Pogroms led many a Jewish family to pick up stakes and head for the ‘goldene medina’ (the “golden land”)- the sobriquet many used to describe the United States. Not much different from the thoughts of those in Central America, subjected to mayhem and kidnapping or murder, those in Syria subject to chemical attacks and barrel bombs from their ‘government’. And are welcomed as readily (i.e., NOT) by American citizenry.

As a child, I never learned nursery rhymes or Americana songs. Not that they were ‘verboten’ (forbidden); but because they weren’t on the tips of my parents’ or grandparents’ tongues. (I never learned those wonderful songs [except for one] penned by Arlo Guthrie, Sr., either- until I went down South with others to register Blacks to vote.)

It wasn’t until 5 July 1960 that I ever heard of Irving Berlin , George M. Cohan,or the songs God Bless America and Over There. (That last song was one my mom’s dad knew, but had never shared it with me.) I learned those songs when Elliot Richard Dorfman decided I was to have the lead in a revue he was preparing for that weekend (8 and 9 July) for those of us at Camp Pokono (boys)- Ramona (girls).

I learned that Irving Berlin came to America the same year my grandpa did (1893), only at a much younger age. Except Berlin was caged at Ellis Island, a fate my grandpa escaped, as he made his way across America (and the world).

And, as my Grandpa was loaned to Black Jack Pershing to take on the German-Austrian-Ottomans in World War I (then called ‘The Great War’), Berlin penned “God Bless America”. Words he heard his momma express each and every day, from the time he was 5 (his age at arrival in the goldene medina). This song was Berlin’s way of saying ‘Thank you’.

He wrote it for a patriotic (fund-raising) revue in February 1918 (but shelved it before the performance). It wasn’t until 1938, when it was revived, and shortly thereafter became the (personal) repertoire of Kate Smith.

Berlin revived the song years laterad because he thought it could teach Americans not to succumb to the Anti-Semitism and the culture of hate and discrimination that was pervading Germany and Europe under Nazism. He led the song at that same dinner, the goal of which was to repudiate ‘the doctrine of race and hate’, where Eleanor Roosevelt also declared, “Fear arising from intolerance and injustice constitutes the chief danger to our country.” (Le plus ca change, le plus ca meme chose.)

Of course, many Americans felt obliged to spew anti-Semitic and xenophobic screeds upon Berlin in response to the song’s revival. And, it wasn’t only the American Bund or the KKK (Ku Klux Klan), despite the claims of many. Like today, many of those despising immigrants felt entitled to such exhortations against the ‘hordes of refugees’. (Now, it’s TheDonald leading the chants against “vermin” and “animals”.)

By the time I was born, the song had been misconstrued to become the anthem of The WrongWing, as a threat to the liberals desirous of changing the status quo, to substantiate segregation, and to denigrate demands for public housing. That may have been another reason why I never learned about the song.

But, Elliot saw this song the way Berlin did. And he was amazed at how I expressed my feelings for an America with free access for all, with discrimination eradicated for Blacks and Jews. So, he taught me songs that were meant to express those tenets. ‘God Bless America’. ‘Over There’. ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’. ‘Your a Grand Old Flag’. And the slightly revised ‘This Land Is Your Land‘. (It was originally entitled and developed as a misunderstood response to Irving Berlin with its refrain ‘God Bless America For Me’, instead of ‘This land was made for you and me’.)

And I belted them out on stage, thanks to Eliot’s tutelage.

Who wrote yet another play for me that Summer.

(You can read more about Elliot and the opportunities he gave me here and here.)

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