A Rabbi Raises a Host of Questions for Rock Town Hall to Address

First of all, Mad Props to Townsman Kcills for passing along the clip HVB just posted, which all ties into this thread I am posting now.

A little background: last weekend a handful of us were in attendance at the Bar Mitzvah for the son of a Townsman. As some of you know, I’m a big fan of almost any ceremony. I contemplate all the love in the room, the great people, the importance of the day, and our eventual deaths. Then I quickly well up at the first opportunity. Considering my history with this Townsman and his family, I was especially stoked for the day’s events. You can’t be too strong.

To be honest, though, as much as I love weddings, funerals, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, retirement parties, and even ceremonies much less grand, I do need to brace myself for the religious part of any faith-based ceremony. I’ve got nothing against anyone’s god or religion, just the potentially really long, boring parts of any faith’s service. Entering the synagogue, I took comfort in the fact that my friends are – how shall I phrase it – more earthly sorts, who probably wouldn’t feel the need to amp up the long, less-decipherable passages from the Torah. My family and I arrived a couple of minutes late and entered a small, friendly synagogue, with our friends’ son looking great and a warm cantor and rabbi conducting the ceremony.

The cantor was awesome. His pipes were strong, and he sang in a direct manner, making good eye contact with the audience, even those among us who hadn’t a clue what it was he was singing. I wished my little bit of religious exposure through my family’s religion would have included a good cantor, or in my family’s case, singing priest. Music is to mass as honey is to medicine.

The day’s featured mannish boy also got to sing along with the cantor, and he was on! I got to thinking of long ago, when my good friend – the father – had such a clear, innocent voice. Gosh, those of you who’ve heard him sing in public the last 25 years wouldn’t have recognized him before the Velvet Fog rolled in! Then my friend – our Townsman – sang a passage as well, and you could still make out a trace of his youthful voice. It must be like hearing Marianne Faithfull sing “As Tears Go By” today. I got to thinking that I need to incorporate more minor keys into the songs I write; it’s time I stop trying to whitewash my friend’s voice with all these songs written in G and E. It’s time his people came.

Then the rabbi put aside all ancient texts and spoke from his heart about our friends’ son. Then the jaws of all Townspeople in attendance began dropping. The rabbi knew that the Bar Mitzvah was a rocker in training. He knew of his calloused fingers from learning the basslines to songs like The Beatles’ “Come Together” and Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times”. This young man had been dedicating himself to not only preparing himself for the day’s Big Show but Big Shows in the future. The rabbi began talking about the recent Led Zeppelin reunion shows and the legacy of Led Zep.

He referred to a 1968 interview with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page in which an interviewer asked them if they thought their music would last as long as that of The Beatles. According to the rabbi, Plant and Page cracked up at the thought, in no way imagining they’d have such long-lasting impact. Perhaps the video clip I’ve included at the top of this post is the one the rabbi had in mind. I’m not going to Pince Nez the guy for remembering Page for John Bonham, and they don’t react exactly as he’d portrayed it in response to the interviewer’s question, but the Zeppelin bandmates do display some sincere humility and thoughtfulness. This much, in itself, was worthy of jaws dropping in a Bar Mitzvah service.

Then the rabbi went onto to say something to the effect of, “Who could have imagined that Led Zeppelin would have become one of the biggest rock bands of all time and that, 40 years later, with deceased drummer John Bonham’s son, Jason, sitting in on drums, the band would reunite for two shows that sold out within minutes of tickets going on sale! Led Zeppelin has, in fact, matched the legacy of The Beatles and will be remembered for hundreds of years.”

The point of this enthusiastic, moving talk, it should be noted, was to encourage the Bar Mitzvah to see through his dreams and to be confident that he would make a difference in his lifetime or beyond, which I agree with completely. For Rock Town Hall discussion purposes, I ask: Has the legacy of Led Zeppelin matched that of The Beatles? Is that blasphemy in the Church of Rock, or is this rockin’ rabbi especially with it?

Probably not a “chosen” frontman

Then the rabbi went on to discuss the Bar Mitzvah’s skills as a “front man.” Everyone in the synagogue thought this was a lead in to a discussion of the young man’s tie-in with his frontman dad. Instead, as the rabbi compared the young man to the pantheon of great frontmen – Page, Paul Rogers, Freddie Mercury, Jim Dandy – he completely bypassed the father, not to mention rock’s great frontmen of the Jewish faith. How do you feel about this oversight? Was the underlying message that it’s time father frontman move aside for his son? Previously, the rabbi had made several references to Jason Bonham, at one point even remarking on his superior kick drum skills relative to his father’s.