Mr. Sinatra Adored Israel, and Israel Adored Him Back

The Chairman of the Board died 17 years ago today. In his centennial year, a tour of his deep-seated Zionism.

By Shalom Goldman for Tablet

2015 is the year of the Frank Sinatra Centennial, and though the great singer’s 100th birthday won’t be marked until December, it seems only proper to remember the Chairman of the Board’s deep and abiding commitment to Israel, which he saw as an integral part of the chain of liberal causes that he supported throughout his career. His activities on behalf of the Jewish state started with smuggling money to the Haganah under the British Mandate. Starting in the 1950s, his records and films were banned in Arab counties because of his sympathies with Zionism. He performed for IDF troops, and in the 1970s and ’80s he raised millions of dollars for student centers in Nazareth and Jerusalem.

Sinatra’s initial visit to Israel came in 1962, as part of his first world tour. At the height of his popularity, his managers wanted him to embark on a series of concerts that would take him as far as Japan. Sinatra also had personal reasons for touring: His falling out with the recently elected JFK and the rest of the Kennedy clan, due to a combination of Sinatra’s volatile temper and allegations concerning the singer’s links to organized crime, hurt him deeply. Sinatra turned toward reviving his own career and stepped up his charitable work, which his managers hoped would “temper the image of the flip playboy.”

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Berlin Philharmonic Names First Jewish Music Director

Benjamin Ivry for The Jewish Daily Forward

On June 22, it was announced that the musicians of the celebrated Berlin Philharmonic (BPO) have elected their first-ever Jewish music director, the Russian maestro Kirill Petrenko. Not only was this choice ground-breaking, it was an indirect response to another job candidate, the German conductor Christian Thielemann whose right-wing politics and anti-immigrant feelings seemed to grab as many headlines as his music-making of late. Petrenko himself is indubitably an immigrant; he was born in 1972 in Omsk and emigrated to Austria in 1990. He served as general music director at Berlin’s Komische Oper from 2002 to 2007 and has been director of the Bavarian state opera since 2013. His contract there runs until 2018, so he is expected to take over the BPO soon afterwards. The Berlin players already know him well, as he has worked as guest conductor there in 2006, 2009, and 2012. Compared to his immediate predecessors at the BPO, the Englishman Simon Rattle and Italian Claudio Abbado, he may well prove to be less of a fish out of water

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Israeli Rock Music’s Spiritual New Sound

After years of siege, a growing movement of musicians is turning to Judaism for inspiration

By Yossi Klein Halevi for The Wall Street Journal
“Admit me into your inner chamber!” cries a big, bearded man on the stage of the Tel Aviv rock club Zappa. But Shai Tsabari’s longing isn’t focused on some elusive human lover—he’s talking about God. In the audience, secular young men with tattoos and religious young women in modest kerchiefs close their eyes and sway together, as if Zappa were a synagogue.

Mr. Tsabari is part of a growing movement of Israeli rock musicians who are turning to Judaism for inspiration, fusing tradition with contemporary Israel to find a voice that is both Middle Eastern and Jewish.

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Joshua Davis: It Feels Good to Be Home

In exclusive Shalom Life interview, Davis talks 'The Voice,' his love of Paul Simon, and more

By: Daniel Koren for Shalom Life

Joshua Davis is a rising star.

As a member of Michigan's grassroots community, it wasn't entirely expected that the folk singer/songwriter would become a fan favorite during his participation in NBC's most recent season of The Voice.

In fact, in an exclusive interview with Shalom Life, Davis confirms his own surprise at the positive reception he received during the competition, and leading up to the Final episode, where he took home 3rd place, below Meghan Linsey and winner Sawyer Fredericks.

He wouldn't have anticipated how trendy the #DavisNation hashtag became on Twitter, either.

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