Have I got a story for you!

I’ve always prided myself as an Orthodox Jew that has pretty much seen it all. Calm, cool and collected. I always wear a yarmulke, or a hat, whenever I go out. But the other night changed that opinion of myself, and opened my eyes yet again.

I love situations that a) aren’t what I expect and I’m forced to adapt and b) change the way I think – for the better. You see, I know humanity comes in all shapes and sizes. I just haven’t been able to see them all firsthand as often as I’d like. While I get out much more than most it’s usually just a variation or extension of the comfort zone I live in. It’s nice to have a good mind fuck every now and again to make you feel alive and appreciate the hand of G-d in the world.

It starts when I was invited to a gig, a friend of mine was playing, in Malibu. I love Malibu. Right on the beach. The smell, and sound, of the ocean just rocks my world. It was at a venue I had been at some time ago and saw a Frank Sinatra impersonator at. A very cool vibe. My friend was playing for a band I never heard of. It didn’t matter. He’s a great drummer and a funny guy and we get on great. I had also heard that the venue went though several different owners and changes. I didn’t think much of it. I head down to Malibu. Once I get on the PCH I roll down the windows and inhale. Ahh the ocean. I’m back!

I get to the venue. A lot of rockers hanging out. Cool. I’m down! The band playing was a punk rock band. Nothing I connected with but I got to see a real live mosh pit. Not the kind at an NCSY shabbaton or a Jewish wedding but the real deal. I learn later that there are rules to a mosh pit. A code. I’m fascinated. What looks like chaos is actually organized with its own set of rules and parameters, which is humorous since punk rock is the antithesis of rules, and yet they have them. I love it.

I’m hanging outside in an outdoor lounge area with my friend who isn’t going on for another hour or so. I’m chit chattin with his friends, one of whom was in a punk band with him, that was big in the late 80’s in the punk world. Even I heard of them. I look over and see this bald, tough looking skin head with tattoos all over him. There’s what appears to be a big eagle tattooed on the back of his head. I’ve seen it before in nazi pictures and such. He had a tank top, shorts just below his knees, white socks and flat vans – straight out of every punk movie or white supremecist movie I have ever seen. His friend the same. And the 2 ladies, they were hangin out with, were just havin a good time. I say to my friend “is that guy gonna shank me or eat my flesh?” His response was, and totally what he would do, “I don’t know – let’s find out! ‘Hey Danny, come here a second, we gotta ask you something’ ” Now I’m laughing. Can’t wait to see who this plays out.

“Danny, are you gonna kill Etan G?”

“No, of course not. I respect everyone”

me: “Whew, thats awesome, cuz i saw that big eagle on the back of your head, with the swastika in the middle, and just had to make sure I was in safe company”

Danny “it’s not an eagle, its an owl and the middle is another symbol”

and as i looked closer, low and behold, he was right. We chit chat a bit more then give each other the bro hug and back to our respective conversations.

One of the women with him comes back over and says “I’m Jewish! I’m the one you gotta worry about!” I chuckled and Danny came back over. I told her that I had thought that was an eagle with a swastika on the back of his head. She said “theres no swastika on his head, its here on his chest” as she lifts his shirt up, and there it was!

Well, he and my friend explained to me that Danny had served some time in jail and that you had to do what you had to do to survive. That I understood. Danny seemed sincere that he didn’t hate and truly respected people and I guess I could’ve analyzed it a bit more but I have to accept people at the moment I meet them. Consider that the Jews of the Holocaust had to get tattoos put on them, and had to do all kinds of things to survive (the ones that did) as well. So in the interest of fairness I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

The evening continues and I’m hanging out with a couple other mutual friends and Danny comes out from seeing one of the other bands. His bald head very sweaty. It’s driving the people, that I’m talking to, crazy that he’s all sweaty and it isn’t getting wiped off. So, being the gentleman I am, I grab a bunch of napkins from the bar, go over to Danny and wipe his sweaty head, neck and armpits. Lots of laughter and everyone feels better. One of the women I’m speaking to is a non-practicing Muslim. My head is loving this whole “break the stereotype” evening thats going on. Even funnier, was this young girl came up to me earlier in the eve and was so excited that I was Jewish. She saw my yarmulke, came over, and explained that she moved to LA from Florida and loves it here and hasn’t met many Jews. She herself is a Jew and had such pride meeting me. It was very surreal.

Anyway I digress and I will get to the point, the coup de gras, shortly.

My friends band goes on. TSOL is their name. Mosh pit kick in right after the first note. Danny is the alpha male in that circle with his friend right behind him. Bodies getting thrown. People falling down and being helped up by the very people that threw them down. Women are in this mosh pit. They fall down and get helped up. They are looked out for. It’s truly fascinating to see punk rockers in their natural habitat. Guys getting thrown into each other, into speakers, pushed into the onlookers. This is as raw as it gets. Hard core. The real deal. The music is blistering and in your face. Balls to the wall. I’m in pain just watching everyone, but loving every minute of it.

I’m with people off to the side. 3/4’s of the way into the show, well, for those of you who know me, you know whats coming next. As a guy who likes to see the world, try different things, and, usually not one to miss an opportunity, I take my glasses off, put my phone and iDevices down, and get in that mosh pit, mimicking the moves that I’ve seen the past half hour. Their tribal dance. I make a few rounds in the circle, only getting minimal bumps, carefully evading the other bodies flying in front and behind me, jumping over them with grace. Then Danny gets up from leaning on the stage, grabs me, and puts his arm around my neck, mine around his and we dance together, we march together around the pit. At least 10 revolutions, seemingly in slow motion, bodies falling in front of us, people getting pushed in our direction and Danny swatting them off like flies. It’s almost as if he’s protecting me. His shirt is off. I’m just envisioning the pictures people are taking. A guy with a fairly big, definitely noticeable, swastika on his chest and guy with a yarmulke on his head dancing together, arm in arm, like brothers. Surreal! And here I am living it. We give each other a hug and the song is almost over and I go back to my safe zone. The people I’m with now have a new respect for me and I am processing the whole thing.

The show ends and the club clears everyone out. I never got to say good bye to Danny but I’m sure I’ll see him again.

I drive home just thinking about the nights events. Pretty cool. People have their own set of trials and tribulations. We do the best we can with what we know. We make mistakes in life. I don’t know if Danny or his friend have hate towards Jews but on this night, if there was hate in him, it was gone. I can only go by what I experienced and didn’t feel he had hate in him. I maintain that this is the power of music, the goodness of humanity, and the ability for man to put differences aside and get to know one another and realize all the misinformation we are fed about one another.

Epilogue: I don’t want to get into a whole debate about the swastika, and what the Nazis did to the Jews etc. I’m well aware of what it means to us. I’m well aware that there’s hate in the world but that hate can only be conquered by love, fairness and to put judgement aside. I can’t live life in fear or with hate. Its debilitating and not productive. The only one that can judge is G-d. My job is to give people a chance and to love. And so it goes…

Post Epilogue: I just got a call that Danny got shot. He was in the process of getting into a better place but decided he had enough of life and drove erratically down the street, got pulled over, pulled a gun out and forced the police to shoot him dead. We all have a purpose in life. A mission. When we achieve it we are truly free. I don’t know what his mission was but his existence changed my life. Changed my outlook on humanity. On the world. Maybe I even had some impact on his life. Either way, I’d like to think he is in a better place, where there is no hate, no divisiveness, no sides to pick. Maybe one day, when my time is up, my mission accomplished, he and I may dance together again in the mosh pit in the sky. His soul should be elevated in its right time!

Post Post Epilogue: After I got home from this night I friended him on Facebook. The next day we were chatting on Facebook and he invited me down to his Tatoo parlor anytime. He never did accept my friend request. I always wondered why but I figured he might be made fun of by his peers for having The Jewish Rapper as a friend. His girlfriend just got a message to me that said the following “tell Etan, that Danny wanted to add him as a friend, but did not want him being offended” I replied “why would I be offended that he didn’t add me.” The reply was “By all the nazi shit. His friends. Tattoos. Images.” It’s simply amazing that a guy with a swastika tattooed on his chest actually cared and was concerned about ME being offended and here I was thinking that my being friends with him would hurt HIS position with his peers. Rest In Peace my brother! There is no more hate where you are!

Etan G – The Jewish Rapper, lives in LA and makes music that is inclusive and not divisive.