwald and Michael Steinhardt. Jewsrock's loftiest aim is to be entertaining.

"The Natan Foundation was interested in our angle, which is not overly earnest. We and they don't see it as a panacea. It's for pure fun," said Goldberg.

But behind the tongue-in-cheek persona, Goldberg admits that there's a serious message out there for people who want to look for it. His essay on the site entitled "Subterranean Homeland Blues" delves into the issue of how influential Jewish rockers like Dylan and Reed have channeled traditional Jewish values and sense of justice into their art, especially in songs such as "Neighborhood Bully," Dylan's bristling defense of Israel, and Reed's "Good Evening Mr. Waldheim," an even more biting attack on the former Austrian president and on Jesse Jackson during his "Hymietown" era.

"Every person who's Jewish cycles through those feelings — their gift is in the revolutionary way in which this is expressed," said Goldberg, a Jerusalem Post staffer in the early 1990s.

"There's something refreshing about their lack of hemming and hawing. It shows something. These guys are in a musical form that's meant to be universal. The tribal impulse still exists within them.

"Without getting pretentious, Jews play a disproportionate role in rock. Blacks may have invented it, but Jews, as a relative marginal American group, were open to this outsiders' music in a way that other whites weren't. Look at the early Jewish involvement, people like Alan Freed and Leiber and Stoller. And it's continued, with Dylan being the operative by providing the lyrics to a generation of Americans. You have Rick Rubin, who helped popularize rap, and Malcom McLaren who latched on to the outsider punk movement. Jews have a way of being open to new and dangerous ideas, and understanding what America is about in a way that insiders can't."

Greenberg and Segal's attempts to get this story told almost came to a halt before it got off the ground. Initially called The Jewish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the project was met with corporate disapproval by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, who took the organization to court.

"When they sued us, they said they thought we'd be confusing the American public," said Goldberg with bemusement. "They took it so seriously, they sent us a letter defensively listing the Jewish inductees in their hall of fame, as if we were implying that they were ignoring Jews.

"Ultimately, what I learned was that The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame does not exactly embody the spirit of rock and roll. It embodies the spirit of corporate law. But getting sued was a great way to get free publicity, and we're eternally grateful for it."

The suit was eventually dropped when the founders agreed to refrain from using the phrase "Jewish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

Goldberg adds, "The remarkable thing I learned from the list they sent is that the black '50s doo-wop group The Flamingos were all Jewish, now honorable members of our 'Challah Fame.'"

The crowning achievement of Jewsrock, the Challah Fame contains scores of listing and bios of everyone from superstars Billy Joel and Slash to members of Phish, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the Grateful Dead.

"There's no strict criteria for joining the Challah Fame. We're not the rabbinate and there's no beit din [rabbinic court]. Your parents can be Jewish, you can want to be Jewish. Generally it's someone who has some sort of Jewishness, but we're lax on the halachic rulings. We'll have almost anybody," said Goldberg.

According to Izzy Grinspan, the managing editor of Jewsrock, the list is an ever-expanding resource.

"We tried to start with the ones who were both most Jewish and most popular, with the idea that we'd fill in the missing ones later. We've asked readers to e-mail us their suggestions for the list. As it turns out, fans have raised a great hue and cry about Al Kooper, so he's definitely the next one going into the Challah. Peter Himmelman, Jay of Jay and the Americans, Norman Greenbaum will follow."

Goldberg and his partners hope on expanding Jewsrock beyond the Web site with plans to bring live programs to cities across the United States, as well as history lesson in Jews and rock for Jewish schools. But for now, he's content with the reception the site's received and the message it sends.

"Jews totally rock. People who visit the site should be entertained, enlightened, dazzled and feel pride. And they should come away educated," he said.

"In this sphere, like in so many others, Jews have contributed greatly to popular culture. People should come away recognizing that it's not just skin deep. A lot of these artists are also struggling with the meaning of their Jewishness and their place in the world. It just so happens that they're very good with the guitar."