I liked "Good Evening Mr. Waldheim," too. And the Dylan song, well, whatever. But the thing about artists like Reed and Dylan is that they're not easily recruited to causes, much less a worldview that considers Jews a "team," or frets if a Jew wants to go off and believe in any ol' thing (Dylan the Christer). That's what Jewish art is all about -- not about orthodoxy, or two-fistedness. It's about heresy. Dylan and Reed sung what they sung because they're heretics, not because they're team players. Both were taking on certain liberal orthodoxies -- not because they're conservatives, but because in their music they undermine certainties.

--Jeff Sharlet