Coming this Purim: A Tribute to Aretha Franklin

December 7, 2018 in Hazzan Asa Fradkin

You know, I heard that Aretha Franklin’s funeral was eight hours long. EIGHT!!!!!

To be fair, the program was scheduled for 6 hours, so they were only over by 25% or so.
I guess they needed time for:  Faith Hill, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Stevie Wonder Ron Isley, Chaka Khan, Yolanda Adams, Marvin Sapp, the Clark Sisters, Jennifer Holliday and Franklin’s son.

In addition, there were speeches from President Bill Clinton, Smokey Robinson, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Clive Davis, among others.

It was certainly a funeral and tribute befitting a queen.
And so will our Megillah Madness this year, which is entitled. “A Tribute to Aretha Franklin and Motown.”
Featuring such hits as:

“You make me feel like a real Persian woman.” And…
“Say a little bracha for you.”

I have my platform shoes from last year, so I am still searching for a proper way to employ them, I open it up to your humble suggestions.

On a more serious note, I want to point out that Aretha Franklin was a deeply religious and soulful woman. Her father was a well known preacher and she grew up singing in his Church.

Her music wasn’t particularly religious in nature. She sang songs about women’s rights and civil rights, and love.  But every one of her songs had SOUL.

We can learn something from that in our own religious lives. Allowing your soul to be fully present is what we are about as Jews and we have centuries of music to reflect that.

So with that said, we have a Purim orientation coming up this Sunday at 12:15pm in the Chapel. If you love Purim, Aretha, Motown or all 3 you HAVE to be there!

I can’t wait to put this show together and celebrate Aretha’s legacy in our own Beth El Way.

Shabbat Shalom,

Hazzan Fradkin