D'var Torah from Gene Simmons

I was reading an old Guitar magazine recently (from April 1996) and found a great vort from Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz) of the band KISS. He said:

I tell you, this band does not have a self-esteem problem, but we never palled it that way. We just wanted walk our walk, talk our talk and write thh songs we loved writing and singing. And never had any point of view about doing anything more than putting on a great show. Writing great tunes that didn't mean very much. Ear candy. But the one thing that we always had a point of view on was that the single "I", one person, can change the world. The "I" was very important in the lyric over-all. "I want to rock and roll" - not we will, we will rock you. Sure, that's cool, the sense of everyboy together. But all movements come from one person. And maybe that connected somehow... I'm talking to you.

Rosh Hashana is about being part of the community, it is about everyone together. But G-d judges each of us separately. If it is not about 'I' then we have missed the point. If we don't realise that we can change not only the world, but also ourselves, then we aren't doing it right.

(Gene also stressed the importance of kibud av ve-eim because he ended the article with the following:

I want to make sure you put the 1-800-905-KISS in this article for those who want to order the Kisstory book. That's very important. Because my mother does want another house.

Shana Tova to all. And when you dip your apple in honey - makes sure to use the i-phone 4, not the new 5!