4 Reasons You Should Be Insanely Excited About Jewish Music

Do you even have any idea what’s happening in the Jewish music world right now?  We’ve been talking for a while now about religious Jews finally busting out into the mainstream scene and moving past mainstream Jewish music basically equating with Matisyahu.  But it’s finally starting to happen, both in big and small ways.

Let me elucidate:

1. Levi Robin

Levi Robin has exploded onto the Jewish music scene after Matisyahu invited him to open for his new acoustic tour.  The Jewish web has buzzing with this incredibly gifted young baal teshuva’s music.  If you haven’t heard it, you need to.  And don’t forget to download his EP.  I demand it.

2. Ari Lesser

Ari Lesser has also been making waves, but, amazingly, has been doing it mainly through his intimate, soulful, YouTube videos.  Without any beat, without any production, he looks us right in the face and shares his beautiful lyrics.  What I’ve found so fascinating is that he’s managed, as you can see in the video above, to maintain a completely positive and soulful message throughout all his videos.  None of them are angry or filled with klipah.  Instead, they remind us that being Jewish is using the tools (such as rap) around us to create a new world.  Ari is doing that.  Thank G-d.

And P.S. don’t forget to support him by buying his music as well.

3. The Aveirah Song

Satire, especially in the context of Judaism, is a tricky thing.  That’s why I’m so blown away by this song.  It’s so pitch-perfect, so very ably pulled off and written, that it’s hard to believe it’s done by a frum Jew.

This song, done by “Dr. Dreizich” and posted on the Lev Aryeh YouTube page is a sign that Jews are starting to really stretch the boundaries with where their music is going.  It’s the most amateur of the lot here, but it’s just as creative.  And by the way, I have no idea who these Lev Aryeh people are, unless they’re this yeshiva.  If anyone has more info on them, please get in touch.

4. Bulletproof Stockings (Kol isha warning!)

Have you seriously not heard of Bulletproof Stockings yet?  The Chassidic Crown Heights ladies that are rocking the music scene the world over?  You’re telling me you didn’t read the Times of Israel piece on them, or the New Yorker feature, or see the AOL video that got more than 600,000 hits?  Wow.  You need to get out more.

What’s amazing about these women is that, despite their enormous growth in after only a year of being together, is that they have continued to stick to their rule of only performing for women.  Such dedication is a real Kiddush Hashem.  Hopefully, we’ll see even more talented Jewish women taking the world by storm.  They’re out there, even more than the men.  They just need someone to notice them.

What do you think of these dudes and dudettes?  Would you add someone to the list?  Take someone off? Sound off below.


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21 responses to “4 Reasons You Should Be Insanely Excited About Jewish Music”

  1. Philip Israel Witriol Avatar

    Will check these out when not at work – but is there a mistake here – “… their rule of only performing for men…”?

    1. Elad Nehorai Avatar

      Haha thanks, fixed.

  2. Princess Lea Avatar
    Princess Lea

    I do need to get out more, cause this is the first that I’ve heard of these Stockings! Man, I am out of it.

  3. Elad Nehorai Avatar

    An update from those Lev Aryeh guys (who are from that yeshiva I mentioned), who contacted me right before this piece came up:

    “Sure! We’re a bunch of guys learning in Lev Aryeh and we did this songfor Purim. The one who wrote most of the lyrics and sang it is Binyomin Miller (he’s the lead singer in the video). The other guys involved in the song are Moshe Berliner, Shua Eisenberg, Alex Harris, Shloime Abramsky, and Gavi Davis. The song was recorded and the music was created by Yitzi Berry (he’s the son of Suki, from Suki and Ding). The filming was done by Bezalel Kramer.”

    Great job, guys!

  4. Rebecca Klempner Avatar
    Rebecca Klempner

    Love all the videos. I’d heard of Bulletproof Stockings and Ari Lesser, but not listened yet–thanks for correcting that.

    I also love Shtar. Sorry, they’re Litvish. 😉

    1. Elad Nehorai Avatar

      Haha! I love Shtar also, actually. Maybe I’ll put them in a future post.

  5. Shevamyshtub Avatar
    Shevamyshtub

    Thanks for this Levi Robin is blowing my mind, unreal. Bullet Proof Stockings hacve also been a fav for awhile. Do u know this one? http://www.moshehendel.com/fr_home.cfm

    1. Elad Nehorai Avatar

      Wow! Can’t believe I never heard of him. Thank you so much for sharing.

  6. Shoshana Goldberg Avatar
    Shoshana Goldberg

    i love ari lessers videos! he has sooo much talent and i can’t wait for more of his stuff.
    as for bulletproof stockings i love the name due to the fact people now ‘like” bulletproof stockings on facebook.(which ifind very amusing) i also think they have talent although im not into that style of music as much anymore.

  7. jewmaican20 Avatar
    jewmaican20

    Great stuff…

    Bulletproof Stockings sounds awesome and really has my curiosity piqued. Will have to ask my wife about it.

    I’m still waiting for Nosson Zand to blow up. “Song of David” was a great movie…

  8. Rivki Silver Avatar
    Rivki Silver

    I’m out here. Here I am. Yoohoo! No, but really. I’m in Baltimore, I play mad jazz/klezmer clarinet. Also flute and sax and piano. No joke. Someone find me over here. Seriously, though, as an instrumentalist, I don’t have to hold by only performing in front of women (yes, I asked my Rav), and it’s a confusing situation. On one hand, performing only in front of women is something that really does resonate with me. It is totally a different energy. On the other hand, my Rav said it’s fine. I got to play with the Baltimore Symphony a few months ago and it was BOSS. Complex. Totally.

    Anyways, I also love Chanale Fellig. She’s been performing for a while, and her songwriting is excellent.

    1. Elad Nehorai Avatar

      Woah, awesome! I had no idea you were a musician also. I’ll put out a notice on the Facebook page soon to inform everyone 🙂

  9. iepel Avatar
    iepel

    I would add Mosiach Oi, http://moshiachoi.com/. They are a torah hardcore punk rock band of very talented musicians.

  10. Nechama Eilfort Avatar

    Riv Eilfort is a young singer songwriter from California. Riv transforms kabbalistic concepts and teachings into soulful, catchy, folk music. Yes, I am her mother. No, I am not (overly) biased.

    1. Elad Nehorai Avatar

      Riv is great! I know her from the open mics I do here in Crown Heights, although I (obviously) haven’t heard her music. She has been a great help with promoting creativity here, and I’m glad to see she has a mother who supports her in that. Thanks for the comment!

  11. Pinchos Woolstone Avatar

    I am a 57 year old father and grandfather, I love the music here, it gives been goosebumps….. keep it coming

  12. […] that is sure to be friggin’ amazing, with the Hasidic rock (and folk) stars, Moshe Hecht and Levi Robin, playing and an art display by Noah Lubin.  If you can make it, I highly recommend going.  Go […]

  13. […] that is sure to be friggin’ amazing, with the Hasidic rock (and folk) stars, Moshe Hecht and Levi Robin, playing and an art display by Noah Lubin.  If you can make it, I highly recommend going.  Go […]

  14. […] the Three Weeks ended, and I’d love to share some of it with y’all.  Now, unlike my past music post, this collection is a mix of amateurs and pros.  This isn’t about being polished.  This […]

  15. Golan Yonatan Avatar
    Golan Yonatan

    I am happy to present my new album of shabbes songs – a mixture of chassidic, sephardic and ashkenasi songs and rhythm.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD6aomZsSkA&list=PLdhNkhtl0EO2O8v4ak-jkjm-kEGrAC792

    enjoy…
    Golan Yonatan

  16. […] featured Ari here before, but he deserves another mention with this awesome rap.  I love Ari because he doesn’t hold […]

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