America loves Adam Lambert. As well they should, because the dude has serious stage presence and amazing vocal range and energy. But what many “Fanberts” (I’m coining that phrase now) might not have known is that he can also take a classic Israeli song and do a stellar job with the Hebrew, which isn’t an easy language to begin with.Lambert sang “Shir Lashalom” (“the song for peace”) with Israeli-American singers Maya Haddi and Noa Dori at a 2005 tribute concert to slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. According to Wikipedia, “the song was sung at the rally where he was assassinated and is often associated with his assassination and its aftermath in Israeli culture. A copy of the song’s lyrics was found on Rabin’s body, soaked in his blood.”The question has emerged on Jewish blogs: is Lambert Jewish? On the JDub Records blog, Jaime Walman (Vice President, Strategic Planning and Development for the Jdub, a “not-for-profit dedicated to innovative Jewish music, community, and cross cultural dialogue”) notes that “not many Idol divas rock out to Israeli peace anthems. I already liked Adam before, but now I feel some deeper sense of allegiance, some inexplicable bond (even though my husband thinks he’s a musical theatre scenery-chewer in faux emo clothing).”Prior to becoming America’s darling, Lambert had performed on stage for years, since he was ten years old–in 2004, he co-starred as Joshua in “The Ten Commandments: The Musical,” which played at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, where his “Moses” was Val Kilmer. (Check out “Is Anybody Listening?” from that show.)Now we see the truth: all entertainment comes down to the Kilmer connection. Look out Kevin Bacon: there’s a new parlor game in town: six degrees of Val Kilmer.
Beliefnet
Advertisement
posted April 20, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Anyone who is a “Fanbert” already knows that Adam can sing in Hebrew. It just shows that he is an entertainer who can entertain anyone, no matter what their preference.
posted June 5, 2009 at 9:56 am
Just because Adam performed at a temple and sang in Hebrew does not necessarily make him Jewish. At our (Reform) congregation, many of the choir members are NOT Jewish but, like any libretto, learn the Hebrew phoenically. That’s not to say Adam ISN’T Jewish, just that his performance is not definitive proof if he is.
posted June 12, 2009 at 1:37 am
he is jewish, just google him and he confirms it