The Rock and Roll Rabbi

Rabbi Brian Leiken, Rabbi at Temple Shalom in Norwalk, has incorporated his passion for history and for music into a series of talks focusing on the Jewish legacy of music. On Sunday, Leiken spoke at a program titled "Jews Rock!" at the . He began his program, presented by the the Jewish Historical Society of Lower Fairfield County and the JCC, seated at the piano.

"I spent my childhood playing piano for an audience called my wall," Leiken laughed as he launched into Billy Joel's "Piano Man," asking the audience to sing along with him.

As he climbed up onto the stage, Leiken began a conversation that stretched from King David to Matisyahu, the modern-day Hasidic reggae musician. He began by asking the crowd to think about Passover and about the way that music has been intregral since the beginning.

"Think about it... it's been 400 years of slavery. I would expect them to keep running. Run! Don't stop and sing. It makes no sense, but that's what they do, they sing," Leiken said. "The women had ancient tambourines with them. We had no time to take our bread out, but the women took the tambourines — we are a people obsessed with music."

Leiken wove his own history into his stories, from taking his brother's Bruce Springsteen record to rediscovering music at summer camp as a child. He returned to the piano to play a bit of "Blue Skies," speaking about Irving Berlin and George Gershwin and the way that they embraced a multitude of cultures in their music.

"These guys were influenced by so many cultures, but mainly by black culture," Leiken said.

Moving through the 20th century, Leiken spoke about Bob Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman, and the impact the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, had on their career.

"He was the one who told them to stop wearing the leather jackets and cut their hair when they came to America. He wanted them to look like nice British boys and boy, did that work," Leiken said.

Over 200 people registered to attend "Jews Rock!" and the program brought together a wide range of ages for an afternoon that proved to be both educational and fun.

"We did a program with Rabbi Leiken about Jews and Broadway, we thought Jews and Rock and Roll would be multi-generational," Eva Weller, president of the Jewish Historical Society of Lower Fairfield County told Patch. "I always learn something... there are so many producers, songwriters, performers that you never knew were Jewish."

Outside of the auditorium, items from John Jacobs collection of music memorabilia — guitars, dresses worn by Courtney Love and Barbra Streisand, even Bette Middler's shoes — lined the hall. Jacobs began collecting in the mid 1990s and often uses his collection as a way to help the community and raise money for a number of different charities. His collection was another perfect match for Sunday's program.

"It's a fantastic collaboration," Nancy Schiffman, associate director of the JCC, said. "Rabbi Leiken has been doing this for a long time and it's a celebration of our Jewish heritage — our music heritage."