" November 4, 2011 -- JWeekly
by Dan Pine
Don't let me down, Paul - please please be Jewish like me
Maybe I'm amazed. The news broke last week that Paul McCartney is converting to Judaism. Granted, I read this this in the National Enqu-irer, so until I see Sir Paul sporting a kippah or peppering his speech with words like "bubbeleh" and "meshugginah," I will take the news with a grain of kosher salt.
Still, given that he recently married Nancy Shevell, an observant Jew, and spent Yom Kippur with her in a London synagogue, I'm betting it's true. I sure want it to be true.
Of all the things I could have ever wished for, Paul converting would not have made the list. It wouldn't have squared with that Merseyside cockiness I grew up revering.
Yet here we are, with our first Jewish Beatle. And now I feel an irresistible urge to pun. So get back:
New song suggestions for Paul might include "Matzah My Dear," "Maxwell's Silver Candlesticks" and "If I Kvell." Then there's the one song title that needs no Jewish tweaking: "Your Mother Should Know."
I always had a feeling Paul was Jew-friendly.
His first wife, the late Linda Eastman McCartney, was Jewish, which makes his children with her Jewish. In 2008, Paul refused to cave in to Israel bashers and performed live in Tel Aviv to adoring crowds.
Moreover, I doubt there has ever been a more winsome celebrity billionaire genius than Paul McCartney. Why wouldn't he like the Jews?
About 10 years ago, a lifelong friend of mine found himself at a posh London party, with Paul in attendance. My friend sheepishly approached to say hello. Paul sat him down and asked him all sorts of questions about what brought him to London.
Long story short, yada yada yada, an hour later it was my friend who started glancing at his watch and saying things like, "Would you look at the time."
If it were me, I would have been deliriously happy to chat with Paul until sunrise. Interviewing him is a dream of mine. My Beatlemania runs deep and wide.
I was 8 when the band's first single in America, "Love Me Do," came out. A year or so later, when the Beatles were the biggest thing on Earth, my friend (the same who met Paul decades later) decided we had to do something about the band "stealing all the girls." So we bought multiple packs of first-edition collectible Beatles cards and burned them in his backyard.
Oh, the humanity.
In 1964, I got my first Beatles album ("Something New"), and I was hooked. I don't think kids today can relate to the experience of waiting in line at the record store to buy a new Beatles album, rushing home and poring over every melody, lyric and square inch of the jacket. There's nothing magical about downloading from iTunes.
The Beatles' music has been my constant companion for nearly 50 years. Though not everything they did was as great as I used to think it was (I'm not a fan of the White Album), there's no denying the band's epochal impact on countless lives, mine included.
So in a way, I've felt connected to Paul nearly all my life. Does his conversion make me feel closer to him, even though he is probably doing it just to please his wife? The answer for me is: Yes, absolutely.
A Jewish Beatle means the central figure of the most important cultural phenomenon of the last half-century has taken on the same faith and value system as mine.
It means the whole world is watching. People who normally harbor suspicions about Jews and Israel may now reassess. If Judaism is good enough for Paul McCartney, maybe it's good enough for the Jews.
Part of Jewish pride is pointing to particular MOTs as emblematic of our success. Sandy Koufax, Bess Myerson, Jerry Seinfeld, all of those Nobel laureates. It feels good to claim them as our own.
And now this.
I doubt I'll ever cross paths with him, but I can't help feeling my hero is now closer to my universe. My fantasy is that he and I attend a seder together, and after dinner we finally have that all-night chat.
Next year in Liverpool.
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Paul McCartney is 'On The Run'
Tour dates announced November/December 2011
On The Run Tour Dates - 11 Concerts - SOLD OUT
Sunday, November 13th - Grand Prix Circuit - Yas Arena - Yas Island Abu Dhabi, U.A.E SOLD OUT
Saturday, November 26th - Unipol Arena - Bologna, Italy SOLD OUT
Sunday, November 27th - Mediolanumforum - Milan, Italy SOLD OUT
Wednesday, November 30th - Omnisport Arena, Bercy - Paris, France SOLD OUT
Thursday, December 1st - Laxness Arena - Koln, Germany SOLD OUT
Monday, December 5th - O2 Arena - London, England SOLD OUT
Saturday, December 10th - The Globen - Stockholm, Sweden SOLD OUT
Monday, December 12th - The Hartwall Arena - Helsinki, Finland SOLD OUT
Wednesday, December 14th - The Olympinski Arena - Moscow, Russia SOLD OUT
Monday, December 19th - The MEN Arena - Manchester, England SOLD OUT
Tuesday, December 20th - The Echo Arena - Liverpool, England SOLD OUT
www.maccareport.com