Longtime E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt and Kiss frontman Gene Simmons found themselves recently talking Jewish heritage to a group of 120 people at angel investor Richard Clareman’s house in Brentwood. The event was part of a moderated conversation for TeachRock, Van Zandt’s education nonprofit, aimed at raising funds for Jewish history education in public schools.
Moderated by film financier and producer Gary Gilbert, the event marked the first installment of TeachRock’s “Amplifying Jewish Heritage” series that aims to develop curriculum resources to highlight the role Jewish musicians have played in key moments throughout U.S. history.
In an interview prior to the event, Van Zandt and Simmons were quick to speak of the fierce urgency of the current moment — as cases of antisemitism have surged in the U.S. in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack in Israel.
TeachRock “tries to cover the waterfront” when it comes to education, Van Zandt said, grabbing students’ limited attention bandwidth with whatever means possible. “We try and offer anything educators may need,” he said. “The vast contribution to our culture from the Jewish people — from Broadway to songwriting to the music industry at large — is enormously significant, so this fits in with our goal of expanding access to education across verticals.”
“The timing (of a program like this) is not accidental. I’ve never seen antisemitism like this in my lifetime,” Van Zandt continued. “It’s horrifying what’s going on. We can talk about the fact that people are being manipulated right now very badly, in a way we never thought would happen in our lifetimes, and if we don’t do something about it, history repeats itself. It’s our job to make sure that doesn’t happen.”