Copyright The Hollywood Reporter
Longtime E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt and Kiss frontman Gene Simmons found themselves recently talking Jewish heritage to a group of 120 people at angel investor Richard Clareman’s house in Brentwood. The event was part of a moderated conversation for TeachRock, Van Zandt’s education nonprofit, aimed at raising funds for Jewish history education in public schools. Moderated by film financier and producer Gary Gilbert, the event marked the first installment of TeachRock’s “Amplifying Jewish Heritage” series that aims to develop curriculum resources to highlight the role Jewish musicians have played in key moments throughout U.S. history. In an interview prior to the event, Van Zandt and Simmons were quick to speak of the fierce urgency of the current moment — as cases of antisemitism have surged in the U.S. in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack in Israel. TeachRock “tries to cover the waterfront” when it comes to education, Van Zandt said, grabbing students’ limited attention bandwidth with whatever means possible. “We try and offer anything educators may need,” he said. “The vast contribution to our culture from the Jewish people — from Broadway to songwriting to the music industry at large — is enormously significant, so this fits in with our goal of expanding access to education across verticals.” “The timing (of a program like this) is not accidental. I’ve never seen antisemitism like this in my lifetime,” Van Zandt continued. “It’s horrifying what’s going on. We can talk about the fact that people are being manipulated right now very badly, in a way we never thought would happen in our lifetimes, and if we don’t do something about it, history repeats itself. It’s our job to make sure that doesn’t happen.” He added, “Historically, Black radio played Black music. White radio played white music. The Jewish people came in as outsiders in a sense, so they were able to play the role of outsider and bridge the gaps with different cultures and communities, leading to these significant contributions to culture as we know it today. There’s a global consciousness that comes from the Jewish experience that I think is welcoming to other ethnic groups. You see this with [the songwriting duo of] Lieber and Stoller, for example.” TeachRock executive director Bill Carbone added, “We’re making American history education more inclusive and engaging by centering it on real people’s stories. Students don’t just learn about immigration — they experience it through Irving Berlin’s journey. They don’t just study the Holocaust — they reckon with it through Anita Lasker-Wallfisch’s survival. That’s history that sticks. By teaching students to see Jewish Americans as the complex, creative, resilient individuals they are, we’re combating antisemitism at its root, before ignorance can become hate.” In the moderated conversation, Van Zandt was quick to note that “people who take music class do better in math and science, studies show.” Van Zandt’s pitch on education is rehearsed but nuanced: “Testing is not teaching. We need to truly teach the important work of our history to these kids so that they have the right tools to ensure our future is the right one.” The cross curricular approach, Van Zandt explained, is predicated on the idea that “if kids like one class and one teacher, they’ll be more engaged.” “We hope to be that class. We want to figure out a methodology to keep this generation engaged,” he said. “How do you get these kids attention? Curate the education. Give them a reason to be in that classroom.” Simmons added, “Antisemitism is one domino that connects to the next domino. If we’re not careful, history repeats itself.” Simmons immediately recalled his mother’s story in the Dachau concentration camp, noting that the past is anything but the past and that educational resources are vital towards breaking the cycle of antisemitic language and tropes. Speaking of his own Italian immigrant history, Van Zandt added, “Those immigrants planned on assimilating, integrating into the country they were going. We weren’t allowed to speak Italian in the house. Integrate and assimilate and then bring your culture to the land you’ve arrived. We did this so you would keep your culture alive. I think Italian food was an example of something that worked out okay here!” Van Zandt was quick to note that acknowledging and recognizing the value of different cultures is vital but that education is the necessary catalyst to any real appreciation, particularly for the next generation of students. Van Zandt’s organization, TeachRock, has reached more than one million students through 80,000 educators in all 50 states, since its inception in 2002. The online educational resource, which was launched to help educators integrate popular music into the classroom, has been free and accessible to anyone online since 2013. The organization’s next event is Sunday, Oct. 26 at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey and will include performances from Van Zandt’s Disciples of Soul band, Jesse Malin, Darlene Love and others.
