Music Man: Detroit Jewish News Profile

Thank you Detroit Jewish News for the fantastic profile in this past week’s edition. Thank you to the article’s author Robin Schwartz, and Rabbi Jason Miller who suggested the idea.

Below is reprinted from blog.rabbijason.com.

Music Man

Jewlicious Festival Founder’s Detroit Roots

Rabbi Yonah Bookstein recalls picking up a guitar for the first time at age 10, in the late 1970s, as a Hillel Day School student growing up in Detroit’s Palmer Woods neighborhood.

His late father, Marvin Bookstein — a bluegrass musician who played six different instruments — taught young Yonah the fundamentals, opening his eyes and ears to the beauty and power of music. He spent his early years attending concerts, going to Detroit’s Orchestra Hall, and attending chamber music festivals; so it’s fitting that Bookstein, now 42, of Los Angeles is the force behind Jewlicious. The nonprofit organization hosts hip seasonal music festivals in California that attract hundreds of young Jews from across the country.

“Music unifies and inspires people,” Bookstein says. “One of the reasons I got so into creating musical events is that music was an integral part of my life as a child.”