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A New HBO Documentary Series Highlights Billy Joel’s Jewish Pride

JL;DR SUMMARY Billy Joel's Jewish identity is a central focus in the HBO Max documentary series, "Billy Joel: And So It Goes." A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

HolocaustJewish IdentityMusicImmigrant ExperienceFamily HistoryCharlottesvilleHbo DocumentaryBilly Joel

Places mentioned

New York, United States
"met Billys mother, Rosalind, at a Gilbert and Sullivan performance in New York, where he and his family ended up after escaping Nazi Germany."
Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany
"Julius Streichers antisemitic newspaper Der Strmer called Joels grandfather Karl Joel the Jew Joel."
Vienna, Austria
"he left, along with Joels grandparents, and returned to Europe. After meeting his father, who had settled in Vienna, and his half-brother, Alexander Joel, a celebrated music conductor,"

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Cairo Item ID 58435
Cairo Source ID 33
Retrieved 2025-08-02 05:31:04 UTC
Curated 2025-08-02 08:30:56 UTC