The Times They Were a-Changin’: Jewish Protest Singers of the 1960s

Join DOROT to explore how, while they may have shed the Yiddish language, Jewish singers and songwriters perpetuated the tradition of Yiddish songs of social justice in the countercultural ferment of the 1960s. Musicians ranging from Bob Dylan to Phil Ochs to Janis Ian to Country Joe and the Fish (plus Tom Lehrer, Si Kahn, Paul Simon, Jefferson Airplane) wrote and sang songs that became anthems of the civil rights, antiwar, and women’s movements, among other expressions of political protest.

Together participants will examine how these Jewish artists addressed many of the same issues their Yiddish forebears tackled just a few decades earlier and how Jewish values (e.g., Tikkun olam) seem to have informed their work. Participants will also take a look at how non-Jews including Pete Seeger and Joan Baez wound up being the caretakers of the tradition and transitional figures in bringing Yiddish protest music alive as part of the folk revival. Led by Seth Rogovoy, author, producer, musician