Jewcy has asked a number of friends and contributors to share their thoughts on Debbie Friedman, who passed away yesterday.  The first comes from Jacob Perlin, who you may remember from the greatest Debbie Friedman cover band ever.

Growing up the son of a Reform Rabbi, Debbie  Friedman’s music was everywhere. I listened to it at temple and before I went to bed. I sang it at song sessions at camp and as I sat around the family dinner table. I knew every word and sang each song with Ruach — a Hebrew word which I actually learned from her song “Not By Might.”  My first concert was a Debbie Friedman show at a local synagogue.  No one sat as she belted “Miriam’s Song” and no eyes were dry as she sang “Mi Shebeirach.”  I remember how excited I was as she sang one of my favorite songs at the time, “And the Youth Shall See Visions” for her encore. She was a genuine performer and connected with her audience — which consisted of people of all ages.

The post “Debbie Friedman Was My Beatles” appeared first on Jewcy.

• At Wonkette: Leave it to rub salt in the wound.  The nefarious church thanks God for the Arizona shooter.

• At The Stranger: Dan Savage calls Howard Kurtz a “moron” for saying the Az. shooting shouldn’t be made into a partisan issue.

• At The Washington Post: In remembrance of Debbie Friedman.

• At The New York Review of Books: Israeli Soldiers thoughts on the Occupation.

• At The Rumpus: Discussing Edith Pearlman’s story collection, Binocular Vision.

The post Daily Jewce: Thoughts On The Arizona Shooting, Remembering Debbie Friedman, Israeli Soldier On The Occupation And More appeared first on Jewcy.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that many of us grew up hearing a lot of both The Beastie Boys as well as Jewish singer/songwriter Debbie Friedman.  Obviously the two have very little in common — save for the fact that they’re all Jews –but I know at some point in the early 1990’s that I wasn’t the only person to storm out of a room in my house that had a Friedman song being played by one of my parents, go up to my bedroom, slam the door and blast Ill Communication.

So the news that Adam Yauch is cancer free is great to hear, but the news that Friedman’s condition is “not looking good,” makes it bittersweet.  In an e-mail from Hebrew Union College:

The measures the doctors have been using are not succeeding in opening up her lungs.  They are going to try rotating her bed in different ways on Thursday in the hope that that may shake loose some of the material blocking her breathing.  Those in attendance are speaking of the need for a miracle.

The post MCA OF The Beastie Boys Is Cancer Free, But Debbie Friedman Isn’t Doing Well appeared first on Jewcy.

Got to be honest, I was never a huge Debbie Friedman fan as a kid. And that’s because in the Reform vs. Conservative movement’s musical throwdown, I was squarely on the side of my man Craig Taubman, he of “Friday Night Live” fame in Los Angeles, legendary 1980s song leader of Camp Ramah in California. That said, I know of no Craig Taubman cover bands. The same cannot be said for Debbie, who has clearly inspired hundreds of songleaders across the country, and now, a Fab Four of her very own.

(Full disclosure: Jacob Perlin is a part time JDub employee. But that makes this video no less awesome or worthy of this post.)

The post JDub Is The Selector: The Greatest Debbie Friedman Cover Band Ever appeared first on Jewcy.