Did you know the voice of your favorite Simpsons character is Jewish? That’s right, Hank Azaria — the voice of bartender Moe, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy and Duffman, to name a few — is a Jew. His resume is long, including TV (“Friends,” “Mad About You,” “Huff,” “Brockmire,” “Ray Donovan”) and film (“The Birdcage,” “The Smurfs”). And while he’s played plenty of iconic Ashkenazi Jews, from author Mitch Albom in “Tuesdays with Morrie” to resistance fighter Mordechai Anielewicz in “Uprising,” a role that earned him one of his six Emmys, Azaria is a Sephardi Jew, specifically, the son of immigrants from Saloniki in Greece. His family spoke Ladino at their home in Forest Hills, Queens, a language he still understands to this day.
Now, Azaria is a man of many, many voices and many, many talents, and among all the very many things he does (play poker, star on the Broadway stage) he also has a Bruce Springsteen tribute band called Hank Azaria and the EZ Street Band (a riff on the E Street Band which tours with the New Jersey legend), with whom he started performing and touring on his 60th birthday last year. Azaria has always been a Springsteen fan; his songs and just as importantly, his stage monologues, helped carry him through hard times. Now, with the EZ Street Band, he’s touring the country and using that love to raise money for charity, with all proceeds going to the Four Through Nine Foundation. And yes, the band does have the real Springsteen’s stamp of approval.
This Passover, Azaria brought his love for Springsteen together with his Jewish identity in a truly incredible video in which the master imitator sings “Dayenu,” the Passover song from the Haggadah that praises all the miracles of the Exodus story, saying that if God had only performed even one it would have been enough, dayenu — as The Boss. The band plays a klezmery rock beat in the background, and Azaria gives the line “ilu hotzianu mi’Mitzrayim” (“if he had only taken us out of Egypt”) his all. It’s just so, so good.
He captioned the video: “Did you ever think you’d hear Springsteen sing Dayenu? Now you can. Happy Passover to all who celebrate!”
“Springsteen sounds like it’s Jewish but it isn’t,” he says in the video, and honestly we totally agree (though the E Street Band has had its fair share of Jewish members from the legendary drummer Max Weinberg, to pianist Roy Bittan to kibbutznik Suki Lahav who brough a klezmery feel to “Jungleland”).
But, luckily for us, Azaria then proudly exclaims — “but I am!” before singing “Dayenu” in a Springsteen flare with perfect Hebrew pronunciation. I’m obsessed.
Since this is Passover, we’d be remiss to not mention that Springsteen does compare himself to the hero of the story of Exodus, Moses on multiple tracks, from “Red Headed Woman” to “Leap of Faith.” And in case you want more Jewish Springsteen (Springstein??) in your life, here is the E Street Band playing “Hava Nagila” back in 2009.
We wish Hank Azaria and The Boss a chag sameach! Thank you for this perfect gift — you’re both invited to our seder next year!
