songbird's crazy world

 Before I get to today’s theme … Neil Sedaka passed away on Friday.  Drew and I were real fans.  Drew and Sedaka share Sephardic Jewish heritage.  It’s a “six degrees of separation “ situation —  Sedaka’s cousin was another famous singer, Eydie Gorme.  Eydie was also Drew’s mother’s cousin.  Drew isn’t actually related to Sedaka, but he does feel a kinship of sorts.  We had the pleasure of seeing Sedaka in concert in July 2012.    At the time I wrote: Sedaka was amazing.   He sang songs from his first career, 1958-1963.  He sang songs from his second career in the 1970's.  He sang songs he wrote for other singers. He did ballads and rock n roll.  He sang a salsa piece he just wrote.  He did classical music.  And he brought down the house with "My Yiddishe Mama" - in Yiddish. Great concert. So here are a few of his best:    Tzedakah is a foundational Jewish commandment mandating justice and ri...

The ancient kingdom of Persia looms large in Jewish scripture.  The Bible tells us two important tales, First we read about the Babylonian exile, circa 586-538 BCE, when Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon’s  Temple, but then Cyrus the Great of Persia defeated Babylon and allowed the Jews to return to Israel and rebuild the Temple. Next we read the Book of Esther.  Esther was the Jewish girl who married the king of Persia.  Esther and her Uncle Mordechai  defeated the wicked vizier Haman and saved the Jews of Persia from certain death. Tomorrow is the Fast of Esther, the precursor to Tuesday’s holiday, Purim.  On Purim Jews celebrate Esther’s victory and Haman’s defeat. The ancient country of Persia is the modern nation of Iran. Yesterday the US and Israel bombed Iran. Virtually all of the leaders of the evil regime are dead.  Our leaders claim we have freed the people of Iran.   I don’t know if that is true …  I hope they have ...