Steven Van Zandt says he is worried about the Jews. "There is that pre-Holocaust vibe," the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency recently, describing what he sees on social media, where he is a prolific user. "They spread lies around year after year after year, and if you say something often enough, people start to believe it. And that's what happened that led to the Holocaust in the first place, and that's what's going on now."
For a musician equally beloved for his longtime work with Bruce Springsteen in the E Street Band and his role as Silvio on HBO's "The Sopranos," the detour into Holocaust education might seem unusual. But Van Zandt is looking to make his mark through TeachRock, his education initiative, which since 2013 has provided K-12 lesson plans on a range of subjects built around popular music. He founded the organization alongside other big names from music and the arts, including Springsteen, U2 frontman Bono, Jackson Browne and director Martin Scorsese.
The initiative's four-day lesson plan, titled "Jewish Heritage and the Holocaust: Exploring an Enduring Culture Through Music," launched this week. It covers the onset of antisemitism in prewar Europe, survivor testimony and Jewish values, anchored by rock songs from KISS, the half-Jewish glam metal band, beloved Jewish folk singer Leonard Cohen, and contemporary New York pop band Lawrence, which is fronted by two Jewish siblings.
The approach departs from the somber tone of most Holocaust education programs, a field the Jewish community has invested in heavily despite mounting questions about how effective such lessons are at curbing antisemitism. Other contemporary initiatives have turned to video games, artificial intelligence and similarly novel methods as educators adapt to a near future without living survivors to share their testimony.
For Van Zandt, the lessons are not only about the Holocaust but also about highlighting positive Jewish influence in popular culture. He named Jewish artists he admires, including Bob Dylan and the songwriting team Lieber and Stoller. "I have a lot of gratitude for what they have contributed to my life, just in terms of enjoyment," he said. "Show business doesn't exist without the Jewish contributions."
On Thursday, the organization piloted the new lesson plan to 50 high school students at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg, timed to the state's Holocaust Education Week, and Florida's Holocaust education task force is promoting the material to districts statewide. "We always want to be educating in a way that feels like you're not being taught. And I think this captures that," said Michael Igel, a contributing author on the plan who chairs the task force. Igel, a descendant of survivors who plans future courses incorporating food and theater, was approached a year ago by a member of TeachRock's leadership council because of his promotion of nontraditional methods. A huge E Street Band fan, he laughed recalling how the council member asked whether he had ever heard of Van Zandt.
The curriculum's first day opens with students listening to "Rock and Roll All Nite," the 1975 hit by KISS, before moving into Jewish life in prewar Europe and the rise of antisemitism. The lesson explains that KISS frontman Gene Simmons is the son of a Holocaust survivor, and that co-founder Paul Stanley is also Jewish, asking students to consider how Simmons' family background may have informed his outre stage persona. Such ideas, Igel said, expand Holocaust lessons beyond Jews as "victims in a snapshot of time." Teachers in training sessions have responded well to the musical framing, and he hopes they will use the curriculum beyond the state-mandated Holocaust Education Week.
Van Zandt, who is not Jewish, does not craft the curriculum himself, though he is friends with Simmons and the two have spoken before about using music to teach Jewish history. Max Weinberg, the E Street Band's longtime drummer, is also Jewish.
The launch comes as popular music, like many cultural sectors, is engulfed in controversy over Israel. A recent dispute involved Ed Sheeran and Macklemore, in which Jewish venue owner Robert Kraft pressured Sheeran to drop the rapper from his tour over onstage pro-Palestinian activism, prompting many artists, including Jewish actor Ilana Glazer, to back Macklemore. Musicians including Lorde, Paramore and Bjork have signed pledges to boycott Israel over its conduct in Gaza, while Pink and Boy George have taken opposite positions.
That discourages Van Zandt, who famously led the 1985 international artist boycott of South Africa's Sun City resort to protest Apartheid, a protest BDS supporters now cite as direct inspiration. "Yes, I am known as the boycott king of the world," he said. "It's not the same situation. Trying to deny weapons for Israel to defend itself is obscene. It's ridiculous. It's terrible." He recalled writing Roger Waters, the Pink Floyd co-founder and outspoken pro-Palestinian activist, "a very nice, detailed letter" calling BDS misconceived, only for Waters to respond by calling him names in the press. Igel, meanwhile, said the curriculum defines what genocide is "for a generation that needs to know what that word means, and what it doesn't mean." Following the pilot, both men hope states beyond Florida will adopt the lessons, and Van Zandt wants to change a national conversation he describes as "lies on top of lies."
