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The Jewish side of Bob Dylan [Mini Thread]
![The Jewish side of Bob Dylan [Mini Thread]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EytRFIhWQAccquY.png "The Jewish side of Bob Dylan [Mini Thread]")
Dylan was born in Duluth, Minnesota. His grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Odessa. He was raised in Hibbling, another city in Minnesota with a Jewish community of 300 people. His dad was the president of the local Bnei Brith, and his mother was the president of Hadassah.
Dylan made his Bar Mitzvah in Hibbling, with 400 guests (the biggest Bar Mitzvah in the history of the city). He also attended a Zionist camp called Herzl in Wisconsin, and he was very active in his synagogue. (Pic from the Herzl camp in 1957)
During his first years some of his songs had Jewish references, like in Highway 61 revisited where he mentions Abraham and Issac. But in 1966 he said to Playboy that he didn't identify as a Jew, and in 1970 he converted to Evangelical Christianity. (In 1971 he visited the Kotel)
This changes in the Year 1983, when Dylan's older son, Jesse, did his Bar Mitzvah in Israel. During this time Dylan distanced himself from Christianity, and he embraced his Jewish roots.
One month later he released his album Infidels, probably his most Jewish album. The back cover of the Album is a picture of Dylan in Jerusalem, and the Album includes the song "Neighborhood Bully" where he defends Israel.
"The neighborhood bully he just lives to survive
He's criticized and condemned for being alive
He's not supposed to fight back, he's supposed to have thick skin
He's supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in
He's the neighborhood bully." https://open.spotify.com/track/5N1M5lueT7liCW7R4gaaMi?si=1f3730887c6d4956
He's criticized and condemned for being alive
He's not supposed to fight back, he's supposed to have thick skin
He's supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in
He's the neighborhood bully." https://open.spotify.com/track/5N1M5lueT7liCW7R4gaaMi?si=1f3730887c6d4956
In 1981 he appeared in the Chabad telethon fundraiser singing Hava Nagila. He always had a relation with Chabad rabbis, and we still donate to the organization.
Just to finish, Dylan had a concert in 2011 in Israel, in his Never Ending Tour.
