Jewish holidays are like R&B.  No matter how happy they are, you always leave them feeling guiltier than when you started.   Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year.  In Judaism, you try to let go of everything bad that happened the year before and focus on doing better in the coming year.  Rosh Hashanah is basically a Jewish mother, “why can’t you do better than you did in 5773?”  But Rosh Hashanah is ultimately a time of celebration, which is why there was a new John Legend album.  Even though there’s time to reflect, it is really about jubilation. Today is Yom Kippur and to coincide with it we have a new album by The Weeknd.  Yom Kippur is the day of atonement.  It’s a time when Jews fast from sundown to sundown.  It a time of hunger, suffering, and inner reflection.  As dry, sullen, and bleak that The Weeknd’s music is, there is an inner reflection that shines through.  Would the new album be a great soundtrack at a break the fast sedar dinner?  Thematically, yes.  So if there is a rabbi out there who is pumping Kissland Saturday evening, just after sundown, then that’s a dinner you want to attend, whether you’re Jewish or not.

The 11 Best Songs By The Weeknd:

1. The Birds Part 1 (Thursday)
2. Wicked Games (House of Balloons)
3. The Morning (House of Balloons)
4. The Birds Part 2 (Thursday)
5. House of Balloons – Glass Table Girls (House of Balloons)
6. High For This (House of Balloons)
7. D.D. (Echoes of Silence)
8. What You Need (House of Balloons)
9. Til Dawn Here Come The Sun (Trilogy)
10. The Zone (Thursday)
11. Montreal (Echoes of Silence)