Jewish, Italian, or both

[lonnie]

can anybody tell me if Billy Joel is Jewish, Italian, or both? A bet is
riding on the answer, so please clue me in on your source.
Thanks.
Please email responses to ericom...@delphi.com.
Lonnie

[Gaucho97]

I know that Billy is at least half-Jewish (Mom's side), not sure about full
blooded.

[Nick]

Gaucho97 wrote:
>
> I know that Billy is at least half-Jewish (Mom's side), not sure about full
> blooded.

He is definitly at least half Jewish. If you listen to his songs, it
certainly sounds like he has a good (not a phony) italian accent in some
of his songs...so I wouldn't be surprised!
If he is italian, that probably means he's half-catholic as well
(but I think he practices the Jewish faith). If you listen to his
comments about the "River of Dreams" video on the Vidoe album vol. 3, he
talks about how he wrote this during his older days...when the
"spiritual" part of his life is coming into play (that's what he said).
This is 15-20 years after he wrote the anti-catholic song "Only the Good
Die Young." So who knows.....-NICK

[Cloture140]

"Only the Good Die Young" is NOT anti-Catholic. It is merely a song about
adolescent lust.

-JSD

[CrimeDawg3]

You CAN be both Jewish AND Italian. And people wonder why Jews
sometimes consider themselves a race. Well, cuz of people like this who
see them as a race. Billy is 100% Jewish according to what is written in
the Complete GH collection. Whether he practices it is another matter.
But since being Jewish is like a race, then he's 100%.

Crime Dawg

[Ron Cascella Jr.]

I know this is a site to talk about Billy Joel but I have to correct you
in that the Jews are a race. A jew can be a religious practicing or of
the race.

[CHARLES MALLIO]

As for his heritage, Billy is Jewish, although it's not surprising you might
think he was Italian. My experience has been that many times Jews are
mistaken for Italians (and sometimes vice versa), especially in areas where
the two groups coincide in close proximity...

Regarding his religious beliefs, Billy is an atheist. Although he has
admitted in recent years that he is becoming more spiritual. I think this
comes from a combination of fatherhood and getting older.

Both of these facts have been documented numerous times in many sources.
Check out Peter Gambacinni's book (I forget the title) for a look at Billy's
Jewish heritage. As for his being an atheist, I know I've read this in at
least one old interview in Rolling Stone.

lonnie wrote in message <5jZkydJ.er...@delphi.com>...

[BarbLuongo]

In article <19971231155...@ladder02.news.aol.com>, clotu...@aol.com
(Cloture140) writes:

>"Only the Good Die Young" is NOT anti-Catholic. It is merely a song
>about adolescent lust.

As a Catholic teen-aged girl, I saw it as having some very anti-Catholic
parts, but more importantly it was about the pressure from teen-aged
boys to get what *they* want, totally disrespecting what the girl wants.

<---Barb (barbl...@aol.com)--->
Mom to Will (9-23-82), Mary (10-8-85) & Laury (2-23-93)

[CrimeDawg3]

Ron Cascella Jr. wrote:
>
> CrimeDawg3 wrote:

> >
> > lonnie wrote:
> > >
> > > can anybody tell me if Billy Joel is Jewish, Italian, or both? A bet is
> > > riding on the answer, so please clue me in on your source.
> > > Thanks.
> > > Please email responses to ericom...@delphi.com.
> > > Lonnie
> >

> > You CAN be both Jewish AND Italian. And people wonder why Jews
> > sometimes consider themselves a race. Well, cuz of people like this who
> > see them as a race. Billy is 100% Jewish according to what is written in
> > the Complete GH collection. Whether he practices it is another matter.
> > But since being Jewish is like a race, then he's 100%.
> >
> > Crime Dawg
> I know this is a site to talk about Billy Joel but I have to correct you
> in that the Jews are a race. A jew can be a religious practicing or of
> the race.

Hey, I am a Jew and I DO see it as a race. People always try to
correct me when I say it is. I feel I am treated as a race, but I don't
mind it. I'm not entirely religious, but proud to say I am Jewish due to
the heritage and what the Jews have fought for. All the enslavement Jews
have suffered has only made us stronger.

CD

[DanFein]

>I know this is a site to talk about Billy Joel but I have to correct you
>in that the Jews are a race. A jew can be a religious practicing or of
>the race.

How do you know this? A jew is the same as being catholic, protestant, or
muslim. My grandparents are from Russia. Therefore my race is caucasian from
Russia, and I just happen to be Jewish.

Dan

[Cloture140]

Why is it that every few months there's a flame war on religion in this NG that
is started by someone asking about Billy's faith? I mean, both members of
Steely Dan are Jewish, but alt.music.steely-dan never has this sort of spat.
:-) Seriously though, please, let us all respect each other's faiths and how we
view them, whether we Jews are a race or not, etc....remember, this is
alt.music.billy-joel. Questions of religion have their own newsgroup.

-JSD

[BabaYagaMu]

Hey Dan,

<<How do you know this? A jew is the same as being catholic, protestant, or
muslim. My grandparents are from Russia. Therefore my race is caucasian from
Russia, and I just happen to be Jewish.>>

I don't agree. My wife is from Russia and Jewish. In Russia, a very very racist
place that drove my wife's family out( -see Baltimore sun article on my wife's
web site
http://members.aol.com/ygorenman)
my wife's family wasn't Russian in russia. They had to carry passports to the
laundry room. Under nationality they were listed as "Jewish". While the other
Russians were all listed as "Russian". This and the fact that until very
recently Jews tended not marry outside to me indicates a racial character to
being Jewish.

By the way to settle the discussion- Billy is Jewish, my wife asked him.
-Chris

[DanFein]

>I don't agree. My wife is from Russia and Jewish. In Russia, a very very
>racist
>place that drove my wife's family out( -see Baltimore sun article on my
>wife's
>web site
>http://members.aol.com/ygorenman)
>my wife's family wasn't Russian in russia. They had to carry passports to the
>laundry room. Under nationality they were listed as "Jewish". While the other
>Russians were all listed as "Russian". This and the fact that until very
>recently Jews tended not marry outside to me indicates a racial character to
>being Jewish.
>
>By the way to settle the discussion- Billy is Jewish, my wife asked him.
>-Chris

Chris,

Your example is very good. I dont happen to agree with it since racism does
not change your race. I would like to end this discussion by just saying that
everyone has their own opinion and this issuie will never really be solved

Dan

[Christina Wilkinson]

dan...@aol.com (DanFein) wrote:

>Chris,

>Your example is very good. I dont happen to agree with it since racism does
>not change your race. I would like to end this discussion by just saying that
>everyone has their own opinion and this issuie will never really be solved

>Dan

And I'd like to settle the discussion by asking why you guys should
care what religion, race, or nationality Billy is? Just enjoy his
music. He writes for all of us.

Christina

[rjm...@gmail.com]

Steven Seagal is jewish and also has roots in russia but he does not claim to be russian. He does claim his american heritage and jewish faith.

[Will Dockery]

On Tuesday, December 30, 1997 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-5, lonnie wrote:
> can anybody tell me if Billy Joel is Jewish, Italian, or both? A bet is
> riding on the answer, so please clue me in on your source.
> Thanks.
> Please email responses to ericom...@delphi.com.
> Lonnie

A bit late, 20 years, but Billy Joel is Jewish, and, I think, no Italian.