The first person I asked about a friend of mine was a musician, a man who had recently come out of a Jewish family in New Jersey and who had just released a record in the country.
We got to talking about his musical interests and the musical culture of the Jewish people.
He is a musician himself, a member of the Kontakt community of Israel, which includes some of the best-known artists of our time.
“I love the music of America,” he said.
“It is a very open and accepting culture and the music has become part of my life, but I am very, very protective of the music I made.”
I told him that this was a fascinating question and he seemed shocked.
The man was a fan of Jewish artists.
I said: “Do you have a favorite?”
He looked at me and said, “No.”
Then I asked him what he thought about the Israeli music scene, which he has grown up listening to.
“There are a lot of people like that,” he replied.
“But the fact is, it is a little too difficult to find people who are Jewish.
They have to be from a particular religion.
They need to be educated in that particular religion.”
He added that he was not Jewish, but his mother was and that she has a close friend who is.
I asked him if there were any Jewish artists who he thought were underrated.
He looked down.
“Maybe they should do an album of songs by Israelis that aren’t on the charts, that are really popular,” he muttered.
“Or maybe they should create an album by an American who is Jewish.”
And what about the fact that the Jewish community is so heavily represented in music?
I asked.
“Well, there are some Jewish artists that are just not on the chart,” he answered.
“They just aren’t heard enough, because there is a big gap between the level of representation and the level that Jews have in music.”
“I would like to hear about your own experience,” I told him.
He said he had an uncle who was a violinist and that his uncle had played in the Israeli band Haifa.
I asked if he was aware of any Jews playing in the U.S. music scene.
He responded: “No, not really.
My uncle was a great violinist, but he played in a band called Bantur.”
When I asked the question again, he said: “‘Bantur?'”
I laughed and asked him to tell me more about the band.
“The name means a lot to me because it was my favorite band,” he told me.
“And I was a member.
But they never made it.
I was disappointed.
I just wanted to know if there was something I could do.”
In Israel, there is an open discussion about the Jewish identity of the country and about how the Jewish religion is represented in the music scene and the media.
This is not an issue of marginalization or whitewashing.
There is a real desire among the country’s Jewish population to find out about this aspect of their heritage.
The only way to do that is to find an Israeli music fan, and there is not much of one in the United States.
There are many who are looking for something different and, of course, there have been many who have made the leap from being a fan to a Jewish person.
“It’s very hard to find someone who’s Jewish who is open to it,” said the musician, who asked that his name be withheld for fear of reprisals.
In addition to being Jewish, the musician is a member the Kottos, a group of Jewish musicians that is in the process of founding a branch in Israel.
His group is known for its political statements and for its focus on the plight of the Palestinian people.
When asked about his personal music taste, he responded: “My taste is eclectic.
I like jazz, classical, rock and pop.
I have a lot in common with many of the people I’ve met.”
“I am also Jewish, so I can relate to the struggles of people who were forced to leave their homes due to Israeli restrictions,” he added.
When it comes to the music industry, there has been some progress in this regard.
For example, the Jewish musicians are increasingly represented in TV shows and movies, especially on the big screens.
But there is also a lack of representation in the public arena.
There is a movement in Israel to change this.
Last year, a new bill was introduced in Israel that would change the legal definition of what constitutes an “Israeli song” to include music produced in the Jewish state.
It would allow for songs produced in Israel and in other countries that have been designated as “non-state sponsors of terrorism,” which is the current definition for the word “music” in Israel,