The Justice

CORRECTIONS APPENDED AT BOTTOM:

Many founders of the punk rock movement were deeply influenced by their Jewish backgrounds, said author Steven Lee Beeber in Cholmondeley's Thursday in a panel with Professors Jonathan Sarna (NEJS) and David Cinningham (SOC), along with WBRS DJ Andy Meyers.

Written mostly in a biographical manner, the book was largely the result of Beeber's one-on-one interviews with the likes of Tommy Ramone, Malcolm Maclaren, Hilly Crystal,the founder of famous music club CBGB, Danny Fields and others. These interviews examined the mentalities developed while growing up in Jewish households and how this upbringing had an influence on their future.

In his book, Beeber stressed that the need to break away from rigid parental demands, as well as the inherent knowledge of generations of contempt and displacement, were the sources of angst, ironic antics and rebelliousness that built the punk genre. He argues that the earliest punks, Lou Reed, John Richman, Alan Vega and others, were "punks because they had to be." It was the most logical outlet for emotional release, a way of dealing with the previously mentioned characteristics that, Beeber feels, define Jews in general.

He stressed that while Judaism did not necessarily inform punk rock, "Jewishness" did.

"You don't have to practice Judaism to be Jewish," he said while speaking about his book, The Heebie-Jeebies, at CBGB. "It is the humanistic approach that defines Jews, the not-conforming, and that's precisely what contributed to punk."

But Sarna questioned if Judaism in itself really was essential to punk rock. "You don't have to be Jewish to feel subversive," he pointed out. Sarna meant to prove that any disgruntled, ostracized person can contribute to an antiestablishment movement. He said that the rockers' Judaism did not necessarily have anything to do with their punkness. "Is there something deeply embedded in Jewish culture that makes the Jews more prone to writing punk music?" Sarna asked. "If that is the case, we don't see too many Hassids writing many accomplished punk pieces."

"What makes the Jewish angst different from anyone else's is the Holocaust," Beeber asserted. He noted that the Holocaust was being discussed a great deal in 1970s New York when punk started, generated high levels of angst, discontent and even self-deprecation not present among any other heritage.

Sarna went on to argue that the book documents only a "subcommunity within the Jewish community" and that it was only a particular type of Jew who contributed to this genre. He raised Matisyahu as an example of a famous Jewish musician not involved in punk and asserted that not all Jews are inherently inclined to punk rock.

Sarna also mentioned his trouble with the term "very Jewish" believing it to be a term that is used to define an increasingly broad group of people, including anyone who suffers. "It is hard to find anybody who doesn't fit into that category," he stated.

Ethan Feuer '07 of the Punk, Rock n' Roll club, which sponsored the event, added: "The point of the book is not to say that Judaism started punk, or that the movement itself would be dead without Jews. Instead, it's a book that attempts to state how certain ideals can be seen in the early days of punk."

Editor's Note: Jon Fischer '07, a Justice Deputy Editor, moderated the event.

Corrections: Because of reporting errors, Steven Beeber's first name was misspelled as Stephen and his book Heebie-Jeebies was incorrectly written as "Heebie Geebies." It was also incorrectly reported that Beeber said the Holocaust would affect Jews forever. He said the Holocaust had a particular impact on the 1970s New York punk scene.