To: i-node who wrote (870652 ) 7/5/2015 11:54:22 PM From: Wharf Rat Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1578468 "I think it was more about the drugs than the music" It's the rhythm section pounding out the heartbeat of the universe so that the tribal Us can dance around the campfire, while the lead and keyboards go out and play on it wherever they want to go. Plus endearingly questionable vocal talents. Or else, the Talmud set to music. I prefer the former. And the drugs What's Jewish about The Grateful Dead?There was never much on the surface that was Jewish about The Grateful Dead. Still, the Dead have clearly touched something in Jewish fans. By The Forward and Seth Rogovoy | Jul. 5, 2015 | 4:12 PM In The Grateful Dead’s 30-year-career, the band recorded only about a dozen studio albums. These formed the basis for the group’s live performances, which were The Grateful Dead’s raison d’être. The manner in which the basic tracks on their studio albums turned into their legendary group improvisations are relatively analogous to the role that the Written Torah and the Oral Torah have played in the evolution and perpetuation of Jewish law and wisdom. The Grateful Dead’s policy since the very beginning of allowing fans to tape their concerts, even setting aside taping areas and permitting bootleggers to plug right into their sound console, merely served to encourage the dissemination of The Dead’s “oral tradition,” as if they were religious disquisitions by Hasidic rebbes. When the band was still mostly a Bay Area phenomenon in the mid to late 1960s, they were heavily involved in community action, playing free concerts and taking part in efforts to feed and house those in need, in acts of what modern Jews might term tikkun olam, repairing the world. The kind of “noodle dancing” one typically witnesses at a Grateful Dead concert has often been likened to the active shuckling seen in enthusiastic Jewish prayer.... haaretz.com