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The History Behind the Celine Dion Song Based on a Very Jewish Book

JL;DR SUMMARY Canadian singer Celine Dion's song "La Mémoire d'Abraham" from her 1995 album "Deux" features unexpected Jewish themes, rooted in the lyrics of French Jewish songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman. 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

Jewish HistoryHolocaustJewish ThemesFaithPersecutionCeline DionJean Jacques GoldmanMarek HalterLa Mémoire D'abrahamDeux Album

Places mentioned

Belgium
"It all started when I was an elementary school student at a private Jewish school in Belgium."
Paris, France
"Goldman, the son of a Polish Jewish immigrant to France who became a member of the French Resistance and a German Jew who settled in Paris, wrote all but one of the songs on this album."
Russian Federation
"He was born in Poland before the war, like many of my relatives, and he and his parents survived the Holocaust by escaping to Russia and Uzbekistan, like my own maternal great-grandparents."
Uzbekistan
"He was born in Poland before the war, like many of my relatives, and he and his parents survived the Holocaust by escaping to Russia and Uzbekistan, like my own maternal great-grandparents."
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
"Over on Wikipedia, one editor suggested that the song is about the battle of the Plains of Abraham in what is now Quebec City, which makes a lot of sense when you know that Dion is from small-town Quebec and attached to her French Canadian roots."

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Retrieved 2026-05-13 05:31:05 UTC
Curated 2026-05-13 08:30:51 UTC