Jewish, the Musical

In "Jewish, the Musical," not all of the songs are of Jewish origin. Out of the 35 core songs, at least eight come from other musical traditions. For example, we use a Ukrainian melody for the song ' Happy Birthday! ' While the text is entirely in English, the melody carries the flavor of Odessa, a city that has long been part of Jewish history and culture. One of the standout non-Jewish songs is "How to Be Strong," which is based on a Calypso melody from Caribbean musical traditions. Though it may not have Jewish roots, the song has been adapted into a powerful scene during the liberation of Buchenwald in 1945. In this scene, Aloha, a nurse in the U.S. Army originally from Hawaii, pulls out her old ukulele from her worn military nurse’s bag and sings this song, to comfort Rebecca, a 15-year-old girl who survived the horrors of the concentration camp. Rebecca is extremely thin, barely able to stand, and eats the small bowl of potato soup (we can hear &quo