Working Class Yid

I always get a kick out of discovering that someone I admire, who does not seem remotely Jewish, turns out to be one of the tribe.

In this case, the person in question – Aussie rocker Jimmy Barnes – did not know himself until recently.

Wjimmy barneshen Jimmy Barnes sang a few versus in Yiddish before 1700 Jews this week, the rock star had some unexpected news for his audience at the charity event. He, too, was Jewish.

Through the rock of ages, many stars have had Jewish roots: Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, the Ramones, Kiss and the Beastie Boys. Now we can add Barnsey, the Scottish immigrant kid who was raised a Protestant and played in the Salvation Army band before he became Australia’s howling Working Class Man.

Barnes only made his discovery hours before he told Sydney’s Central Synagogue on Thursday night: ”I rang my mother this afternoon, before the rehearsal. And I said, ‘Mum, I remember when I was about 18, you gave me a Star of David. Why?’ And she said, ‘Oh, my mother gave that to me and her mother gave it to her and I thought I’d give it to you.’ And I said, ‘OK, was your mother Jewish by any chance? And she said, ‘Yes, her name was Esther.’ So, if I’m to get this right, my great-grandmother was Jewish, my grandmother was Jewish, my mother was Jewish, so I must be Jewish.”

The audience response was rapturous. Barnes added: ”The only problem with that – it might be a painful process.”

Well, not quite. Barnes explained to the Herald yesterday: ”It is passed down through the mother so, yes, technically, I am Jewish.” But he added: ”Basically, I’m a Buddhist.”

He had meditated in Thailand, attended black gospel in the US, studied Hinduism in India and had Muslim friends in France.

”I like people of faith, and I believe the more people who have spirituality, the better the world will be. It’s about peace and tolerance.”

He thought little about that Star of David as a teenager. His mother was not a practising Jew. In 2003

the Rabbi Mendel Kastel, then at the Great Synagogue, approached Barnes to perform Hava Nagila. ”I wanted something spectacular to get the community in. Jimmy thought it was a joke at first. But then, graciously, he did it.”

Rabbi Kastel now runs Jewish House, a crisis centre at Bondi that deals with homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction and families in need. Barnes has become a supporter, and he and his son, David Campbell, will perform a fundraiser for the centre on December 1 at the Sofitel Wentworth, Sydney.

About a month ago, the rabbi and Barnes were sharing a Kosher meal in Bondi. At the next table, Central Synagogue’s Cantor Shimon Farkas was dining with the chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, and he invited Barnes to sing at Thursday night’s concert.

And so Barnes was there to sing My Yiddishe Momme. But not before calling his mother that day. He shared his news before treating his audience to a solo, What a Wonderful World.

Update: For those not familiar with Jimmy (the non-Aussies amongst you – he’s a legend Down Under), here is his one of his most famous songs, and the inspiration behind the post’s title.

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