Should we bungle in the jungle?

August 8, 2010 - 9:22 PM by Jessica

I’ve got a decision to make. Jethro Tull is in town, playing just down the street from me tomorrow night at Jerusalem’s recently renovated train station plaza, and I have to decide if I’m going or not.

Of course, with “Aqualung” repeatedly playing in my head, I’m clearly eager to hear Ian Anderson, at a healthy 63, belt it out. And, as luck would have it, as an Isracard holder I’ll get a NIS 80 discount using a mere 360 stars on my credit card. Never a bad thing.

You see, I have a special place in my heart for Jethro Tull. I probably never even heard of them until my years at Camp Ramah in the Poconos, where we actually celebrated Ian Andersen’s August 10 birthday. I have no idea why. But there was always an announcement in the hadar ochel on his birthday, and Jethro Tull was appropriately blasted from the old turntable that sat in a wooden contraption attached to the dining hall wall. When I took my turn as the camp DJ for one memorable summer in 1989, I made sure to keep up the tradition, and I can only hope that the tradition continues to this day.

In fact, in Googling Ian Anderson and Ramah Poconos, I found this from blogger Saba Yeshayah:

“I have been a fan of the band, Jethro Tull, since my days at Camp Ramah in the Poconos in the late 1970s and early 1980s. During those summers, the music of Jethro Tull could be heard in our bunk often throughout the day. In fact our bunk used to have a special dinner every summer on August 10, the birthday of Jethro Tull singer and flutist, Ian Anderson. Some of us still get together for Jethro Tull concerts all these years later. So for me, Israel and Tull always had a connection.”

When Saba Yeshayah wrote that back in 2006, he was proud of Anderson for performing in Israel despite the then political uncertainties. This year, it’s all about Jethro Tull’s decision to still come to Israel despite the artistic boycott that’s been reigning all summer.

I certainly appreciate Anderson’s ability to make up his own mind. Hopefully I’ll be able to do the same.

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