Arts Life

Musical Bridge

Israeli singer-songwriter makes first Detroit appearance.

DON COHEN
Special to the Jewish News

S

andy Shmuely sees himself as a bridge
between Tel Aviv and Brooklyn. The
renowned Israeli singer-songwriter will be
extending that bridge to Detroit this Sunday,
Nov. 14, when he performs at the P'TACH
(Parents for Torah for All Children), Michigan
Chapter Cafe Night at Young Israel of Oak Park.
The family of the Romanian-born Shmuely
moved to Israel when he was 6 years old. Growing
up in Haifa, he took to music early, playing guitar
and performing with a series of bands and musical
groups over the years. When it came time to serve
in the Israeli Defense Forces, his talent landed
him in the army's North Command
Entertainment Group, stationed in the Golan
Heights.
"It was my first major professional experience,"
Shmuely recalls, explaining how seriously the IDF
and Israel take their entertainment groups. "Many
of Israel's top musicians began their careers in the
IDF groups. It is very professional. They tour,
make recordings and are heard across the coun-
try.
Upon leaving the army, Shmuely joined the
Chasidic Song Festival, once again recording and
touring with an Israeli national institution. While
performing with the festival on his second trip to
the United States, he decided to stay in this coun-
try.
"I was young, just 25," he explains with an
engaging Israeli accent. "I wanted to see what I
could do. I wanted to pursue music from here and
take the music all over the world."
And Shmuely, now 49, has done just that, per-
forming throughout Europe, North and South
America and, of course, Israel, where he records
all of his albums. The musician is a regularly fea-
tured performer at New York's annual Yom
HaAtzmaut concert that draws 30,000 people to
Central Park following the city's Salute to Israel
Parade.
In 1991, Shmuely took a life-changing trip to
Russia that started him on a personal journey:
from being a secular Israeli to becoming a reli-
gious Jew.
Together with Israeli musical heavyweights
Mordechai Ben David and Avraham Fried, he
took part in a Chabad-sponsored performance
tour to seven Russian cities highlighted by the
"Chanukah Celebration at the Kremlin" in
Moscow.
"Russia was going through a lot of changes. We
arrived right after an attempted coup against
Gorbachev. The stores were empty of merchan-
dise. It was uncertain," Shmuely says, recalling

the times. "The concert attracted 10,000 Russian
Jews, many celebrating their first Chanukah. The
feeling we created was special for them and for
me. We brought the message of Israel and
Judaism and gave them pride and meaning."
The trip included a visit to the Lubavitcher
Rebbe Menachem Schneerson's hometown.
"We visited where the Rebbe grew up and his
father's synagogue," remembers Shmuely. "After
the trip, I was invited to meet with the Rebbe,
and I brought him pictures. He gave me a bless-
ing and $2, when he usually gave visitors just $1.
It made a big impression, and since that moment

35

Sandy Shmuely: "My performance appeals to any
audience — the very religious like me, and those who
are not religious at all."

things began to happen to me.
"I began to write songs and melodies that I did-
n't know where they came from. I stayed in
Brooklyn, and I started to get the spirit part from
here. It brought me much closer to my roots."
When Shmuely is not traveling, he is very
involved in teaching children. "We do music and
choreograph shows. I have a special love for kids,"
says Shmuely. "We have great communication. In
many ways the music I create is because of the
kids, and I often pursue things that the children
like. They inspire me."
But while he enjoys playing music for children,
it does not mean that he plays children's music.
"On the contrary," he explains, "my music is
mature and serious while being very fun. My per-
formance appeals to any audience — the very reli-

gious like me and those who are not religious at
all. It catches an audience."
His love for children is a natural match with
P'TACH, a national organization dedicated to
providing a total program of Jewish education for
children with learning disabilities. P'TACH has
had a Michigan chapter for more than 20 years.
"Before P'TACH existed, parents of children
with learning disabilities could find secular pro-
grams for their children but nothing that would
give a Jewish identity or a Jewish education,"
explained Fern Herschfus of Southfield, an occu-
pational therapist who serves on the local board
of P'TACH and is the organizer of the cafe night.
"A professional staff services approximately 80
children in Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, Beth Jacob
School for Girls, Yeshivas Darchei Torah, Yeshivat
Akiva and the recently added Yeshiva Gedolah
Boys High School."
Herschfus decided to bring Shmuely to Detroit
after hearing him perform on Voices for Israel, a
two-CD set featuring more than 50 Israeli musi-
cians dedicated to speaking out for Israel and rais-
ing funds for victims of terrorism.
"I grew up listening to his music and remember
him to be a wonderful entertainer," she says.
This past summer Shmuely recorded his seventh
album in Israel. Asked about his time there, he
focused on the conflict between Jews.
"We love that we would have shalom bayit
(peace in the home). We need more patience and
respect between all types of Jews," says Shmuely
with conviction. "We need to be one nation with
understanding and where the law is respected. We
have people that were elected, and they are the
ones to decide about the future of Israel.
"I'm a little guy to share my ideas. Who am I?"
he answered when asked his thoughts about the
current security situation.
"Mr. Sharon, who is Mr. Security, does all kinds
of acts that no one would have thought about,"
he continues. You don't know what is going on
until you feel the pressures of being the leader.
"For me, everything is min ha'shamayim (from
heaven) and for a purpose. Maybe the dynamic
will change. You never know how the big Baal
Habayit (King of the House) is controlling the
whole world."

P'TACH Michigan Chapter Cafe Night begins
7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14, at Young Israel of
Oak Park. Tickets are $25/$35 at the door; a
raffle will be part of the evening. For more
information or to make a contribution, please
contact Fern Herschfus at (248) 388-9157.

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