From Song to Song

Wow, such a great article, such great writing:

Ironic how I'd sung at least a dozen times in the Crystal Ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hotel, and here I was in that same room attending a Jewish seminar. A 30-something rabbi, slight of build, in a yarmulke, beige polyester suit and a really, really red tie gets up and speaks about dating. I listen, comfortable in a conference-room chair at the back of the room. Then I listen leaning forward in the chair. Then I listen leaning forward in a chair a few rows closer, then move closer again... He's saying that "casual dating" is an oxymoron. An impossibility. He's saying, in short, that intimacy is not casual. It leaves its imprint on the heart and soul, and especially on the heart and soul of a woman. How non-PC!

Flash: I had known this, somewhere in the benthic depths of me.

The rabbi continues. He talks about why Jews should marry Jews… common sense reasons. The biggest question he addresses, however, is whether anything important inheres in being a Jew. I'd never, ever heard anyone ask, never mind address, such issues – not in the Hebrew School I'd detested in my youth, nor at home, where the refrain had been simply, "Don't marry a gentile." Uh…

Be sure to read the whole thing!