by Izzy Grinspan
The “Jewish” in “Jewish rock” means something totally different from the “Christian” in “Christian rock.” When we talk about Jewish rock bands, we generally mean bands, secular or religious, with Jewish members. Often these members are loud and proud about their Jewish identities, but they certainly don’t have to write power-ballad takes on “Oseh Shalom” to be Jewish rockers. “Christian rock,” on the other hand, very specifically denotes religious music. Jewish rock musicians are Jews in bands; Christian rockers are making music about their faith.
This is a strange semantic double-standard to begin with. It gets much murkier when you consider the Jewish musicians of Christian rock.
Take the OC Supertones, for example. Since the ska mini-craze of the mid-‘90s, these guys have been doing a whole horns-for-Jesus thing – but lead singer Matt Morginski was born Jewish. A review on Jesusfreakideout.com helpfully points out that Morginski’s Jewish heritage informs a track called “I Love God” off the CD Adventures of the OC Supertones; another song on the album is called “Adonai.”
Weird. Weirder still is John Reuben, the Jewish Christian rapper. Reuben (born John Reuben Zappin) mentions being a messianic Jew—that is, a Jew for Jesus—but much of the press about him seems to just call him a Jew. Witness this mind-bending quote from Phillyburbs.com: “Christian rappers have trouble gaining credibility. Same can be said for white rappers (save Eminem). Combine the two, make the rapper Jewish and you have John Reuben.”
We’re not sure what to make of the Jews of Christian rock. Surely it doesn't make sense to include them in our Challah Fame, but then, as one fan put it in an e-mail, “Aren’t Jewish Christians just as good as any other Jew?” Hard-liners will think this issue is completely absurd, and it probably is. We’re just fascinated by the ambiguity in the words “Jewish” and “rock,” the way they allow a Christian rapper to count as a Jewish rocker.