Jewish Music Stars Recall Their Early Inspirations

By Sruly Meyer for COLlive.com

We know their songs and we know who they are. These are well known singers, who have left their mark in Jewish Music. The question is though, how did they end up in this career? It’s very interesting to hear from them what gave them inspiration to do this. Which memory or moment in time do they hold dear that made them feel the music.

We’ve collected answers from what we believe is a wide variety of artists. We wanted to give you some different flavors. With that in mind we have artists like Benny Friedman, Shloime Gertner, but we also included someone like Lenny Solomon from Shlock Rock, and Yanky Lemmer. There are more artists in this list, but we hope you will enjoy these interesting thoughts.

The question asked to these artists was, what singer, album or moment inspired you to want to sing, or fall in love with music?

Avraham Fried:

“It all started way back when Eli Lipsker a”h started a boys choir in my Yeshiva in Crown Heights, Oholei Torah. I was one of his chosen soloists on his albums as well as in live performances. By the time I was 13 years old, I had already sung on several albums and did many concerts. I had some music under my belt.

“Then by a farbrengen at 770 Eastern Parkway, I heard the Rebbe say in Yiddish “ווען משיח וועט קומען וועט קיין איין איד נישט בלייבען אין גלות.” Loosely translated that meant, “No Jew Will Be Left Behind” and I thought to myself, wow, that would be great words for a song. As you know, the rest was history.”

Dudu Fisher:

“In 1973, I was going to be a dentist. I then happened to sing at a wedding and one of the guests who came from Winnipeg heard me and offered me a job as a cantor. His name was Moris Herschel. By the time I came back to Israel, I made the decision to become a cantor and to study music…”

Shloime Gertner:

“I guess singing to myself as a kid singing along with other boys choirs. As an example, Yigal Calek or the Miami Boys Choir. Another one would be, Tzlil V’zemer I would just sing along with all the solos. Then I started to think, I feel like I could do this, and having that faith in myself.

“That boy within me continues until today telling me “sing and just continue to sing! It actually feels like a shelichus! May it continue to last with plenty of good music and lots of Chidushim! It’s a privilege and an honour to have singing as a Parnassa, Thank you Hashem.”

Lenny Solomon:

“I took accordion lessons at 8 years old and piano at 15. I come from a musical family with Chazanim on both sides going back generations. I used to go on Friday night with my father and brother to sing at my Zaidy’s house. Still, I never knew that I would do this professionally until it happened.

“In 1982 and 1983, I formed the group Kesher with Zvi Pill, Joey Friedman and Shlomo Horowitz. As I did Bar Mitzvah’s, weddings and Shabbatons for NCSY, my confidence grew and I became a lead singer. I was definitely influenced by the group Ruach, Diaspora Yeshiva Band, Judaea and other Jewish Music groups.”

Benny Friedman:

“Here is the thing that sticks out when I think back to when I was young. When I heard HASC Volume 1, this was the first album I ever heard. Once I heard it, that was it for Jewish music for me for a long time. This was all I listened to.

“Particularly the end of the last song, where they sing, Yavoooo, holding the end long time, and then Shalom, Shaaalom, Shalom, a beautiful musical moment. Followed by the great Mordechai Ben David who would answer the Shalom with Oh, Oh Ohh. The movement and beauty in those notes and the sound, it was everything.

“For me, that was the pinnacle. It really left a lasting mark. It’s moments like that in music or on stage that make you really feel connected to everything.”

Shmueli Ungar:

“Truth is I never needed to be inspired to sing just like I didn’t need inspiration to enjoy 3 bone flanken. I just love expressing myself in song!

“My favorite singer always changed, but I liked listening to Fried, Miami Boys Choir, MBD, Lipa Schmeltzer and Dedi Graucher. I liked Lipa’s lyrics and always thought how great he is. Of course Avremel was really something that always impressed me, from a vocal perspective.”

Yanky Lemmer:

“Show me who your friends are, and I’ll tell what you are. So goes the famous quote. Well, all I could remember my father discussing with his friends at the concerts he’d shlep me to was, Chazzanus. There was also the weekly Sunday night radio show hosted by Charlie that the family listened to. That definitely solidified my interest in the fields. Mostly though, it was the live davenings we’d go to when Chazzan Moshe Stern would come to Boro Park. Those will forever be etched in my memory.”

Naftali Schnitzler:

“I’m not exactly sure, I always had this “inner drive”, I remember going to weddings and watching these “one-man-bands”. I remember listening to albums and trying to grasp “every detail”. I used to daydream about being in a studio and watching how an album is made.

“Growing up I lived in Monroe NY, together with my uncle Michoel Schnitzler. We davened in the same shul. In our circles he was the “first” to be that “star”, everyone looked up to him, and he loved me and always shared with me about music. Michoel actually bought me my first “serious” keyboard to play. I guess this was simply meant to be my mission.. and still is!”

Ari Goldwag:

“Although I was always singing, since I was a small child, there was a moment which propelled me into singing on stage and then (eventually), on to a career in music. It was somewhere around the fall of 1987, and my family and I attended a concert by the Miami Boys Choir in Queens college. We thoroughly enjoyed the concert and brought home their new record “Bisyata Dishmaya.”

“During the concert, one of the boys ‘tried out’ to be part of the choir. He was actually already in the choir – and a soloist – but he sang alone on the stage with Yerachmiel Begun – “Would you please let me sing in the choir.” After that, my mother – who knew I loved to sing – said to me, “Go up there and try out next!” From that point on, it was just a matter of time before I would try out and become a member of the Miami Boys Choir, just as my mother dreamed.”

Meilech Kohn:

“My whole life I sang. Ever since I was a kid I expressed myself through music. A song was always something I could confide in. Could could express myself and feel whole as a person. It wasn’t one song or artist, but that feeling I would get when I connected to music that led me to want to do this on a professional level. So others could also feel that connection.”