Spirit and Story Archive

Welcome to Spirit and Story, where you will find the latest thoughts and reflections by CLAL faculty and associates on the contours of our contemporary spiritual journeys. Every other week you will find something new and (hopefully) engaging here!

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Celebrities Turning to Jewish Spirituality: Is it Good for the Jews?

By Rabbi Daniel Brenner

Madonna studies Kabbalah and Michael Jackson goes to shul. Should we brush this off as an exotic interest or take it to mean something more about where our culture is heading?

I was thinking about this the other night while watching MTV. A video opens with a biblically clad figure standing on a cliff over a vivid, computer-generated sea. The throng of slaves escaping Egypt walk below. The heavens open wide, sending out rays of light, and appearing in the skies is Sting, flanked by a few angels-slash-back-up musicians. Sting sings "Brand New Day" the title cut off his latest album. It is a song that speaks to the transformation of spirit, to the opening-up of new realities.

And I'm thinking "Wow! This is Sting's midrash on Shirat HaYam --the 'song of the sea' that Jews have sung every morning for the last two millennium (if not longer)! Does he even know that the Shirat HaYam exists? What led him to choose this exact moment in the Exodus story for his video?"

And then there were deeper questions: Is he cheapening the story? "Selling it out"?

Mid-way through the video, the video spoofs itself. It breaks from the biblical scene and flips into a commercial. The commercial is for "Brand New Day" laundry detergent. Then the video flips back to the biblical setting. The effect is to unmask the way in which the commercial world co-opts spiritual themes. It is a rather clever commentary on the commodification of spirituality.

Another question: Is Sting using spirituality to sell more albums? I don't think so. Rather, I would argue the opposite, that he is using the medium of pop culture to connect people to the sacred story. And the result is that the story reaches millions.

There is a great fear that when a Rabbi teaches a "pop star" they will dumb down or cheapen Judaism. I think that this is a fear we need to overcome. Just as we rabbis have a responsibility to connect spiritual values to political change, we also have a responsibility to connect Torah to the creation of pop music. Madonna and Michael Jackson do bring a spiritual sensitivity to their music. I'd love to see more of that. So bring them on. Tell the artist formerly known as Prince that my door is open. Lauryn Hill, come on in. Courtney Love, let's study some Mishna. Could you imagine what you might find on MTV once Alanis Morrisette has been turned on to Reb Nachman of Bratslav?

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