Sunday, August 30, 2009

Download the first single by Osekre with 200 Passwords!

So, you've probably heard me mention Osekre, whose debut album I spent 4 months producing. We created 13 wonderful tracks together, and the album will be gradually trickling into the public eye...

Well, you can take a taste of what we've done as long as you're among the first 200. Osekre has generated 200 passwords to let you download the first single "Fire and I" for free at http://osekre.bandcamp.com/yum. Below are the 200 passwords that Osekre generated. Since each password only works once, my advice is: choose a random password off the list. The first and last passwords will probably be the first to be chosen. Act fast!

Find a password below and download the single "Fire and I" for free now at http://osekre.bandcamp.com/yum!

6z7n-5dv8
k35x-7ct2
zv6j-vh3h
n9zr-g5dv
ly25-bfs8
ekmg-xqh2
gn8z-etpc
3dzn-u27w
djtv-jhm4
sgn6-keya
s2wt-gu27
vlvs-y3ky
6ege-346f
z7uf-cm8m
nmwm-wtb6
m8j6-hb4k
gkbu-5cv8
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ya9p-vx3h
26tb-ypdv
dynm-bns8
pta9-xmh2
6qlj-67qh
ubs6-yj65
lvh2-bktf
q9ed-xkum
f27c-v8m6
5x54-grky
ge6q-3l6f
yr37-cj8m
2mxv-wgb6
agq8-h34k
8tr2-5wv8
h9ng-kpta
h3dz-gf37
qxqz-umlv
f48u-j6p8
msnx-kg72
gjwp-6uqh
3bh8-yv65
wac3-39tf
p9jl-h9um
r3b4-vtm6
u6k7-gawv
xz3v-37c8
jya8-hv42
9u9t-5yec
nlt3-urfw
lpzm-j4v4
c629-kata
c3lk-gn37
edpk-ujlv
r462-jkp8
ac3d-ky72
uvx5-w8r6
v9e9-hrhk
6t7n-5dm8
zu5x-7dy2
z56j-vh2h
n8zr-gewv
wk2a-3uc8
eymg-xq42
g28z-e8ec
2lzn-u2fw
detv-jlv4
j6qx-x6nm
7nbs-jgv6
vdvs-y3zy
9jge-349f
zbuf-cqgm
nawm-wtr6
59j6-h2hk
gybu-5cm8
y2ad-7cy2
tm9p-vx2h
2gtb-g5wv
7h9n-j9e8
v42l-ktf2
6plj-6njh
n7s6-yj95
l5h2-b6yf
q8ed-xknm
bn7c-jyv6
5w54-grzy
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tf37-cmgm
2axv-wgr6
uxz2-7b7w
xqta-vxm4
h8ng-65ya
4udz-gf27
qwqz-uqxv
fs8u-jze8
54nx-kgf2
gewp-67jh
27h8-yv95
dmc3-bkyf
p8jl-h9nm
kvgq-v43h
ugk7-gadv
xt3v-37s8
qka8-hjh2
939t-5ypc
ndt3-737w
wqzm-j4m4
cg29-kpya
sulk-gn27
plpk-umxv
rs62-j6e8
k73r-wv8m
u5x5-cyb6
v8e9-hr4k
9z7n-5sv8
z35x-7dt2
yv6j-vl3h
39zr-gedv
wy2a-3us8
pkmg-hvh2
8n8z-e8pc
2dzn-ur7w
xvsu-bztf
jgqx-xzum
72bs-jgm6
mlvs-ybky
9ege-bx6f
y7uf-cq8m
3mwm-w8b6
58j6-h24k
8kbu-5dv8
tnad-7ct2
ta9p-vh3h
jxpy-7vlv
7c9n-j9p8
vs2l-k872
9qlj-6nqh
nbs6-ym65
wvh2-b6tf
e9ed-x6um
b27c-jym6
ax5c-y3ky
8e6q-346f
tr37-cm8m
6n6k-5tec
uwz2-7bfw
xpta-vhv4
49ng-65ta
43dy-yu37
exqz-uqlv
b48u-jzp8
5snx-kt72
8jwp-67qh
2bh8-yj65
dac3-bktf
knvw-uwy2
k5gq-v42h
n6k7-gpwv
lz3v-3nc8
qya8-hj42
gu9t-5gec
3lt3-73fw
wpz5-vxv4
s629-kpta
s3lk-gf37
pdpk-umlv
6q6p-bh9f
kb3r-wjgm
nvx5-cyr6
m9eg-x3hk
9t7n-5sm8
yu5x-7sy2
y56j-vl2h
38zr-gawv
dk2a-37c8
pymg-hv42
828y-5yec
uf49-yq95
x5su-b9yf
q6qx-xznm
fnbs-jtv6
mdvs-ybzy
gjge-bx9f
ybub-wvgm
3awm-w8r6
a9j6-hrhk
8ybu-5dm8
t2ad-7dy2
hnlt-y727
jwpy-7jxv
fh93-vke8
m42l-k8f2
9plj-6fjh
37s6-ym95
w5h2-bzyf
e8ed-x6nm
rn7c-jgv6
aw5c-y3zy
xkum-3fs8
jz56-hqh2
626k-5tpc
nxz2-727w

Fun fact: The single features my mixing, mastering, producing, arranging, piano-playing and drum-programming.

Friday, August 21, 2009

The Sounds of God's Roars In Speechless Nature

In trying to recall the times at night when the Priests in the Temple in Jerusalem would perform different Temple rites, the Rabbis of Massekhet Berakhot 3a debated how nighttime is divided up1: should nighttime's 12 hours be divided into 3 night-watches of 4 hours each, or 4 night-watches of 3 hours each?

Amidst the arguments, the Talmud examines Rabbi Eliezer's position:
לעולם קסבר שלש משמרות הוי הלילה
Rabbi Eliezer has forever held that there are three watches in the night!
והא קמ"ל דאיכא משמרות ברקיע ואיכא משמרות בארעא
And he teaches us that there are watches in Heaven and watches on Earth.
דתניא ר' אליעזר אומר שלש משמרות הוי הלילה ועל כל משמר ומשמר יושב הקב"ה ושואג כארי
For it is taught: Rabbi Eliezer says, "There are three watches in the night, and at each watch, the Holy Blessed One sits and roars like a lion...
שנאמר (ירמיהו כה) ה' ממרום ישאג וממעון קדשו יתן קולו שאוג ישאג על נוהו
As it mentions (3 roars!2) in Jeremiah 25:30, 'God, from upon high, will roar and, from the base of God's holiness, will project God's roaring voice. God will roar over God's glory!'"

Rabbi Eliezer continues in his explanation:
וסימן לדבר
"God's roaring here is a symbolic matter:
משמרה ראשונה חמור נוער
At the first watch, a donkey brays...
שניה כלבים צועקים
At the second watch, dogs bark....
שלישית תינוק יונק משדי אמו ואשה מספרת עם בעלה.
And at the third watch, a baby nurses at the breasts of its mother as the woman speaks with her husband."

Of course, Jeremiah didn't give any direct acknowledgment of donkeys, dogs, or even humans in the excerpt Rabbi Eliezer quotes. But Rabbi Eliezer knows that, if he's going to take Jeremiah seriously, then he has to take Jeremiah metaphorically.

Rabbi Eliezer is listening for God's roar: God's promise of surveillance, of protection. Rabbi Eliezer tells us that, when he listens to the sounds of the night that surrounds him, he hears nature. He hears the bray of a donkey upon which he or a neighbor might ride to town or to the market. He hears the barking of dogs protecting their territory. And he hears a baby being raised by nurturing parents.

All these sounds that Rabbi Eliezer hears are wordless. Certainly the dog and the donkey have no words to share. And the baby does not even cry or produce a sound approaching the volume of a bark or a bray. The baby only feeds and gets the parents talking. It is only after that third night-watch has already begun though that nighttime has finally restored the words of life into women and men3.

That wordless donkey--assuring transportation and economic access to the market--and those inarticulate dogs--determined to safeguard the residential stability of home--work in tandem with the muted baby who promises us the future of human life.

Rabbi Eliezer listens for God's three roars each night, and he finds them in the wordless cries of nature. But only by way of the sounds of the mute and the speechless, Rabbi Eliezer is able to listen to God. Rabbi Eliezer's point is simple: we can hear God's promise most pronounced in the wordlessness of nature.



NOTES:
1. The classic Jewish calendar divides a day into 12 equal "hours" of nighttime and 12 equal "hours" of daytime. Hypothetically, if a day were dark from 8 PM until 4 AM and light from 4 AM to 8 PM, then each Jewish nighttime "hour" would be 80 minutes long and the Jewish daytime "hours" would be 40 minutes each. Because sunrise and sunset change everyday of the Gregorian calendar, the Jewish "days" begin and end at different times everyday on the Gregorian clock.
2. Rashi notes this in his commentary to this section.
3. Judaism has often valued speech as an indicator of life or existence (for both God and God's humans were enabled to speak, as the humans were made in God's image). Also, one ancient Jewish belief states that the human soul leaves the human body when the body sleeps and returns when the body wakes up. This idea is reflected even today in modern classical Jewish nighttime and daytime prayers.
4. Special thanks to Emily Winograd for studying this Sugeya with me.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Blind Faith? Eric Clapton Accepts God In an Autobiography

WARNING: This content may be unsuitable for children under the age of 12. This text may contain adult content and refers to content with strong language.

A Modern Jewish Review of Clapton: The Autobiography

A SECULAR READ

As a musician and someone who loves to read non-fiction, I have a strong affinity for books like these. Though I've read a number of biographies of musicians, Eric Clapton's is the first musician's autobiography I've read, and I liked it a lot!

Written from a very honest and introspective viewpoint, Clapton very easily admits to a life full of vices. He tells us of the difficult but important lessons he had to learn in order to change his life for the better.

Eric Clapton was born out of wedlock in 1945 and was raised by his grandparents. Though he was bright in his youth, he admits now that he did not apply himself in his schooling and focused instead on the blues scene around him. Picking up the guitar and playing in bands when he was young, he also began drinking excessively while still a teen. All this was not long before he was declared a sensational young guitarist, and not long before he had also begun developing habits of excessive drug use. As his fame and fortune grew ever more prominent in his life, so did his substance abuse and his lust life. After several attempts at treatment and rehabilitation to cure his various forms of substance abuse, Clapton successfully became--and has since remained--sober since the late 1980s, several years after he had already become a father. During his life of juggling the imbalances of dysfunctional family lifestyles, drugs and drinking, he recorded hit albums in all sorts of uniforms: as the solo artist, as the pseudonymous bandleader, and playing in all sorts of bands where he always--sometimes against his wishes--shone through as the brilliant star lead guitarist.

Writing that he is seeking retirement now, Clapton, in his days of sobriety, has remained one of the most influential and high-selling musicians still performing and recording these days. But the book is not the story of how he came to be a rockstar. This autobiography is about how Clapton came to find the values that made him the family man he is today.

THE JEWISH READER
Like nearly any other life-story, Clapton is a tale of second (and third and fourth...) chances. It's a record of the wrong turns made and what eventually corrected these ways. This idea of turning or returning to proper paths in life, Teshuvah (literally, "returning"), is a key theme in Jewish living.

In this book, Clapton maps out his evolution from living a selfish and indulgent life to his finding a purpose in helping others: healing friends, family, music fans or substance abusers--each in different ways. In this review, I could do no justice in discussing from a Jewish perspective all of the ways in which Clapton bettered his life and helped those around him, but one particular change in his life really stood out to me as a Jewish reader: the acceptance of God.

KEEPING THE FAITH?
Based on the number of children Clapton bore outside of marriage, it is clear that Eric Clapton is not, by any means, a traditional conservative Christian.

On account of Clapton's non-dogmatic religious life, and on account of Clapton's moderate, sentimental nature, I find his relationship with a real God both fascinating and extremely inspiring. After the death of Eric's son Conor, Clapton writes:

I cannot deny that there was a moment when I did lose faith, and what saved my life was the unconditional love and understanding that I received from my friends and my fellows in the twelve-step program. I would go to a meeting and people would just quietly gather round and keep me company, buy me coffee, and let me talk about what happened. I was asked to chair some meetings, and at one of these sessions, when I was doing a chair on the third step, which is about handing your will over to the care of God, I recounted the story of how, during my last stay in [the rehabilitation center of] Hazelden, I had fallen upon my knees and asked for help to stay sober. I told the meeting that the compulsion was taken away at that moment, and as far as I was concerned, this was physical evidence that my prayers had been answered. Having had that experience, I said, I knew I could get through this.
A woman came up to me after the meeting and said, "You've just taken away my last excuse to have a drink." I asked her what she meant. She said, "I've always had this little corner of my mind which held the excuse that, if anything were to happen to my kids, then I'd be justified in getting drunk. You've shown me that's not true." I was suddenly aware that maybe I had found a way to turn this dreadful tragedy into something positive. I really was in the position to say, "Well, if I can go through this and stay sober, then anyone can." At that moment I realized that there was no better way of honoring the memory of my son. (pp. 245-246)


GOOD GOD!
Eric Clapton's twelve-step program may call for a relationship with God, but what kind of relationship with God does Clapton develop?

Recalling his second stint in a rehabilitation facility (before the death of his son Conor), Clapton writes of his first serious experience of speaking to God:

My second visit to [the rehabilitation center of] Hazelden was, on the face of it, much like the first, but on a deeper level it was very different. This time I had no reservations about why I was there--I had tried to control my drinking and failed... Also, my life had become very complicated and completely unmanageable during my relapse. I now had two children, neither of whom I was really administering to, a broken marriage, assorted bewildered girlfriends, and a career that, although it was still ticking over, had lost its direction. I was a mess.
...I kept coming back to the thought of Conor, the reality of his life and what it required of me, and the horrible possibility that if I didn't get it right this time, history would probably repeat itself. The thought of him going through all that was what finally made the difference. I had to break the chain and give him what I had never really had--a father.
Nevertheless, I stumbled through my month in treatment much as I had done the first time, just ticking off the days, hoping that something would change in me without me having to do much about it. Then one day, as my visit was drawing to an end, a panic hit me, and I realized that in fact nothing had changed in me, and that I was going back out into the world again completely unprotected. The noise in my head was deafening, and drinking was in my thoughts all the time. It shocked me to realize that here I was in a treatment center, a supposedly safe environment, and I was in serious danger. I was absolutely terrified, in complete despair.
At that moment, almost of their own accord, my legs gave way and I fell to my knees. In the privacy of my room I begged for help. I had no notion who I thought I was talking to, I just knew that I had come to the end of my tether, I had nothing left to fight with. Then I remembered what I had heard about surrender, something I thought I could never do, my pride just wouldn't allow it, but I knew that on my own I wasn't going to make it, so I asked for help, and, getting down on my knees, I surrendered.
Within a few days I realized that something had happened for me. An atheist would probably say it was just a change of attitude, and to a certain extent that's true, but there was much more to it than that. I had found a place to turn to, a place I'd always known was there but never really wanted, or needed, to believe in. From that day until this, I have never failed to pray in the morning, on my knees, asking for help, and at night, to express gratitude for my life and, most of all, for my sobriety. I choose to kneel because I feel I need to humble myself when I pray, and with my ego, this is the most I can do.
If you are asking why I do all this, I will tell you... because it works, as simple as that. In all this time that I've been sober, I have never once seriously thought of taking a drink or a drug. I have no problem with religion, and I grew up with a strong curiosity about spiritual matters, but my searching took me away from church and community worship to the internal journal. Before my recovery began, I found my God in music and the arts, with writers like Hermann Hesse, and musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter. In some way, in some form, my God was always there, but now I have learned to talk to him. (pp. 234-236)


WE ARE THE KNIGHTS WHO SAY KNEE!
Clapton may not have known to whom he was speaking at first, but he still directed whatever he was saying to Whoever would listen. Without a prior firm belief in a God, Clapton still had prayers to say, so he said them. Without a previous history of kneeling in classic Christian prayer, Clapton--born as a Christian--kneeled in his prayer.

In some ways, kneeling is very Christian-sounding, and in some ways, it is very Jewish-sounding. Of course though, much of Christianity is naturally very Jewish-sounding. The very idea of kneeling in prayer has become associated with Christian worship. However, the Hebrew words Birkayim ברכים ("knees") and Barukh ברוך ("blessed") come from the same root that, in Semitic languages, have become associated with both blessings and the movements of our knees. Although the exact choreography differs in the prayer services of each religion, Judaism, Christianity and Islam each have liturgical movements associated with the knees: whether we are bending the knees and bowing, kneeling, or lying flat on our arms and knees.

When Eric Clapton says that his "legs gave away," in some sense his legs also gave a way: a way for Eric Clapton to access God. Familiar with Christianity, Clapton's legs "choose to kneel".

For Clapton, to kneel is to be humbled. And of course, becoming physically humbled is key to prayer in the three Major Abrahamic religions: whether we are covering our heads, covering up our bodies, uncovering our heads, kneeling, lying flat on the ground, or expressing our humility through other phrases in our traditional body language.

HELLO? IS THIS THING WORKING?
The prayers worked. Eric Clapton says, "it works, as simple as that." Eric Clapton isn't speaking of a God who talks directly back to him or a God who is spreading seas and saving peoples. In fact, Clapton does not tell us exactly what God does do in the world. This God is not necessarily active in affecting our free will, but this God is real and so are the results of Clapton's prayers!

Clapton says that this relationship with God is more than "a change of attitude," for he found a special "place to turn to." God is hard to define, and, in Judaism, God goes by many monickers1, among them Makom (מקום), the Hebrew word for "Place." A place does not literally speak, but the presence of a place may speak to one's heart. A place can become a sacred space for reflection, for connection, or for whatever activities with which we fill the void.

Where Clapton finds voids, Clapton prays to the God who listens and understands (but does not necessarily act!). After Clapton has poured out his heart, it is then up to Clapton himself to take responsibility for his actions: to put down the bottle, to quit smoking, to settle into a family and to learn daily lessons in life. But without his daily humbled prayers to God, Clapton's ego will destroy him.

Clapton's God may not directly solve Clapton's problems for him, but Clapton prays to God because "it works" for one to place faith in a power greater than one's self and then to act on one's own behalf daily: to admit and to submit to the humility of humanity2.

DAY AND NIGHT
In the morning, Clapton seeks a goal in "asking [God] for help" and, at night, recalls what he's achieved by "express[ing] gratitude for... life and... sobriety." Checking in with God twice a day may suffice.

In the Rabbinic memory of the early Israelite religion, Korbanot (קרבנות) ("sacrifices," literally "approaches," the standard way of reaching out to God through burnt offerings) were required in the morning and afternoon: twice a day. Remnants of the Korbanot would be sacrificed at night. When the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed for the last time in 70 CE and prayer was instituted, prayer was assumed to be obligatory in the morning and afternoon, and, whatever energy people had left for prayer would be left for nighttime prayer. But, the Rabbis assumed that people would be engaged in Jewish liturgy at nighttime, for the Rabbis believed it was necessary to recite the biblical passages of the Shema in the morning and night3.

Clapton isn't trying to keep up with Judaism per se, but Clapton is in good hands when it comes to creating a lifestyle that is resonant with Judaism. He is praying twice a day, which is very Jewish on multiple levels.

DON'T FORGET TO HIT SAVE
Clapton prays and, though he's not a traditional guy, he follows some nice traditions. Clapton says it works. But, why does he have to pray to God specifically? Why doesn't he just think hard and carefully and act properly under his own volition?

It's tough for most people who pray to articulate the benefits of prayer, but Clapton himself sees gifts from God in the end. Most clearly, Clapton speaks of finding salvation or God in the music he hears or the music he makes. To hear God in music after praying to God must be to engage in a truly divine dialogue: to speak to God in prayer and to hear God respond in song.

Further, who knows what else God does or does not do in our lives? Clapton, the ego, must humble himself and know that there is much that he will never know. When he delved most deeply into his vices, Clapton could not control himself. He remembers a time in his life when he would
"jam and jam and jam and night would become day and day would become night... and [I] kept [myself] going with fryups and a cocktail of drink and drugs, mostly cocaine and... quite strong sleeping pills, but instead of letting them put [me] to sleep, [I] would ride the effect, staying awake by snorting some coke or drinking some brandy or vodka, and that would create a unique kind of high... God knows how [my] bod[y] stood it." (123)


Clapton claims not to be much of a talker or a writer, so it cannot be Eric Clapton's job to tell us exactly what it is that God did do for Clapton personally. But it is clear that Clapton realized that there may have been a force outside of his own body trying to keep him alive. Only after the realization of an external force though did Clapton learn to talk to God and to believe in and to appreciate God's favor: to become the benefactor of miracles.

Though his substance abuse could have killed him, something beyond his body kept Clapton going. Clapton, a former member of Blind Faith, began his "internal journey" as a practitioner of blind faith and, only then, gained the ability to open his eyes and see God.

A FEW LAST WORDS
Again, Clapton: The Autobiography, like any successful life-story is the story of Teshuvah, but what I found most fascinating in this book was this subplot of how God came into Eric Clapton's life. To hear of an impoverished child who grows into a philanthropist is certainly incredible. To read of the maladjusted schoolboy who finally finds his way to success in the world is almost inconceivable. To see an inconsolable, introverted drug addict kick the habit and become a family man is almost unbelievable. But I find most shocking here the miracle that, in a world where God is proclaimed dead and a world where religions are blamed for wars, a man named Eric, who had lost control and had succumbed to despair and near-suicide, found salvation and stability in an imperfect world just because he began to believe.




NOTES:
1. God having multiple names reflects the different understandings of God. This does not imply that there are multiple Gods necessarily. Similarly, some theologians argue that Hinduism, which preaches of many Gods, is preaching of multiple identities of one Deity. I personally do believe that God comes in many forms, in different forms, to different peoples and to different people.

2. One of my favorite Jewish adages, which I learned from Rabbi Dr. Stuart Grant, goes something like, "When I pray to God, I pray as if everything depends on God. When I act, I act as if everything depends on me." This Orthodox frame of mind realizes that nothing can be left to solely human or solely divine devices. In the big picture, both God and humanity must bring about the changes we need in life. Reconstructionist Judaism has often preached of God as--not a supernatural and divine being--but the collective goodwill or altruistic impulse of ourselves and our communities. I do believe that, like all streams of Judaism, Eric Clapton treads that fine line that distinguishes between human willpower and divine will. Yet, neither Clapton nor Judaism deny that our prayers are some of the most important steps we make on our quests to reach our goals.

3. "The passages of the Shema" broadly refers to Devarim (דברים) (Deutereonomy) 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 and Bemidbar (במדבר) (Numbers) 15:37-41. Mishnah Berakhot's rationales (1:3, 1:5) for the daily and nightly recitation are the recurrence of the phrase ובשכבך ובקומך ("when you lie down and when you get up") in the first two selections and the biblical command in Devarim 16:3 for Israelites to recall the exodus from Egypt (as mentioned in the third selection) during כל ימי חייך "the entirety of your days."