Pete Seeger’s 7 Most Jewish Songs
For Pete?s Sake: Iconic singer Pete Seeger died on January 27 at the age of 94. Image by Getty Images
Pete Seeger, who died yesterday at the age of 94, may have been a far greater believer in organizing people than he was in organized religion. “I feel most spiritual when I’m out in the woods,” he said when he was the subject of a PBS American Masters documentary. But growing up in the Jewish enclave of West Rogers Park in Chicago, I always viewed him as a patron saint (or rabbi, if you will). And for many of us who grew up in secular households — religiously checking his albums out of the Nortown Public Library, listening to him on the “Midnight Special” on WFMT, sitting in circles to sing his songs in kindergarten, then later teaching our kindergarten children to sing those — we often felt most spiritual when we were listening to Pete Seeger. In honor of his memory, we offer 7 classic Jewish Pete Seeger songs.
Dayenu
Pete Seeger recorded the Pesach classic on his 1959 “Folk Songs For Young People” album.
Hinei Ma Tov
Pete Seeger performed this hymn to brotherhood and harmony with Theodore Bikel and Rashid Hussain.
Forever Young
Legend had it that Seeger was the one responsible for pulling the plug on Bob Dylan at Newport. But this recording of the song Dylan wrote for one of his sons suggests that, at some point, all was forgiven.
Tzena, Tzena, Tzena
During Seeger’s Greenwich Village Llewyn Davis days, he recorded this song with his quartet The Weavers.
Tumbalalaika
Seeger recorded this song with Ruth Rubin for the album “Jewish Songs and Games”
If Not Now, When?
Seeger mused on the words of Rabbi Hillel when he recorded this for the Isabella Freedman Retreat Center.
Turn, Turn Turn
The words came from Ecclesiastes; the melody was provided by Pete Seeger.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
