Shabbat Prayers and Songs to Fab Tunes: A Shabbat in Liverpool (Finally! Jewish Songs with Beatle's Melodies!)

Over the years I have enjoyed Shlock Rocks sometimes clever and whitty songs that fuse Yiddishkeit / Jewish themes with popular and accessible rock songs. And I loved... and still love the Beatles music for all it represents as a touchstone for those of us who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s... and because it is great classic rock beloved of many generations. An attempt to use the Beatles music as inspiration for a CD of Jewish prayers and songs - in theory - holds much promise both in terms of quality of material and potential profits. But I must say - the hype for this effort far exceeds the quality of the product. No doubt great effort had to be made to get permission from the rights holders to the music. But that may be the most impressive accomplishment here. The arrangements - vocal and instrumental - are uneven. Some are good, but many are bland and uninspired at best. Sometimes not totally recognizeable as being a Beatle tune. I must also comment on the packaging. Again - I respect the fact that getting permission from Apple, the surviving Beatles, and the estates of Lennon and Harrison must have been difficult at best. But the designers of the packaging and the writers of the liner notes go to great effort to use the iconic font familiar in the Beatles logo, the iconic images of Abbey Road (the studio, the cross walk, and the street sign), and do EVERYTHING they can to associate themselves with the Beatles - the group and the individual musicians - and can't even manage to thank the group or Apple or the individual members of the Beatles ANYWHERE in the official product - at least THANK THEM for the inspirational music and for permission... beyond the perfunctory and required legalities (which we assume they had properly obtained permission to use). To add insult to the whole thing, one of the creators of the project, in his message, makes a tangential reference to and criticism of the Beatles as people - or more accurately - their personalities and lifestyles - in the notes, while saying their music was good! And he attributes the music as being a gift from God... seemingly trying to disconnect the music from the authors of the music and disapproving of the people who created the music. Well - if that is not adding insult and biting the hand that feeds them, what is it? "Kraz" gives himself credit - "... this idea is slightly out of the ordinary, using something not related to anything Jewish and connecting it to prayer". Really? I thought that Judaism elevates everything that it touches and infuses it with holiness. Food, time, words, etc. Shlock Rock has made a handsome living from teaching Judaism and creating Jewish pride through parodies and adaptations of rock songs, but heretofor without saying anything negative about the composers of the songs they were adapting. Why now and why - of all groups - be critical of THE BEATLES - without question the most beloved rock band of all time? Hey Shlock Rock - most Beatle songs were about peace, love, being in the world, imagining the possibilities, making the world a better place... etc... seems to me that these are Jewish values. Maybe the music was good BECAUSE of the four men who wrote the music. And since when do these four men who called themselves the Beatles, who were not Jewish - have to meet your standards of how to live their lives? Seems that they were fairly charitable, generous, and spiritual in their own ways. Many Jews were in their inner circle (some of whom took terrible advantage of them) and yet the Beatles never did or said anything that could be remotely called anti-Jewish. Gee - wasn't Israel one of the few countries that actually REJECTED an opportunity to host them in the 1960's, and recently apologized to Sir Paul - who was quite respectful on his recent visit? If you have anything to say about these four musicians or their music - from which you will make a few shekels - then say something more respectful of them, or out of appreciation of or awe for their talent and what they gave the world - say something positive about their creativity, give them the benefit of the doubt, do not judge their humanity, and use their names out of respect for what they did for the world, rather than make a statement that is clearly damnation by VERY faint praise.

Lecha Dodi to a medley of Beatles tunes? You have to love it, even for the chutzpah of pulling this off. And it's all pretty well produced and performed. Good enough to listen to and get a real kick out of it.