Seth Rogovoy is a contributing editor at the Forward. He is the author of Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet (Scribner, 2009) and the forthcoming Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison (Oxford University Press).
Seth Rogovoy
By Seth Rogovoy
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Culture For Mother’s Day — 9 Great Versions Of ‘My Yiddishe Mame’
What better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than to sit back and listen to “My Yiddishe Mame,” which long ago escaped the confines of the Jewish ghetto to become one of the world’s most popular songs about the love of a mother. The proof is in the wide range of singers of all backgrounds and…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History Of “Rock Around The Clock”
It wasn’t the first rock-and-roll song. It wasn’t even the first rock-and-roll hit. But 65 years ago this May, Bill Haley and His Comets’ version of “Rock Around the Clock” was released, beginning its long, strange journey to the top of the pop charts, where it became the first rock-and-roll tune to hit the No….
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Culture When Kurt Cobain Spoke Yiddish
Kurt Cobain — guitarist and frontman for the grunge-rock band Nirvana, one of the most influential rock groups of all time — took his own life at age 27, 25 years ago this month. Cobain, who had an abusive childhood, suffered from chronic stomach pain, lifelong depression, drug addiction and a family legacy of suicide….
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Culture The Secret Jewish History of Tax Day
Like it or not — and who among us actually likes it — come April 15, you will need to have filed your income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service. Perhaps one way to feel better about the painful and often inconvenient process is to recognize that it has roots in the biblical concept…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History Of Baseball’s Opening Day
Like a New Year celebration, Major League Baseball’s annual opening day brings with it an opportunity to start afresh: to leave the past behind and to begin anew with a clean slate. Every team begins the new season as a reborn entity: The reigning World Champions and last year’s losers are equal going into the…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History Of Hawaii
There once was a land ruled by a King David. And unto the king from beyond the land came a wise man who was learned in the traditions of an ancient, foreign people; skilled at fortune-telling, and able to read the stars. The king took a liking to the man and spent many hours alone…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History Of Captain And Tennille
In the more obscure corners of the Internet, one occasionally comes across a reference to Daryl Dragon, best known as the “Captain” in the 1970s pop group Captain and Tennille, as being half-Italian and half-Jewish. This is probably because Dragon — who died earlier this week at age 76 in Prescott, Arizona — was the…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History Of Teddy Roosevelt
Teddy Roosevelt packed at least three lifetimes into his relatively short one: He died 100 years ago, on January 6, at age 60. Widely regarded as one of the greatest presidents in American history (with a bust on Mount Rushmore as proof), Roosevelt was a bestselling author; a historian; a naval strategist; a conservationist (as…
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