He came to Israel in the late 1980s; he and his Heartbreakers were backing a decidedly out-of-sorts Bob Dylan.
A video clip that’s been dug up in the last few hours shows him, then-drummer Stan Lynch and other bandmates in listening mode near the Western Wall with a member of the Diaspora Yeshiva Band, getting a speedy tutorial on the holy places, Jerusalem’s Jewish and Muslim narratives, and the effectiveness of prayer.
As ever, Petty is hidden behind his shades and, though evidently interested, thoroughly understated. “That’s pretty wild, right,” he drawls to Lynch after the mini-lecture, as the two of them stroll off toward the Wall.
Once, in a moment of great temptation (or a great moment of temptation), I listened to goyish music.
ReplyDeleteI was born a rebel.
Chuck Schumer does more for the Irish than he does for his own people
ReplyDeletehttps://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/niallodowd/what-the-irish-need-to-learn-from-the-jews
What the Irish need to learn from the Jews
Niall O'Dowd @IrishCentral
There is nothing wrong and something remarkable about how Americans view the Irish, but it is in dire need of an overhaul.
The drink besodden image has faded, as has the naked bigotry, but the caricature that replaces it is one of gentle mockery with a few bad Pat and Mike drinking jokes thrown in
There is a precedent here when we see how our Jewish brethren have dealt with the stereotypes they endured over the centuries. It should give us pause for thought.
Nowadays, when I think Jewish I think of the magnificent philanthropy evident in so many of our country’s finest institutions, from hospitals to universities to well-funded Jewish non-profit community groups.
I think of the love and concern for the homeland of Israel and the political influence they have gathered over the decades on that very issue.
I think of politicians like Senator Chuck Schumer in New York, who has built ethnic coalitions of every kind to the point where he is our go-to man on Capitol Hill since Ted Kennedy passed.