Pop culture pulls religion straight from the synagogues, launching a cultural shift
Pop culture pulls religion straight from the synagogues, launching a cultural shift
It's hip to be Jewish
By Jessica Wanke
Gannett News Service
Although the trend is rooted in Los Angeles and New York, Judaism as pop culture is spreading to places in the nation where people have traditionally been unfamiliar with Judaism, even intolerant of it.
For instance, in Arizona only about 82,000 people, or 1.6 percent of the population, are Jewish by religion or ethnicity. Yet Matisyahu, a recording artist billed as the "Hasidic Reggae Superstar," sold out a show this year in Phoenix.
The 26-year-old Hasidic Jew from the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., gave a high-energy performance for screaming fans.
Although Judaism is one of the oldest religious traditions practiced today, it is new to many of the non-Jews encountering Matisyahu's music.
Matisyahu's latest album, "Youth," peaked at the No. 4 spot on Billboard magazine's chart of the top 200 albums in March, the month it was released, and has since been a favorite on MTV and pop radio stations.
"People are looking for something that's eternal and something that's solid in a world of chaos," the soft-spoken singer said backstage after his Phoenix show. "So they're turning toward their roots and their culture and looking toward religion and to God."
Semetic celebration
Traces of Judaism in pop culture can be found on many TV channels: On MTV, Gwen Stefani's video "Rich Girl," is a take on a "Fiddler on the Roof" song; Comedy Central celebrates "Heroes of Jewish Comedy"; and the VH1 program "So Jewtastic!" recognizes the hipness in things Jewish.
T-shirts with such slogans as "W.W.B.D. (What Would Barbra Do?)," "Jewcy" and "Moses Is My Homeboy" have found their way into urban style.
Items such as these can be found for sale on the pages of Heeb magazine, an edgy, progressive chronicle of Jewish-related politics, culture and entertainment that derives its name from a long-held slur against Jewish people.
"For us, it was the reclaiming of this age-old badge of shame being turned into a badge of honor," explains Joshua Neuman, Heeb's publisher and editor in chief.
The magazine has taken off since it was founded in 2002 and has been somewhat of a catalyst driving the trend.
Growing phenomenon
"We went from being this tiny, saddle-stitched, black-and-white, 60-something-page magazine being made out of the basement of a Lower East Side New York synagogue, to this four-color, 80-page, perfect-bound magazine, which is now looked at as the voice of young Jews today," Neuman says.
In four years, the magazine's circulation has increased and though it is primarily targeted at 20- and 30-something Jews, the larger audience is starting to pay attention. Heeb can be found in bookstores and getting nods in the mainstream, in Playboy and on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart."
Cross-cultural dialogue
Whether this trend will leave a lasting impression on American culture is debated.
Like previous ethnicity- inspired trends - hip-hop, Latin salsa - Neuman predicts the commercial craze will die down.
"I see the celebrity worship that's happening around the Kabbalah centers as part of a general trend that happens in Hollywood, with new New Age formulas coming into vogue and then going out of vogue," he says. "The moment will pass."
For the time being, though, the trend is fueling cross- cultural dialogue. Matisyahu's show brought together people, such as Hasidic Jews and Mexican Catholics, who normally would never cross paths.
Rene Portillo, 33, of Sonora, Mexico, drove to Phoenix for the show after becoming familiar with the artist's music. Explaining what it is about Matisyahu that appeals to him, Portillo lifted a gold cross on his neck and said, "He's Jewish."
"We're humans, we're brothers. Todos somos iguales."
We're all the same.
Copyright 2006 Lansing State Journal
It's hip to be Jewish
By Jessica Wanke
Gannett News Service
Although the trend is rooted in Los Angeles and New York, Judaism as pop culture is spreading to places in the nation where people have traditionally been unfamiliar with Judaism, even intolerant of it.
For instance, in Arizona only about 82,000 people, or 1.6 percent of the population, are Jewish by religion or ethnicity. Yet Matisyahu, a recording artist billed as the "Hasidic Reggae Superstar," sold out a show this year in Phoenix.
The 26-year-old Hasidic Jew from the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., gave a high-energy performance for screaming fans.
Although Judaism is one of the oldest religious traditions practiced today, it is new to many of the non-Jews encountering Matisyahu's music.
Matisyahu's latest album, "Youth," peaked at the No. 4 spot on Billboard magazine's chart of the top 200 albums in March, the month it was released, and has since been a favorite on MTV and pop radio stations.
"People are looking for something that's eternal and something that's solid in a world of chaos," the soft-spoken singer said backstage after his Phoenix show. "So they're turning toward their roots and their culture and looking toward religion and to God."
Semetic celebration
Traces of Judaism in pop culture can be found on many TV channels: On MTV, Gwen Stefani's video "Rich Girl," is a take on a "Fiddler on the Roof" song; Comedy Central celebrates "Heroes of Jewish Comedy"; and the VH1 program "So Jewtastic!" recognizes the hipness in things Jewish.
T-shirts with such slogans as "W.W.B.D. (What Would Barbra Do?)," "Jewcy" and "Moses Is My Homeboy" have found their way into urban style.
Items such as these can be found for sale on the pages of Heeb magazine, an edgy, progressive chronicle of Jewish-related politics, culture and entertainment that derives its name from a long-held slur against Jewish people.
"For us, it was the reclaiming of this age-old badge of shame being turned into a badge of honor," explains Joshua Neuman, Heeb's publisher and editor in chief.
The magazine has taken off since it was founded in 2002 and has been somewhat of a catalyst driving the trend.
Growing phenomenon
"We went from being this tiny, saddle-stitched, black-and-white, 60-something-page magazine being made out of the basement of a Lower East Side New York synagogue, to this four-color, 80-page, perfect-bound magazine, which is now looked at as the voice of young Jews today," Neuman says.
In four years, the magazine's circulation has increased and though it is primarily targeted at 20- and 30-something Jews, the larger audience is starting to pay attention. Heeb can be found in bookstores and getting nods in the mainstream, in Playboy and on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart."
Cross-cultural dialogue
Whether this trend will leave a lasting impression on American culture is debated.
Like previous ethnicity- inspired trends - hip-hop, Latin salsa - Neuman predicts the commercial craze will die down.
"I see the celebrity worship that's happening around the Kabbalah centers as part of a general trend that happens in Hollywood, with new New Age formulas coming into vogue and then going out of vogue," he says. "The moment will pass."
For the time being, though, the trend is fueling cross- cultural dialogue. Matisyahu's show brought together people, such as Hasidic Jews and Mexican Catholics, who normally would never cross paths.
Rene Portillo, 33, of Sonora, Mexico, drove to Phoenix for the show after becoming familiar with the artist's music. Explaining what it is about Matisyahu that appeals to him, Portillo lifted a gold cross on his neck and said, "He's Jewish."
"We're humans, we're brothers. Todos somos iguales."
We're all the same.
Copyright 2006 Lansing State Journal
posted by Editor at 8:34 AM
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