ENTERTAINMENT

OF SOUTHFIELD

VOTED BEST GREEK RESTAURANT
BY DETROIT MONTHLY

Peter Himmelman
Plays Rock 'N Roots

"Our prime pick for Hellenic eating is at Dimitri's of
Southfield. All the dishes you would expect to find
are here. This place reminds us that there's more to
Greek food than opal cheese
... August, 1990

RICK HELLMAN

N

Special to The Jewish News

FREE DINNER

WITH PURCHASE OF DINNER OF EQUAL OR GREATER VALUE
No Carry Out GOOD 7 DAYS A WEEK Excludes Holidays

I

GROUPS OF OVER 10
EXCLUDED FROM COUPON USE

Lambchops
Excluded

COUPON VALID FOR
ENTIRE TABLE

15% Tip Added to Entire Bill • Does Not Include Tax or Liquor • Expires 9-13-90 • JN

SUNDAY
BRUNCH

50

GROUPS OF OVER 10 ARE EXCLUDED
per person
15% Tip Added FROM COUPON USE
to Entire Bill
EXCLUDES HOLIDAYS Expires 9-13-90 JN
2080 SOUTHFIELD RiT (1 Block Northof 10 Mile) 557.8910

-

a

31646 Northwestern Hwy., West of Middlebelt, Farmington Hills

I

8 5 5 -4600

I

OFF

HaSNeaSswlsssmmwana‘swnemuwAsmvonxtvammtromn ■ Al\t,tum%

00

LARGE PIZZA
or LARGE ANTIPASTO
or LARGE GREEK SALAD 1

ANY

• Coupon Must Be Presented When Ordering
• Not Good With Any Other Discounts or Coupons
JN
• Expires 9-13-90

PEDiumA
—Top

24366
GRAND RIVER

7 Mile

(Ti

a,

3 BLOCKS WEST
OF TELEGRAPH

;77
.,

I

6 Mile

537-1450

I FREE BANQUET ROOM AVAILABLE

5gifiedfaut6sor

Mexican or American Cuisine

}

YOU DON'T HAVE t r MEXICAN SAMPLER PLAN"
TO GO
FOR TWO
DOWNTOWN FOR
AUTHENTIC
MEXICAN FOOD! I INCLUDES: STEAK
FAJITA, 2 TACOS, CHEESE EN-
WE COOK ONLY
CHILADA, EL PADRE BURRITO, TOSTADA,
I GUACAMOLE DIP, RICE AND BEANS.
WITH 100%
VEGETABLE OIL I • Dine In Only • One Coupon Per Visit
I

$9.95

,

INCLUDING OUR BEANS

L. With Coupon • Expires Sept.30, 1990 JN

Serving Hours: Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fri. 11 a.m.-12 Mid.
Sat. 2 p.m.-12 Mid., Sun. 4 p.m.-10 p.m.

r

.5111111:=It=ti.

The Restaurant
of the '90s

■ 11. ■ .

Quality Food, Simple
Setting, Reasonable Prices

Le Metro

"This cheery new spot typifies the ascending
quality of the top rank of the Detroit
restaurant scene."

Molly Abraham — Detroit Free Press

29855 Northwestern Hwy. • Applegate Square • Southfield • 353.2757

72

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1990

of many people see a
connection between
the work of Chuck
Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimi
Hendrix and that of the
Alter Rebbe, Schneur
Zalman, the founder of
Lubavitch Chasidism. But it
is this unique view that
makes Peter Himmelman
the phenomenon that he is —
an up-and-coming rock
musician who is also an
observant Jew. Himmelman
grew up in Minnesota and
has been a musician since
grade school. But the 30-
year-old said in a tele-
phone interview from Los
Angeles that his spiri-
tual life took a turn five
years ago, when he began
studying Jewish law and
mysticism with members of
the Lubavitch movement. In
his typically elliptical way,
Himmelman compared his
discoveries in that realm to
the advent of rock 'n roll in
the 1950s and '60s. "If you
look at the nature of rock 'n
roll, to make a comparative'
analysis, rock 'n roll
originally came along to
shake up a boring time —the
Ike years," Himmelman
said. "So here you had a
skinny black guy (Berry)
playing a red electric guitar,
walking around like a
chicken. This was really
something! He was basically
saying 'Everybody, let's
wake up! What you think is
real ain't real anymore. I'm
going to shake it up for you.'
"Another guy (Lewis) lit a
piano on fire. Because what
you think is life in this 9-to-5
world -- it ain't it. It definite-
ly ain't it.
"Another guy (Hendrix)
came around with a Strat (a
Fender guitar) and started
setting it on fire on stage,
and he died in his own vomit
trying to say, 'The world
around you isn't all there
is.' That's what rock was
intended to do . .. But the
essence of rock was to reveal
something, something more
than the material, some-
thing more than the mun-
dane.
"But the problem with
rock itself is (that) these
guys knew that there was
something more. They had
the sensitivity and the will

Rick Hellman is a staff writer
for the Kansas City Jewish
Chronicle.

to express it. But they lacked
the information to point out
exactly what it was that was
beneath the surface. So they
wound up either dying or
becoming enveloped by their
own cartoon that they had
created for themselves.
"So I love these guys.
Every one of them. Every
one that really tried because
I was born in St. Louis Park,
Minn., weaned on 'Gilligan's
Island.' But I knew there
was something more. I des-
perately wanted to be black
when I was 14 because I said
. . . a little Jewish boy from
the suburbs — how can he
express anything more than
the mundane? He is the
quintessence of mundane. It
was frustrating for me. I
knew there was much
more."
Himmelman said he had
flashes of revelation while
working as a young musi-
cian, "but we didn't have the
right vehicle, really, and we
didn't know where we were
going, so eventually the car
stopped."
Himmelman said that lack
of direction changed after
his introduction to the
philosophy of Chasidism,
specifically the writings of
Schneur Zalman, an 18th-
century Chasidic master and
founder of the Lubavitch
movement. The Chabad
House in Kansas City and
those nationwide are
operated by members of the
Lubavitch movement.
"What this guy (Zalman)
held in his hands," Him-
melman said, "was the
secrets. The same thing that
Jerry Lee Lewis was trying
to get at but was infinitely
distant from. The same
thing Jimi Hendrix knew ex-
isted but was destined never
to see. He held it in his hand,
and he wrote it in a book
called the Tanya. It's a book
for the common guy to un-
fold the layers of his mun-
dane world and set up a path
for himself to get more and
more inside the essence of
things."
Himmelman said he has
been trying to reach that
essence through observance
of kashrut, wearing tefillin
and not working on Shabbat.
And, even though he doesn't
play concerts on Friday
nights, he said he feels no
conflict between his roles as
rock musician and observant
Jew.
"I don't see them as con-
flicted at all," Himmelman

said. "It's the ultimate com-
plement."
Himmelman said his new-
found faith has given him a
cause for his rebellion.
"When I started reading the
stuff, I said no wonder it's
existed for 3,300 years,
through inclemencies that
no one could survive. No
wonder people died for it.
But more importantly, no
wonder people live for it. It
was the ultimate rebellion,"
Himmelman said.
Himmelman's third Island
Records album,
"Synesthesia," deals in its
16 songs with many diff-
erent facets of Himmelman's
search for spirituality.
Himmelman's songs have
titles like "Tug of War,"
about the conflict between
good and evil; "A Million
Sides," about confusion in a
world full of opinions; and
"Beneath Your Watching
Eyes," about a man's rela-
tionship with God.
There are also songs about
love between man and
woman, like the recording's
first single and accompany-
ing video, "245 Days."
Himmelman said the recor-
ding's title track,
"Synesthesia," was inspired
by his love for the woman
who is now his wife.

It's clear
Himmelman would
rather rise or fall
on his own merits.

Himmelman's recent ap-
pearance on a Los Angeles
Chabad House fund-raising
telethon with his father-in-
law, Bob Dylan, featured the
two, along with actor/singer
Harry Dean Stanton, sing-
ing "Nava Nagilah."
But his record company
biography overlooks the fact
that Himmelman and Dylan
are related, as well as
Dylan's apparent influence
on Himmelman's music.
It's clear Himmelman
would rather rise or fall on
his own merits, and not be-
cause he is Dylan's son-in-
law.
At this point, Him-
melman's stock is rising. His
latest album has drawn
raves: "visionary, spirited
rock 'n' roll" from New York
Newsday, and "affecting pop
with every synapse firing
like clockwork" from the
L.A. Reader. He is currently
undertaking a one-man, one-
guitar tour of the Nor-
theast. ❑

