Based on the accomplishments of individual Jews, Nobel Prize winners and heroes of modern culture, as well as the amount of attention Jews get in the media, you'd never believe the correct answers: There are little more than 13 million Jews in the world, comprising less than 1/4 of 1% of the world's population (2.4% of the American population). Choose any field, and you will find that Jews have excelled in it (music being no exception, see below listing). Think of the names of many modern-day figures most responsible for the intellectual turning points in history- MARX, FREUD, EINSTEIN- and you will find proof of the Biblical verdict: "Surely this is...a wise and understanding people." With that said, here are just a few of the many great Jews in the music industry: Bob Dylan (Born Robert Allen Zimmerman) Jakob Dylan (The Wallflowers) Billy Joel Al Jolson (jazz singer) Robbie Robertson (father is Jewish, the band) Eddie Fisher (crooner) Neil Sedaka Victor Borge (the piano comedian, danish Jew, born Rosenbaum) Arthur Fiedler (boston pops) Carly Simon (father is of Simon & Shuster publishing fame) Simon & Garfunkle Slash (Guns N' Roses, born Sol Hudson, father is Jewish) Steven Adler (former Guns N' Roses drummer) Neil Diamond Barry Manilow Howard Kaylen & Mark Volman (The Turtles, volman is half Jewish) The Tokens (early '60s doowop hit w/ The Lion Sleeps Tonight) Brian Epstein (beatles manager) Murray The K (famed DJ, billed as the 5th beatle) Dinah Shore (father was a cantor) The Beastie Boys Adam Duritz (singer for The Counting Crows) Alan Freed (famed DJ, coined the term "Rock N' Roll) Kenny G (Born Gorelick) Lou Reed Mel Torme (Born torma, crooner) Lorna Luft (sister of Liza Minelli, daughter of Judy Garland & Sid Luft (Jewish) Andrew Gold (10 cc, "lonely boy" "I'm not in love") Gene Simmons (KISS/studied to become a rabbi,migrated from Israel, born Chaim Witz) Paul Stanley (KISS/born EISEN) Barbra Streisand Carole King (tapestry) Arlo Guthrie (mother was Jewish, father was Woody Guthrie) Burt Bacharach (composer) Ben Lee (aussie rock vocalist) Marvin Hamlisch (composer) Malcolm McLaren (manager of The Sex Pistols, mother is Jewish) Marty Friedman (lead guitarist, Megadeth) Leonard Bernstein (composer/conductor) Ira & George Gershwin Irving Berlin Benny Goodman (king of swing) Marc Cohn (walking in memphis) David Lee Roth Bette Midler Robbie Krieger (the doors, guitarist) Mike Bloomfield Michael Bolton (born Bolotin) Paul Shaffer (Late Night W/ David Letterman) Max Weinberg (drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street band/Max Weinberg 7 on Conan O' Brien) Rick Rubin (rock producer, def jam records, beastie boys, red hot chili peppers) Scott Ian (Anthrax) Danny Spitz (Anthrax, former lead guitarist) Paula Abdul (mother is sephardic Jew) T-Rex (aka Marc Bolan/born Marc Feld) Lenny Kravitz (half Jew/father Sy kravitz) Bill Graham (famed rock promoter) Perry Farrell (jane's addiction, porno for pyros, born Bernstein) Peter Green (original founding member of Fleetwood Mac, lead guitarist) Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary) Mort Schuman (co-writer with Doc Pomus (also Jewish), such hits asTurn Me Loose, Teenager In Love) Don Kirschner (producer/promoter/had show "Don Kirschner's Rock Concert during the 70s & 80s/Spoofed on SNL by PAUL Shaffer) David Geffen (geffen records/dreamworks) Herb Abramson (co-founder of Atlantic Records) Saul Zaentz (proudcer/founder of Fantasy records. Creedence Clearwater Revival being one of its most famous artists) Clive Davis (founder of Arista Records) Phil Spector (producer/songwriter, created "the wall of sound" ala The Ronettes) Bob Ezrin (producer, most known for Pink Floyd's Darkside Of The Moon) Lou Adler (founder of Dunhill/Abc records Carnie Wilson (wilson/phillips, mother is Jewish) Leonard Cohen Linda McCartney (Born Epstein, changed to Eastman) Leslie West (mountain, born Leslie Weinstein) Leonard & Phil Chess (founder of Chess Records) Donald Fagen (Steely Dan) Chris & Rich Robinson (black crowes, born Rabinowitz, half jew (father is Jewish) Chris Stein (founding member of Blondie, guitarist) J. Geils Band (everyone is Jewish except for J. Geils (lead guitarist!hehe) Leiber & Stoller (songwriters of such rock classics as Hound Dog and Stand By Me, Jailhouse Rock) Danny Rappaport (Danny & The Juniors (50s doo-wop) Doug Fieger (The Knack, "My Sharona", brother is Attorney Geoffret Fieger who defended Jack Kevorkian) Elliot Easton (The Cars, lead guitarist, born Steinberg) Eric Bloom (Blue Oyster Cult) Evan Seinfeld (Biohazard, actor in OZ) Gary Lewis (Gary Lewis & The Playboys, had '60s hit w/ "This Diamond Ring" He is the son of Jerry Lewis the comedian) Gavin Rossdale (Bush, paternal grandfather was Jewish) Tiny Tim (mother was Jewish) Norman Greenbaum (hat one hit wonder w/ Spirit In The Sky) Helen Reddy (converted to Judaism) Sammy Davis Jr. (converted to Judaism) Gabby Glaser (lucious jackson) Joey Ramone (The Ramones, born Jeffrey Hymen) Jon Bauman (Sha-na-na) John Moss (drummer w/ Culture Club. he suggested that Boy George wear hasidic garb!!) Jorma Kaukonen (hot tuna, jefferson airplane, mother was Jewish) Kenny Aronoff (drummer with John Mellencamp) Kevin Wasserman (guitarist, Offspring) Kinky Friedman (60s cult figure, founding member of Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys) Laura Nyro (mother was Jewish)

chappy chanukah, darren.

what a strange post. there is no such thing as being half jewish, you either are or aren't.

Many people count being jewish as an ethnicity, which it is. For example, I am 1/4 Lithuanian Jewish. There are distinct genetic markers for Jewsih people ( hence the many nose jokes). It is interesting how many Jewsih people are entertainers, compared to the statistics, although I admit you never really pay attention to non-jewish entertainers, or at least count them. Fun fact: Both my brother and I are musicians with Jewish heritage. So is my friend Jake who is pursuing a career in music. Another fun fact: All of the Asian people I have been friends with have also been musicians. A great example of faulty logic: Therefore, all of my Asian friends have Jewish heritage.

i have no jewish blood whatsoever and i am a total loser. now i know why.

i maintain that judaism is a religion, albeit a religion that could be difficult to differentiate from an ethnicity. you cannot be half jewish. you can have jewish relatives. my father is jewish, i am not. simple.

what a long, strange post it's been. i'm scratching my head and wondering why the hell i should care

Judaism is a religion. You can practice Judaism. You cannot practice being Jewish? Seems to me that truly Being Jewish is a weird cultural place of being both a practicing and a blood Jew. My grandmother is full-blooded Jew, but she has never practiced. She doesn't consider herself "A Jew." she is "a person with Jewish blood." I don't get it, either. I have two different strains; her German Jew blood and her Husbands Moorish variety. heh. I'm something like 7/12th Jew. Why did the Jews wander in the desert for 40 years? Somebody dropped a quarter.

If you have Jewsih blood, then it's an ethnicity. They have actually identified a genetic marker on the Y chromosome as belonging to the Cohenim, or the Rabbi part of the Jewish ethnic group. This has been used to verify an African tribe's claims that they are descended from Jews who left the Holy Land and migrated into Ethiopia. They have this marker. Jews in Europe especially became an ethnic group because being outcast limited the inflow of outside bloodlines or ethnicities into their group, resulting in distinct ethnic traits. Another argument goes: try and pick out a Bosnian from a Serb from a Croat, and then tell me they aren't separate ethnic groups because they look alike. By your argument Agatha, no one born in America can call themselves anything but American. There are no African-Americans, no Arab-Americans, no European-Americans. There are Native Americans though. My Polish-American relatives are going to be heavily disappointed when I tell them they've been fooling themselvves all this time.

imagine that, polish-americans fooling themselves. yuck yuck. speaking of such, A. got this organic body polish stuff for christmas. it's kind of neat. mostly safflower oil and sea salt, plus fragrence (lavender and citrus of some kind, ginger, i dnno) the salt defoliates and then rinses off, leaving the oil to soften your skin. ooo. back in 'nam we used agent orange and napalm to defoliate.

I can't even begin to comment on that.

wuss

exfoliate

yeah, you're right. http://www.bodypolish.com/

sem- your logic makes no sense to me. you cannot be "half jewish." Ju·da·ism (jd-zm) n. 1.The monotheistic religion of the Jews, tracing its origins to Abraham and having its spiritual and ethical principles embodied chiefly in the Bible and the Talmud. 2.Conformity to the traditional ceremonies and rites of the Jewish religion. 3.The cultural, religious, and social practices and beliefs of the Jews. 4.The Jews considered as a people or community.

Agatha, yes, under TALMUD LAW, the matriarchal lineage is the determining factor. However, what good is being born a FULL JEW, if you are non practicing!? e.g. I know many interreligious families, where the mother is not Jewish, yet the children are raised as JEWS. Since I am a secular Jew, who believes in SPIRITUALITY above all else, I believe that PATRIARCHAL JEWS should also be included!! e.g. BEN STILLER (father is JERRY STILLER) is a half-Jew. While both he and his dad are married to SHIKSAS (gentile woman), BEN is still "KEEPING THE FAITH." ehe Another prime example is the late SAMMY DAVIS JR. He converted to JUDAISM, remember!? As did ELIZABETH TAYLOR, and MARILYN MONROE (when she married playwright ARTHUR MILLER). You then have FULL JEWS (under TALMUDIC LAW) such as HARRISON FORD, who hasn't seen the inside of a temple since he starred in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM!hehehehe LOL! So what good is being born from a JEWISH WOMB, if you are secular? You must be able to discern the spirit from the letter of the law!!

You must also be able to discern the proper from the improper time to place distinct graphic emphasis--such as CAPITALIZATION--on words. Capitalization, especially, should be used sparingly (and many style guides will even go so far as to say "never, except for where constructually necessary," and I might just agree with them.) It hits the eyes rather like being woken by the sensation of a pitcher of water being dumped on one's head. While attention getting at first, it has a tendency to get downright annoying if used repeatedly.

B, since I am dealing with STUBBORN MINDED GOYIM (yourself included!heh), I must stress each and every word!hehe FARSHTAIST!?eheh Now lighten up and don't have a cow, ok!?ehehe

You may find that "stubborn" and "stupid" aren't necessarily the same thing. Point in case: we know how to read, and believe me, your rabidness comes across just fine thanks to the tone and content of your posts. Your posts read like infomercials. The amazing JEW!!! it slices, dices, and circumcises! hehehehe LOL!!! But seriously folks! Consider the JEW! YOUR ONE AND ONLY real household neccesity!!! you want to make a point? fine. Make a point. I'd prefer that you did it using the sway of pretty arguments, instead of trying to force me into submission by giving me a headache. Don't have a cow! I didn't know Bart Simpson was a Jew. shut the fuck up with "lighten up" and "hehehehe" and "LOL" and "!!!?!" on the one hand, you're saying: "Jews are the greatest! The Chosen People! y'all are LESSER! LESSER, I tell ya!" and on the other hand, you want me to lighten up? get off, you little shit.

mm, B++.

*still scratching her head, still wondering why the hell she should care*

STUBBORN MINDED SHISHKA!

tsk tsk, nate

and that's "verstehen sie?" to you, darrin.

i know, i know. i couldn't resist.

i wanna know what's with the 'hehehehe' stuff, it's really annoying

oh, there's more, heather. it gets worse.

OY VAY!heh I've now SPAWNED impersonators!? Pls. be advised, I did post under DARRIN!! Remember, there can only be one of me!heh Often imitated but never duplicated!heheeee And I still have no clue as to who he is!?eheeee

Oops! TYPO ALERT!heh The above should have read: "I DID NOT POST UNDER DARRIN." I am more creative than simply saying, "STUBBORN MINDED SHIKSA". eh

Agatha. Please read number 4. under the dictionary definition. I still maintain that one can have Jewish heritage if one is personally not Jewish in faith. Chosen One, or Jeff Jarrett: Could you possibly be more annoying? Your argument on how great the Jews are is severly undermined by your personal behavior.

shut UP slapnuts. heeheheh

i suppose i shouldn't bring this up in this thread, but i polled a roomful of JEWS on thursday night at a chanukah party about this very question, and they all responded the same. they said that it is not possible to be "half jewish." so, there you have it. i am choosing to believe them, especially since they corroborate with me. i love to be right, and will lie cheat or steal to achieve my goal.

Damn. Now I'm a quarter nothing.

i have to agree with aggie. can you be half buddhist? my family is 98% lutheran. i am not. i'n german, norwegian and swedish. would you call someone whose dad was roman catholic a half roman catholic? genetic markers are just a small piece of the pie. what they tell me is that people with that marker are all descended from a common geographic area, not that they all practice the same religion. is there a more boring denomination than lutheran?

as for the hanukah party, it was my impression that the rabbi was kind of perturbed with the question. she was not very forthcoming at all. you'd think she'd have more of an opinion and i really wanted to hear it.

until now, i've never heard anybody question the phrase "half jewish" or "quarter jewish". it's just assumed, at least where i come from, that being jewish is an ethnicity. i've never heard of anybody NOT understanding exactly what's meant by the phrase "part jewish". my husband & i both have some jewish blood. we're part jewish. he's jewish & swedish by ethnicity. he doesn't practice judaism. it's just like all the people in this town who are jewish atheists or jewish buddhists or jewish pagans. everybody knows what it means. it's pretty basic...or so i thought. this whole conversation kind of amazes me.

so, you're saying i am lutheran? you better smile when you say that.

Having christian heritage is not the same as having jewish heritage. There is a common appearance amongst many jews, and I don't think that's deniable. That's because, due to circumstances that are now foriegn to our experience, european jews were secluded into their own genepool due to discrimination and persecution. I sort of look like some of my jewsih relatives, who look like jews. That's because not only are they jewish, most of their ancestors were too, because not only was it very discouraged to marry a jew, it was also discouraged by jews to marry goyim. Ok? Part of my ancestry comes from a distinct community of people, who were jews. About the same amount as the folks who were poles. Now, is anyone going to argue when I claim that I'm half-southern Illinois redneck? Cuz then we're gonna have to fight.

sem, you started it. nyah nyah. my father's a jew who identifies with italians. go figure.

Would it be a nakey fight in gallons of jello with a six pack of whipped cream? If so, Sem you're 100% Australian aboriginal and that makes you really so Southern, you're practically on your knees throating the Earth's dick.

Would it help Dave & Agatha & cut down on the confusion if we replaced the word "Jewish" with "Hebrew", "Israeli", "Israelite" or "Semitic"? Jews are people of Hebrew origin....and just because you are of Hebrew Origin (or partially of Hebrew origin) does NOT necessarily mean that person practices Judaism. When Hitler was rounding up the Jews in Nazi Germany, it wasn't necessarily PEOPLE WHO PRACTICED JUDAISM....it was anyone with any remotely Semitic Background. Is this starting to make sense, yet?

well, that's what i was saying. jew is one thing. semite is another. a person can be ˝ semitic, but they are either jewish or they are not.

agreed. it's all semantics.

Andy's ashkenazhim. You probably look more like me than you do my friend Rikki, the sephardim, Sem. In terms of the 'looking like' thing.

Well, what I'M saying is most folks refer to Semites as Jews, y'know? Blanket generalization, yadda yadda whatever....

blank generation.

I can live with semite. You all know how I like the most accurate term. I'd take that fight with you any day, Cat. And if you were any more southern, you'd be a penguin. What happened to Jeff Jarrett?

vegemite?

Richard Hell Lives!!!!!!!

i wasn wondering who would pop out on that pug.

Chosen one, are the words "goyim" and "shiksa" as pejorative in Hebrew (or Yiddish) as they sound to me, a non-Hebrew speaking goyim?

yes.

Semillama, Since you seem to revel in the idea of distancing yourself from your 1/4 Judaic roots, you're the last person who should speak about undermining Jews. Shame on you for refusing to take pride in your Judaic roots!! You are an insult to the 6 million Jewish Holocaust victims!! Remember, if you had been residing in EUROPE during WW II, you would have most likely met the same fate!! To HITLER, 1/4 is all that he needed to label you as a JUDEN!! You have some CHUTZPAH, semillama!! Incidentally, you'll celebrate CHRISTMAS and attend CHURCH, eh?

you are so fucking boring.

Dude, you'd get eaten alive in MY church, you don't even want to know. I think my grandpa would be proud that I'm not a dumbass. Your relatives, however, are likely saying "since when did we raise such a nimrod?" So, Choke on that, Slapnutz! Hit My Music!

i'm beginning to think that the chosen one is one of them neo-nazi netfreaks. he must go around from BBS to BBS to foster the image that jews are annoying and ignorant.

Yeah, but there's only a small difference between the essential arguments of zionists and neo-nazis. Their logic (or appalling lack thereof) is the same. I've been tempted by a suggestion of mavis' to paste JJ's arguments into a email to my friend who's excellent at tearing the arguments of zionists apart. Just to see what he says.

why bother? i haven't seen a real arguement yet.

apparently there's only one 'e' in arguement. arguemnt.

?

YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING, DO YOU.

priceless.

It's "pricless," Semillama. You know better than that.

Actually, that would be "pricelss," Tom.

WHAT ARE ALL THE VOWELS FOR?!

Response to Chosen One-Rock On!!! To be Jewish is not an ethnicity but a spiritual belief. Anyone regardless of ethnic backround can choose to observe the teachings of judaism. Yes, it is true that many people share the same genetic traits which could be linked through judaism. However, through history everyone is nearly intermingled one way or another. I myself am technically 1/4 Jewish. My mother is half jewish/half cuban and my father is Irish/Italian. However, I practice the kaballah, jewish mysticism. Lets not separate ourselves by ethnicity, and lets just celebrate being able to join together under spirituality no matter what religion/ethnic group you are.

Semillama, as the saying goes: "Zionism is not racism - anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism." The simplest definition of Zionism: an international movement for the establishment of a Jewish national or religious community in Palestine and later for the support of modern Israel. Jews had gone without a homeland for eighteen-hundred years, remember!? So do you blame us for not wanting to lay down and die, and give up Israel!? The same Israel that was promised to the Hebrews over 3,000 years ago. Palestinians (aka Arabs - indistinguishable from Jordanians, Egyptians) began identifying themselves as a "Palestinian" people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern state of Israel. Remember, a day without terrorfat is another Jewish holiday!ehehe In the end, you just continue proving your self-loathing status as a quarter Jew. -D, NYC "Envy of Jewish talents and brains has moved the Gentiles to behave like wild beasts toward a people in some respects their superior." - MARK TWAIN

Hmmmm... Chosen One was jizmopped because he posted from an AOL proxy cache. cache-rtc-ad02.proxy.aol.com Notice the "rtc" in the name. Coincidence? :)

Jews just rule... period.

You got it, Toyota! eh Keep that unabashed Jewish pride flowing!ehehe If the jealous Gentiles (aka anti-Semites) can't handle the Politically Incorrect truth, simply FEH! on them!eh -D, NYC "Often when I found in China an artist of unusual talent or a mind more vivid than others among my students, the chances were good that he had Jewish blood in him. It is a creative strain" - PEARL BUCK (1892-1973, Nobel laureate in literature, author)

Why are you all so obsessed with your Jewishness?

v is Russian Orthodox,but I will allways defend Jews,v happens to like them lots.

C.O.R....post as you want.

My long answer: The Hebrews were an ethnic subgroup of the Semites. The Hebrews were defined to be a nation at the foot of Mt. Sinai (see Exodus), and they were given the name "Bnai Yisrael", which means "children of Israel". Israel is another name for Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. Intermarriage with non-Hebrews was forbidden, so this techincally formed an ethnic group. One of the 12 Hebrew/Israelite tribes was Judah, which is the only one that has survived to this day (the others were lost and scattered due to other conquering nations). The inhabitants of the tribe of Judah were given the name "Jew" by the Romans. Modern Jews are descendents of this tribe. Judaism is the modern name of the ancient religion practiced by the Hebrews after they left Egypt: adherence to a set of commandments and strict methods of worship. Because of the commandment to not intermarry, the ethnic group and the religion were intertwined. It was impossible to separate the ethnicity from the religion, because people of a certain ethnicity practiced the same religion, and ONLY people from this ethnicity practiced this religion. Because of liberal and progressive trends in the past several hundred years, this ethnicity-religion tie has loosened. People can be ethnically Jewish but not practice the religion at all. This means that these people have the genetic traits of the ancient tribe of Judah but choose to be secular (consider Hollywood) or choose to be a member of another religion. Also, due to voluntary conversion, many non-Jews are becoming Jews-by-faith. For example, a Scandinavian man may convert to Judaism in order to marry a Jewish woman. Genetically, he is Scandinavian, and his children will have 1/2 Scandinavian genes and 1/2 Jewish genes. That's why you will find many people nowadays who say they are part Jewish. In conclusion: it is possible to be part Jewish from a genetic/ethnic viewpoint, just as it is be part African or Asian. However, from a religious viewpoint, you either adhere to the Torah or you do not. I think this is where the confusion lies. In my opinion, Orthodox Judaism considers a person a Jew by birth. To them, Jews who are not Orthodox are simply misguided but still Jewish. Reform Judaism considers a person a Jew by faith. A vast majority of today's Jews are ethnically Jewish: notice larger noses and dark, curly hair. Jews have distinct physical features that are not Caucasian, Asian or African...they are Semitic. Other Semites (like Arabs) have similar features. Hitler didn't go on a rampage because of Judaism's doctrines...he wanted to wipe out the genes of a certain people, and these people happened to practice Judaism.