MUCH TO SAY –
Sept. 13, 2023 – You were skeptical of religion growing up, but you converted to Judaism as an adult. What role does Jewish tradition and belief play in your life these days?
We’re primarily secular in our family. We go to High Holy Days and things like that. We have Seders. It’s a community that we feel embraced by, and a congregation that has a warm feeling to it for our family. When we’ve gone through things like my wife’s cancer diagnosis, it’s important to have a support system beyond just your friends — to mean something to the fabric of a community larger than that.
It’s one of the first things I noticed about my wife’s relationship with other people, especially when she ran a rock club. Anybody that was a Jewish person in a rock band that came through, automatically, they had a comfort level, and they could actually sing the same prayers. I was thinking, “What do I have like that? The Gilligan’s Island theme song?”
What’s the most extravagant purchase you’ve ever made?
This is an obnoxious answer, but I have this habit of falling in love with a particular instrument and not feeling like I really have it unless I buy another one. So I have a lot of doubles of instruments that are all my favorites. It’s a certain insecurity from guitars getting broken or changing over time into something that I don’t like as much or whatever. That’s pretty frivolous.
