Ezra Furman and the Tireless, Sacred Work of Being Alive | Interview – The Line of Best Fit

Like much of her work, All of Us Flames is informed by a practice of Judaism if not in an immediate aesthetic sense (my suggestion of alter ego Klezra Furman gets a laugh but probably not real consideration). "I am often thinking, in between sips of coffee, [of Jewish theologian Heschels quote]: 'who is worthy to be present at the unfolding of time?' But I cant really seem to work that in," she sighs.

All of Us Flames is religious music in its dutiful ethic towards work and gratitude, in its responsibility towards history. She quotes the ancient book of Jewish law, the Talmud: Its not your obligation to complete the work, and you are not free to desist from the work. Basically, were not gonna finish the job of making a better world. Were just not. And yet were still supposed to work. Perhaps this is what it takes to get in touch with the divine. The dogged determination that grinds through All of Us Flames arrives at moments of true ecstasy (like Forever in Sunsets sudden explosion into exultant, Springsteenian glory), just as a disciplined practice of spirituality can help us access moments of true transcendence.

Its rabbinically emphasised that the mundane is more important than the peak experience moments, she says. The Torah, after all, is not all high drama. Theres a lot of miracles and smiting, but theres also a lot of boring tasks. The weekly portion for my own Bar Mitzvah a passage from the Torah that corresponds with the week of the ceremony, as per for the Hebrew Calendar was mostly instructional text on preparing garments. Not so thrilling. I mention this and Furman, miraculously, is familiar with the specific portion. Those boring parts, the menial tasks, she says, are the most important. Theres this wonderful conversation in the Talmud about whats the most important line in the Torah. And all these people have their different ideas God is one, Love your neighbour as yourself, etc. And then somebody else says, The most important line is, Slaughter one calf in the morning and one calf in the afternoon every day. And everyones like, Okay, thats the correct answer. The idea is that a high-minded moral principle may be really important, but what do you actually do everyday? Thats what holds us together.

You keep going, and thats how you keep going; forever in sunset. We owe it to ourselves and each other and everyone else to figure it out and keep figuring it out, she muses. One of the promises of a religious practice is that by taking part in a choreography a prayer, a ritual, a song we can unite ourselves with both everyone who has and everyone who will take part, living and dead. It can be a key into eternity, in both directions every apocalypse before and every apocalypse to come: every sunset in every forever. Thats whats inspiring its sustained. Its everywhere. At all moments we have to try, somehow, to weave love and devotion into our mundane life, she says, sitting on her patio. We both fall silent for a moment and listen to the birds chirping around us.

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Ezra Furman and the Tireless, Sacred Work of Being Alive | Interview - The Line of Best Fit