Everybody must get stoned

If you follow my ToI commentary, you will notice that I usually stick to a strict formula: I translate a Hebrew proverb and anchor it to current events. This time, however, I am making an exception for Bob Dylan. I am doing it as his song from 1966 is eternal in line with the Jewish sages.

My writing today bridges distinct topics with a single thread: the plight of a protagonist forced to endure the wrath of a noisy, volatile crowd, driven by often corrupt leaders.

‘Everybody must get stoned’ carries a double meaning (at least). The first obvious one is a sign of the times, you are free to smoke weed, relax and enjoy life. While this simple interpretation is still valid for many, the second one is much deeper, and will forever be relevant.

Bob Dylan was and forever will be a free spirit. He is a genius poet who has never been afraid to say what he believes in. He never explained his songs, but in every generation, every listener has found something to relate to. The lack of willingness to explain any of his moves often brought upon him significant criticism and even abuse.

His conviction, that everyone with any integrity must take it on the chin from time to time, is an eternal cry for intellectual freedom, freedom of speech and expression. For that he recognised that you need to pay the price and “get stoned” even as you’re walking down the street or worse when you’re there all alone.

These days I believe his situation would have been even worse. The same type of people who admired Bob Dylan in the 1960s, yet criticised his changes in direction, would now label him a Zionist baby killer. Not because he has ever been vocal and actively supported Israel but just because Robert Zimmerman is Jewish and he never said that Israel does not have a right to exist. Robert Zimmerman was clever enough to change his name in 1962. I am not sure it would have worked today.

Dylan’s cry echoes the suffering experienced by many of the Biblical prophets. One example is Amos, a prophet from the Kingdom of Judah, who travelled to the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria). He delivered harsh prophecies of doom against the corruption of the ruling class and the wealthy elite. Amaziah, a priest who was close to the monarchy, had no intention of hearing Amos’s bitter truths. He tried to banish him and mockingly attacked his credibility: ‘And Amaziah said to Amos: ‘O seer, go, flee away into the land of Judah and eat bread there, and prophesy there’’ (7:12).

Unlike Dylan, who did not take it personally and looked at it as part of the “human calling”, Israel’s national poet, Chaim Nachman Bialik, adopted Amaziah’s biblical words but turned them upon himself. In his poem ‘Seer, Go Flee’ from 1910, he expressed his frustration that his role as a “prophet-poet” rebuking the nation was entirely futile because of the public’s indifference and decay. In the poem he commands himself to abandon his public mission, “flee” back to his private world, and leave the people to their fate.

The poem (which was composed into a famous song in 1970) was written during a period of deep personal despair for Bialik. He felt utterly disillusioned by the Jewish public and the communal leaders of his time.

The Bible note a case in which the stakes have historically been lethal. The prophet, Zechariah ben Jehoiada, was actually stoned to death because he publicly rebuked King Joash of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem for abandoning God and worshipping pagan idols (2 Chronicles 24:20-22).

Nowadays, Boy George is making headlines for daring to remind the world of the horrific crimes Hamas committed on October 7, 2023. Boy George was and forever will be a free spirit. I have already written about him in May in the post ‘The emperor has no clothes’ after his interview with Ireland’s antisemitic RTE broadcaster.

I praised his ability to look evil straight in the face and say, ‘I get a lot of abuse for it, and I do not really care’. I wrote that I couldn’t but adore this beautiful man who did it with a smile. Now, after he released the song ‘We Will Dance Again’ which you can buy here for only £1.50, my admiration has reached new heights. He embodies the exact attitude needed to handle “being stoned”, he left his planned participation in the West End musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and dumped his long-time record label manager, Tony Pontius. No one is going to tell him what to think or say, ‘I don’t feel brave I just need to behave like a human’. He says it all – eternal words of a brave man.

You can pre-order my book by clicking here. It should be out in September.

I also relate to Boy George’s clear vision in my post ‘Better is the sight of the eyes’.