JTA
What’s Jewish about the jam band Phish? Many things, according to a new book
Stephen Silver
September 9, 2023

Those who are Jewish, or Phish fans — or both — have likely noticed at one point: Jews really seem to love Phish. There are many possible reasons for this, starting with the fact that the genre-bending jam band has many ardent fans of all stripes, having sold millions of albums and played to enormous festival crowds for decades. Two of the band members — bassist Mike Gordon and drummer Jon Fishman — are also Jewish, and the group has been known to play Jewish songs such as “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav” and “Avinu Malkeinu” live. But there’s something else — a certain kind of spiritual aspect to Phish fandom that seems to attract the average modern Jewish fan. READ MORE