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When Bob Dylan takes the stage in Maryland Heights Sunday, Jewish concertgoers will be strengthening a bond they’ve forged with the singer-songwriter over decades – a connection some say is rooted in Dylan’s Jewish background and mystic influences.
These St. Louisians aren’t just superfans of the musical icon born Robert Allen Zimmerman. They’re members of a tribe within the Tribe, a cohort whose close study of Dylan’s lyrics and personal history reflect an enduring passion for his work.
Call them the die-hard Dylanologists of the Lou.
“I’ve always felt a kind of a soul connection with Dylan, and I think a lot of Jewish people feel that way,” said Linda Markowitz, 69, a University City resident who made an August pilgrimage to the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Okla. “You will find Jewish references and influences in many, many of his lyrics. He knows his Torah. He knows so much about Jewish traditions and history.”
The religiously observant Markowitz recalled her first time hearing Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” as a little girl, its profound lyrics moving her to tears.
“Some of the stuff he’d write, my hair would just stand on end. I’d think, ‘How could anybody write something so gorgeous?’”
A number of Jewish Dylanologists – the term coined to describe Dylan’s most passionate followers – will be in attendance Sunday when Dylan, 83, performs at the Outlaw Music Festival, at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre.
John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson are also slated to play, but for Dylan’s St. Louis tribe, the Nobel laureate in literature and 10-time Grammy Award winner will be the main attraction.
“He’s a cultural icon and a great storyteller. You just have to see him when he’s in St. Louis,” said Scott Schwartz, who was 16 when he attended his first Dylan concert at the old St. Louis Arena. “Jews have always tended to be very socially conscious, and I think what really resonated with me and a lot of Dylan fans was the fact that his songs incorporated political and social [commentary] that reflected that consciousness.”
Schwartz also loves Dylan’s 1975 classic “Tangled Up in Blue,” which hooked listeners with its impressionistic imagery and compelling characters, as well as “Murder Most Foul,” a 17-minute meditation on the Kennedy assassination from Dylan’s 2020 “Rough and Rowdy Ways” album.
“His songs are meaningful,” Schwartz said.
Dylan was promoting “Rough and Rowdy Ways” during his last St. Louis concert in October 2023, when the octogenarian jammed for nearly two hours to a sold-out crowd at Stifel Theatre. The performance was part of a run of more than 3,000 Dylan shows known to fans as the “Never Ending Tour,” which began in 1988 and continues Sunday.
Ticketholders can expect to hear a range of songs from Dylan’s vast catalogue, including some that reflect his study of Torah, Kabbalah and Jewish liturgy.
“Dylan speaks to our place as Jews in the story of the American Songbook, in rock and roll, and in pop culture,” said David Lazaroff, 45, who with his brother, Jeff, leads the popular St. Louis roots music band Brothers Lazaroff.
Dedicated Dylan fans, the Lazaroffs traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to see him perform at Orpheum Theatre in April 2022. A few weeks later they recorded a new album, “Memphis,” at the city’s legendary Sun Studio. The record features mystical poetry by Central Reform Congregation Rabbi James Stone Goodman and was completed in one day: Dylan’s birthday, May 24.
“The Jewish story is part of Dylan’s songbook because our traditions, our mysticisms and our philosophical identities are pretty ancient,” David Lazaroff said. “I see Dylan’s songs as Psalms, as prayers and parables, part of the ancient art of storytelling. He’s tapped into the essence of most of the sacred forms of songs and poetry.”
Dylan’s superfans in St. Louis said his lifelong connections to Judaism – particularly its mystical tradition – run deep. The “Like a Rolling Stone” singer has repeatedly been spotted at Chabad- Lubavitch organization affiliated synagogues for Yom Kippur services and appeared on three Chabad telethons in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Ancient Jewish characters, too, abound in Dylan’s oeuvre: Abraham and Eli, Samson and Delilah, Cain and Abel, and God himself all make appearances in his songs. Other Dylan tunes reference Jewish subjects as diverse as Zionism (Dylan took a pro-Israel stance in his 1983 song “Neighborhood Bully”) and ancient prophesies (1967’s “All Along the Watchtower,” which draws heavily from the Book of Isaiah).
Such references are a fascination to Jewish fans like musician Jeff Lazaroff, 50, who will attend Sunday’s concert and, like his brother, has seen Dylan perform live more than 70 times.
“Some of Bob’s lyrics seem to play with Jewish concepts, adding his own version of commentary to those subjects. And to be even more Jewish, no answers are provided, just more questions,” said Lazaroff, who sees in Dylan’s lyrics “occasional, distinctly Jewish sensibilities and points of view.”
Dylan’s religious trajectory has long been the subject of speculation among fans: It took him from Judaism to Christianity, then seemingly back to his Jewish roots in the 1980s when he appeared to have reconnected with Judaism during his multiple trips to Israel and time spent under the tutelage of Hasidic rabbis.
Rabbi Randy Fleisher of Central Reform Congregation said it was Dylan’s music, rather than the singer’s religious views, that turned him into a fan.
Fleisher still ranks Dylan’s “spiritual songs” among his favorites, including 1981’s “Every Grain of Sand,” a mesmerizing ballad that recounts a spiritual awakening and draws on William Blake’s poetry as well as biblical references.
“Not all of Dylan’s material touches on spirituality, but he does have a number of songs that reach that level, and I really do like that,” said Fleisher, 60, whose fandom earned him the nickname “Dylan” as a 17-year-old counselor at Camp Thunderbird, in Dylan’s native Minnesota.
“Mystic is definitely a word people use to describe him. Another term people use is ‘prophet.’ Those are two different but related ways in which Dylan expresses himself: The mystical side that reaches for transcendence, and the prophetic side that tries to do some truth-telling,” added Fleisher, who’s attended nearly 20 Dylan concerts.
Fans say Dylan’s penchant for reinvention – coupled with the influences of Jewish, Christian, and Eastern mysticism in his songs – help set him apart from other artists.
“He’s always changing, he never sings a song the same way twice,” said Markowitz, who attended Dylan’s two most recent concerts in St. Louis. “When he performs, people complain because it doesn’t sound like the record. Well, that’s Dylan. He changes keys, he changes words, he’s never content to stay in one place. He’s always looking for the new thing, the next thing.”
Dylan’s “relationship with God” also appeals to Markowitz who, as a Bard College literature major, lived a half hour from Dylan’s Woodstock home and reveled in local Dylan lore, Jewish or otherwise.
“I recognized very early on that there was tremendous genius in what he was writing,” she said.
St. Louis resident Nicki Kruger said her grandparents, Betty and George Berman, lived in Duluth, Minn. and were close friends with Dylan’s parents, Beatty (Beatrice) and Abe Zimmerman – ties that led to the Bermans being named Dylan’s godparents. The designation has no official place in Jewish tradition but can serve as an honorary title.
“She was Aunt Beattie to me, and she was always very sweet,” said Kruger, 56. “She was so warm and outgoing with everyone, and she made everyone feel special. I didn’t really have an appreciation for [Dylan’s] music [growing up] but now I do. My mother still refers to him as ‘Bobby.’”
Dr. Todd Dean, a St. Louis psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and Dylanologist, said Dylan’s songs, including their spiritual aspects, had a profound impact on his practice.
Dean first saw Dylan live on the famed “Rolling Thunder Revue” tour in the mid-1970s and was heavily influenced by Dylan’s “The Basement Tapes.” In 2023, he taught a three-part course titled “Something is Happening: Bob Dylan and the Psyche” at the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute.
“I didn’t just like Bob Dylan songs,” the psychiatrist said. “I was totally taken by them.”
Dylan’s willingness to repeatedly delve into the mysterious, “unknowable” aspects of existence – without seeking certainty – helped shape Dean’s approach to psychoanalysis, he said.
“Part of what drives spirituality [including Jewish practices] is the fact that we can’t know everything, we can’t have everything figured out,” said Dean. “We have to resist the urge to be certain about things, and it seems to me Dylan is able to go with that [sensibility] and let it drive him at any given time. He’s trying to create something of value without being certain how everything’s going to work out. That is, I think, a very compelling part of spirituality for all of us.”
Outlaw Music Festival, featuring Willie Nelson & Family, Bob Dylan and John Mellencamp
When: 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 8 (Doors at 3:30)
Where: Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, 14141 Riverport Dr.
How much: Starting at $66
More info: Outlawmusicfestival.com
