Shlock Rock Comes to New Mexico

Here in Duke City for Lag B'Omer! It is with great happiness that Abq Jew announces that the one-of-a-kind Jewish rock band Shlock Rock is coming to New Mexico!

If you've never heard - or heard of - Shlock Rock, you're in for a treat. If you have heard - or heard of - Shlock Rock, you're in for a treat. If you have heard of - but have never heard - Shlock Rock, you're in for a treat.

That should cover all the rational combinations.

So, Abq Jew hears you ask, who is Shlock Rock? The Shlock Rock website says.

Shlock Rock is a Jewish Rock Band that teaches Jewish ideas through music using song parodies, original music in both English and Hebrew and children’s songs. 

Lenny Solomon started the ball rolling in 1986 and since then the band has released more than 30 amazing albums!   

Our mission is to encourage Jewish pride, identity, and awareness, and help promote Jewish continuity - through music. 

Shlock Rock has performed over 2,000 shows in the United States , Canada , Australia , South Africa , Israel and England .

Shlock Rock is now on tour, performing in the seven US states where they have never before done a concert:

1. Charleston, West Virginia
2. May 6 Hattiesburg, Mississippi
3. Fargo, North Dakota
4. Laramie, Wyoming
5. Bozeman, Montana
6. Boise, Idaho
7. Albuquerque, New Mexico!

So let's talk about Lag B'Omer. Which, it turns out, does indeed have something to do with logs. And lager, for those who wish to partake.

Lag B'Omer always falls on the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer (see Blog BeOmer), because that's what Lag B'Omer means. Chabad.org tells us:

Lag BaOmer — this year, May 18, 2014 — is a festive day on the Jewish calendar, celebrating the anniversary of the passing of the great sage and mystic Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar. 

It also commemorates another event. In the weeks between Passover and Shavuot, a plague raged amongst the disciples of the great sage Rabbi Akiva. On Lag BaOmer the dying ceased. 

It is celebrated with outings (on which the children traditionally play with bows and arrows), bonfires, and other joyous events. [Abq Jew note: Logs and lager!]

Many visit the resting place (in Meron, northern Israel) of the great sage and mystic Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the anniversary of whose passing is on this day. 

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who lived in the second century of the common era, was the first to publicly teach the mystical dimension of the Torah known as the “Kabbalah,” and is the author of the basic work of Kabbalah, the Zohar. 

On the day of his passing, Rabbi Shimon instructed his disciples to mark the date as “the day of my joy.” 

To get us all in the mood for Shabbos and Lenny Solomon and Shlock Rock, here is a forschbite of what's to come. Shalom Aleichem, with a "Shabbat in Liverpool" tune you'll recognize.

Shabbat Shalom, Albuquerque!

Good Shabbos, New Mexico!