A Lil’ Bit of Dolly
I have a little bit of Dolly Parton in me. Hold on, let me explain before this comes out all wrong!
In 2020 during the COVID pandemic, after much waiting, I was able to secure the first generation vaccine. The shot I got was Moderna, and later we found out that Moderna’s research into the mRNA vaccine was made possible by a generous $1 million donation by no other than Dolly Parton.
So yes, I have a little bit of Dolly Parton in me.
When I grew up in Europe, I did not have particular thoughts on Dolly Parton. I was ignorant on most Americana and Country and Western music. In the 1980’s media, Dolly was portrayed as a person with an excess of peroxide but a deficit in intelligence. But in Dolly’s own reckoning, she was”…not offended by Dumb Blonde jokes. I know I’m not dumb! I also know… I’m not blonde.”
As an ‘augmented’ blonde myself, I can relate to the sentiment, but more than that, her now-famous wit demonstrates what the world has learned since her passing: she was whip smart, supernally kind, strong, confident and generous. If there ever once was an illustration of a Biblical ‘Eishet Chayil’, a ‘woman of valor’ whom we praise at our Sabbath tables, Dolly fits the bill. Working her way up from extreme poverty and deprivation, her talent, grit, deep faith and unforced goodness created a life not just full of riches, but a legacy that will outstrip her material achievements.
Dolly’s philanthropy was legendary: including but not limited to the COVID vaccine. She also founded the Imagination Library, ensuring that every child in the USA (and later expanded to the UK) would be given the gift of literacy through its free book program. There is a Jewish connection there too. When the Imagination Library was started in the mid-nineties, a Jewish philanthropist took note: this would be Harold Greenspoon, who a decade later created PJ Library in the image of Dolly’s great endeavor, to foster literacy and Jewish joy among Jewish kids. All three of my own children have been greatly blessed by this program and I know many other families in the congregation are too.
There are many things one can say about Dolly, but there is one thing I want to highlight. In some ways, Dolly was a trickster: not only was she an actress on the silver screen, but she played many a role in her own life, very consciously. She was a cisgender, heterosexual woman who played a drag queen. In her own words, “It’s a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise I’d be a drag queen.” There is even a documented story that she anonymously enrolled in a Dolly-as-drag queen competition and… lost!
The paradox is that her shapeshifting, her makeup, her wigs, her rhinestones (‘it costs a lot of money to look this cheap’) only grounded authentic self. She remained true and faithful to who she is; almost as if the roleplaying itself allowed her to protect her own deepest integrity. Underneath all the bling, there was no pretense, but a rare, bejeweled sincerity which establishes her name beyond her death.
My esteemed colleague, Rabbi Sandra Lawson, reported hearing about Dolly’s death at a Jews-of-Color gathering. Rabbi Lawson writes on her Substack:
“There was a noticeable gasp in the room. Dolly was deeply loved.
This morning, in my hotel room, I was listening to Audie Cornish on CNN, and she said Dolly Parton was deeply political, but not partisan. And I think that’s because she led with her values.”
Dolly’s moral presence was both genuine and strategic, sidestepping many of the social quagmires that other celebrities can find themselves in. Without ever making a partisan statement (she declined multiple presidential medals across multiple administrations), she has approval ratings among Americans (65%) that would be the envy of many a politician. Dolly proved to be a balm to a divided nation. She worked to alleviate child poverty, stood by the LGBTQ community, never abdicated her Christian faith and undergirded her with with compassion rather than criticism. She was, in short, a moral exemplar, precisely because she was so human.
Rabbi Lawson notes that this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tavo, cites a text we find in the Haggadah: ‘my father was a wandering Aramean’ and links that to Dolly’s commitment to staying true to her own origin story. In this lies a message for Elul and also for the rest of our lives. We may not have the quiet poise and sensitivity of Dolly, but we can aspire to her finest qualities: a willingness not to take ourselves too seriously, a sense of fun, deep curiosity and a commitment to experimentation, all built on a strong foundation of caring, empathy and the ability to see the Divine in every other person.
To cite another great Americana songwriter, Jewel Kilcher: ‘what’s simple is true.’
Dolly, Eishet Chayil, may you shelter under the wings of the Shechinah, and continue to be an inspiration and example to us. Rest in peace.
