Rabbi keeps audiences rockin’ and rollin’

Friday, Nov. 16, 2001 | 9:04 a.m.

As a new rabbi at Temple Israel in Minneapolis in 1987, Joe Black was reluctant to play his guitar before members of the congregation.

In fact, he waited a year before sharing his musical talents. That way, he said, he wouldn't be tagged so quickly as a "singing/guitar-playing" rabbi.

That was then. Today, like it or not, the title often precedes him.

Regarded as a top Jewish contemporary-music artist, Black has recorded CDs for children and adult audiences, has a live concert video and has published the "Rabbi Joe Black Songbook."

His music is well known throughout the country and is played at religious schools, Jewish summer camps and day schools. And his concert performance schedule -- which he limits to six to eight performances per year -- is booked two years in advance. Praise for his music is seemingly endless.

On Sunday he will perform at Congregation Ner Tamid.

Though Black emphasizes that the rabbinate was his calling in life, after hearing his music it's easy to believe he was also born to sing.

"He's a wonderful influence for families," said Nancy Weinberger, program director for the Jewish Community Center, which is presenting Sunday's concert in conjunction with Congregation Ner Tamid. "Music is really important in the Jewish tradition. He really brings it to life onstage."

The 41-year-old senior rabbi at Congregation Albert in New Mexico, started performing musically at clubs and coffee houses while he was an undergraduate student at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

Around that time Black became the host of a "The Magic Door," a children's television show that was broadcast on a CBS affiliate and sponsored by the Chicago Board of Rabbis.

While at Northwestern, Black left school for one year to tour the Midwest playing rock music in coffeehouses, bars and bowling alleys to decide whether he wanted to become a professional musician.

"It was a great life," Black said. "But it really wasn't who I was. It was very clear to my that music was not who I was exclusively."

So he followed his calling and became a rabbi. His musical success would evolve concurrently.

After members of Temple Israel heard Black play his guitar, he was asked to perform for children in the nursery school. Soon after he began performing for the older children. Before long he was recording his songs for congregation members who sent copies of the tape to friends throughout the country.

The requests for more tapes started coming, and in 1991 he set out to make his first professionally recorded tape, "Aleph Bet Boogie," a collection of Jewish children's music.

"Immediately it became a best-seller in Jewish kid's circles," Black said, pointing out that the market is comparatively small to that of popular music. (Still, the tape has sold 30,000 copies).

After the release of "Aleph Bet Boogie," Black began performing small concerts throughout the country. Once again he pondered a career in music, ultimately choosing to keep his music secondary and limit his performances.

"My rabbinate defines my music more than my music defines my rabbinate," Black said."I love being a rabbi. I love being with my congregation. I love teaching. I love preaching."

But his music is also an opportunity for him to teach about Jewish life and traditions. The song "Aleph Bet Boogie" teaches the Jewish alphabet, and other songs teach about Jewish holidays.

"I want the kids to have fun and experience the joy of Judaism through music," Black said.

Adults have also taken to his sounds. In 1998-99 Black recorded "Leave a Little Bit Undone," a CD of Jewish adult contemporary music recorded in Los Angeles.

Black said "Leave a Little Bit Undone," is a reflection of the synchronism between Judaism and other cultures, particularly Native American cultures in the Southwest.

At Sunday's performance Black will be accompanied by two performers from Los Angeles and Chicago on guitar, keyboards, violin and mandolin.

The show, he said, will be interactive. Audience members, he said, can expect "a lot of energy, a lot of fun and a lot of spontaneity."

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