S2E22 Can Art and Music Replace Religion? (w/ Eric Stern)

Josh (Host): Eric Stern builds Jewish community and is a curator of Jewish culture. He's a very interesting, multi-layered renaissance man who is the irector of Programming at Portland's Eastside Jewish Commons, an important player in the emergent Jewish scene here in Portland Oregon.    Eric is also musician, vocalist, accordionist, pianist, composer, arranger, he trained as a classical singer and went on to found the eclectic, genre-bending band Vagabond Opera, which toured nationally, appeared on NPR and at the Kennedy Center, and mixed opera, jazz, cabaret, Klezmer and Balkan influences.  Rabbi Josh and Eric explore his EP and its roots in Greek Rebetiko, trace the parallels between marginalized musical traditions like Klezmer and blues, discuss Stern's transformation from performer to facilitator, talk about whether religious experience and music-making are connected, and whether Jewish art on its own can sustain community in the absence of synagogue life.