Fifty years ago (April 10, 1970), the Beatles officially split up. Their popularity, however, has not waned. At an online auction last week, an ashtray used by Ringo Starr at Abbey Road Studios sold for $32,500 and a drawing by John Lennon and Yoko Ono called Bagism sold for $93,750. The handwritten lyrics of the song Hey Jude sold for $910,000, nine times the pre-auction estimate. What was the Jewish connection to that song?

Hey Jude/Revolution by Richard Bartlaga is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

A. Paul McCartney originally wrote the Hey Jude ending as “la la la, la la la la…”, using the “la la” sound that was typical in pop music at that time. But as he refined the song, he remembered the Chassidic chants, or niggunim, that he heard at the bar mitzvah of Brian Epstein’s nephew, which included the “na na na” syllables, so McCartney changed the sounds at the end of Hey Jude to “Na na na, na na na na.”

B. Israeli peace activist Abie Nathan founded the Voice of Peace radio station in 1973, which broadcast from outside Israeli territorial waters on a boat, the “Peace Ship.” Nathan had purchased the boat with financial help from John Lennon. Hey Jude was the very first song ever broadcast on Voice of Peace radio.

C. When the Beatles traveled to India to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Paul met Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, who was also visiting the Maharashi’s ashram to explore Eastern spirituality. Paul learned from Reb Zalman about the group of Breslover Chassidim known as the “Na Nachs,” who found spiritual meaning in the phrase Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman (referencing Rebbe Nachman). McCartney couldn’t pronounce the gutteral Hebrew letter Chet so he just said “Na Na Na Na, Hey Man” which he later incorporated into Hey Jude, singing “Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Jude.”

D. Paul McCartney wrote the song about Julian Lennon, John’s son, and the original title of the song was Hey Jules. But McCartney changed it to Hey Jude because he liked the sound more. When the Beatles put a sign reading Hey Jude in the window of their London Apple Boutique store, McCartney received an angry call from a Jewish man named Mr. Leon who said, “How dare you do this!” He and many Jews thought this was an offensive slur, based on the German translation of Jew as Jude.

E. Until the release of the song Hey Jude, cantors in Reform and Conservative synagogues had sung Adon Olam to the tune of every pop song ever written. However, no cantor has ever managed to successfully fit the words of Adon Olam into the Hey Jude melody.   

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The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted Jewish life in every area, but probably the most significant is in regard to acceptable religious practices. Synagogues and Jewish communities across the religious spectrum have struggled with questions of the acceptability of live-streamed or Zoom services, whether kaddish can be recited with a virtual minyan, or what limits to place on funeral attendance and tahara (ritual preparation of the body). Upcoming Passover seders present many unique challenges as well. Which of the following is an example of exceptions to normal practice being allowed by religious authorities during this upcoming Passover celebration?

Zoom Seder by Mark D. Zimmerman  is in the public domain

A. A group of Orthodox Sephardic rabbis in Israel have ruled that a videoconference with Zoom or other apps can be used for Passover seders, so long as computers are turned on and everything is set up prior to the beginning of the holiday.

B. The Vaad Ha-Rabonim of India, the assembly of Indian rabbis, has ruled that the use of roti, the traditional unleavened flatbread, is acceptable on the seder plate in those communities where matzah is not available due to production issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic. However, if using roti, the rabbis require the addition of a portion of the Al Cheyt prayers traditionally recited on Yom Kippur (e.g., “We have sinned against You unwillingly and willingly” and “We have sinned against You in our eating and drinking.”)

C. Rabbi Menachem Posner, staff editor at Chabad.org, has noted that it is acceptable to open the door for Elijah only so long as your door does not face your neighbor’s door.

D. Pesach Sheni, or 2nd Passover, falls one month after Passover, and exists to benefit those who were not ritually clean at Passover time (such as those who had contact with corpses), because these people are not allowed to eat the Korban Pesach, the Passover sacrifice, when impure. Rabbis in many Chassidic communities, including in Bnei Brak, the suburb of Tel Aviv that has been devastated by coronavirus, have ruled that the virus is a form of ritual impurity; therefore, Passover in these communities can be delayed until Pesach Sheni, which this year falls on May 8.

E. The Conservative Movement’s Rabbinical Assembly in the United States ruled that video conferencing is acceptable for seders. While the Assembly would prefer that a non-Jew activate the technology, lacking that option, the Assembly prefers that Siri or Alexa take on the role of the “shabbos goy.”   

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Bob Dylan just released a new 17-minute song titled Murder Most Foul, which is about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and more broadly about the music and culture of the 1960’s and beyond. Dylan, who has toured almost non-stop for years, recently canceled his current tour because of the coronavirus pandemic. Bob Dylan once offered a promotional blurb that was printed on the back cover of a book by a Jewish author: “Anyone who is either married or thinking of getting married would do well to read this book.” What book did Dylan promote in this way?

Bob Dylan by Xavier Badosa is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

A. Fear of Flying, by Erica Jong, the 1973 best-selling novel about a Jewish journalist who struggles to free herself from the shackles of traditional male relationships.

B. Doesn’t Anyone Blush Anymore by Rabbi Manis Friedman, a 1990 book about the importance of modesty and intimacy in relationships, including the advice, “If you help yourself to the benefits of being married when you are single, you’re likely to help yourself to the benefits of being single when you’re married.”

C. Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy, published in 1999 by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, wherein the noted rabbi and author discusses sex, love, trust, and intimacy in these modern times through the lens of Jewish wisdom and tradition.

D. Dr. Ruth’s 2009 book Top Ten Secrets for Great Sex: How to Enjoy it, Share it, and Love it Each and Every Time, in which the noted Holocaust survivor and sex therapist discusses such issues as kicking boredom out of the bedroom and knowing the Kama Ruthra.

E. Philip Roth’s 1969 novel Portnoy’s Complaint, about “a lust-ridden, mother-addicted young Jewish bachelor,” and his relationship with his parents, girls, Israel, and liver.   

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