This week I am going to try and expand your Jewsical knowledge through sharing some of my favorite songs that fall under my definition of Jewsic. My last post was about the band The Angelcy, so I will not include them in this post, but if you are looking for new music, they should definitely be on your list to listen to. The first song that I am going to show you is a live version of the song”Angel” by a man named Omer Netzer. One of my Israeli friends recently told me about him, and I enjoy his music very much. He has a really great voice, I like his lyrics, and I am always biased towards songs and artists who use acoustic guitars. He is considered a folk musician and I highly recommend looking him up.
The next song I will be talking about is by Matisyahu, who you may have heard of. Matisyahu is known for mixing Judaism with reggae and started off his career as a practicing Hassidic Jew, though he has changed his look since then. In 2011 he shaved the beard that he was so recognized for and wrote the following on his website: “No more Chassidic reggae superstar. Sorry folks, all you get is me…no alias. When I started becoming religious 10 years ago it was a very natural and organic process. It was my choice. My journey: to discover my roots and explore Jewish spirituality—not through books but through real life. At a certain point I felt the need to submit to a higher level of religiosity…to move away from my intuition and to accept an ultimate truth. I felt that in order to become a good person I needed rules—lots of them—or else I would somehow fall apart. I am reclaiming myself. Trusting my goodness and my divine mission. Get ready for an amazing year filled with music of rebirth. And for those concerned with my naked face, don’t worry… you haven’t seen the last of my facial hair.” The song I am going to share with you, though, is one of his earlier songs that actually made it to the top 40 in the US, “King Without a Crown.”
This week I am going to share one more song with you all. This song is not necessarily one of my favorites because of how it sounds, but because of the memories I have associated with it. When I was in Israel on my Birthright trip, the song “Tel Aviv” by Omer Adam featuring Arisa was played right as we were heading towards the city of Tel Aviv and the feeling was so special. It is a cool song that I will still listen to sometimes to get the feeling of being in Israel and to bring back the memories of such a beautiful city. I hope you enjoy this song, and my other recommendations as much as I do. Shalom, and have a great week!
Jewsic 