"This Is Your Song Too: Phish and Contemporary Jewish Identity" with Oren Kroll-Zeldin

Wednesday, Nov. 15 | 6:30-8 p.m. | Fromm Hall, Maraschi Room
The rock band Phish has a diehard fan base and a dedicated community of enthusiasts - Phishheads - who follow the band around the country. What may be surprising to some, however, is that a significant percentage of Phishheads are Jewish. Aside from two members of the band raised as Jews themselves - bassist Mike Gordon and drummer Jonathan Fishman - Phish has even been known to play Hebrew songs in concert. This event celebrates the publication of the book This Is Your Song Too: Phish and Contemporary Jewish Identity, co-edited by JSSJ faculty member Oren Kroll-Zeldin. The book argues that Phish is one avenue through which contemporary Jews find cultural and spiritual fulfillment outside the confines of traditional institutional Jewish life. In effect, Phish fandom and the live Phish experience act as a microcosm through which we see American Jewish religious and cultural life manifest in unique and unexpected spaces. Joining Kroll-Zeldin in conversation will be the book’s co-editor, Ariella Werden-Greenfield, who is also the associate director of the Feinstein Center for American Jewish History and special adviser on antisemitism at Temple University, as well as book contributor Rabbi Joshua Ladon, director of education for the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America.