Arts & Entertainment

'Until God Says Stop'

Singing in Hebrew, Heedoosh's rockers
combine post-grunge, Britpop and the Bible.

Yaniv Tsaidi of Heedoosh: Metro Detroiters can hear the band that continually sells out its New York City club

performances in a concert in honor of Israel Independence Day at Yeshivat Akiva on April 24.

George Robinson
Special to the Jewish News

T

he sounds are instantly familiar: the synthesizer
squiggles that lead into thundering guitar riffs,
the hoarse, choked vocal followed by a soaring
tenor. But there is something immediately different about
Heedoosh. These New York-based rockers are singing in
Hebrew about the Jewish religion.
"I can't speak for the other guys [in the band], but both
my brother [Yahav] and I saw it as a way to bring people
who know nothing about religion to [a point of] asking
questions:' says Yaniv Tsaidi, the band's lead singer, in a
phone interview."If people are closer to Judaism through
the music, we've done our jobs!'
He quickly adds, "But we're not making speeches before
every song. We're not rabbis; we're not preaching. But we'll
answer questions when we're asked."
OK. Why choose a musical mix of the post-grunge of
Stone Temple Pilots and the Britpop of Oasis, Radiohead
and Coldplay to send out messages of Torah?
"We feel the music speaks to this generation:' Tsaidi
says. "We're heavily influenced by the bands we listened
to. It speaks to our generation."
Understood that way, the band's name, Heedoosh,
makes perfect sense: It is a rabbinical term for a new
teaching that opens listeners' hearts and minds.
Musically, there are two sets of influences at work in

Heedoosh's music: Yaniv's fondness for Britpop and his
younger brother's love of the buzz-saw sounds of Alice
in Chains and STP. But the primary voice at play is that
of Yahav, the younger brother, who writes almost all the
band's material, although he does not perform.
"The origin was the two of us going over this stuff in
my living room in Chicago;' Yaniv, 31, recalls; the current
iteration of the band has been together for several years
now."There was always this brotherly thing. We've had
our disagreements, but it's a vision that Yahav had of the
original music. Lyrically, he based a lot of the stuff on the
late Rav Abraham Isaac Kook's teachings, but it's original
and there's a meaning behind them and there's always
another angle to them."
Although they were born in Israel, the Tsaidi broth-
ers — the sons of Rabbi Yigal and Shulamit Tsaidi of
Southfield — have been on the move most of their lives,
as their father's work as a Jewish educator took them all
over the world. Rabbi Tsaidi has been educational direc-
tor at Yeshivat Akiva in Southfield for seven years, where
Heedoosh will perform with fellow New York-based band
Blue Fringe in an Israel Independence Day concert on
April 24. The concert is sponsored by Yeshivat Akiva,
Keter Torah Synagogue, Kollel Torah MiTzion and the
Young Israel Metropolitan Council.
One of the more ironic byproducts of the Tsaidi family's
travels was Yaniv's decision to finish his undergraduate
education at Loyola University in Chicago.

Asked about this catholic/Catholic choice, he laughs
and explains, "My parents were in Milwaukee, and
Chicago was the closest town [with a significant Orthodox
population]. I chose Loyola because it was one of the only
schools that would take my credits from Israel!'
Although it was always Yaniv's intention to pursue a
music career, he took the shrewd step of majoring in busi-
ness and minoring in music at Loyola.
"It worked out for me he says. "When you get into the
rock 'n' roll band thing, it's very hard to generate enough
money to make a living. It's good to have something else
to lean back on. I work full time during the day for a com-
pany that deals with translations of patents and intellec-
tual property. I'm on the phones all day and in the studio
all night."
The 29-year-old Yahav is a powerful but unseen pres-
ence in the band, much like the celebrated rabbi and
philosopher whose ideas he is propagating. Onstage, his
brother carries out the vocal duties ably, with a tight,
forceful band behind him.
Ari Leichtberg, the drummer, has been with Heedoosh
almost from the start. Guitarist Elie Massias also pro-
duced the band's first CD, Meumkah Delibah. Yoshie
Fruchter, the band's other guitarist, and bassist Gary
Levitt were the final pieces to fall into place. The result is
one of the most popular bands playing clubs in New York.
And that's without playing on Shabbat or on holidays.
"That has not been a problem:' says Yaniv."Because we
draw well, we have more options available to us and these
days the management companies already know when the
Sabbath is. They'll ask us,`The Sabbath ends at 8:30 p.m.
Is a 10 p.m. set too early for you?'"
With a CD out, how much longer will Yaniv have to
hang onto his day job?
"At the point at which we can pay our bills," he says
bluntly. "We're hoping that somebody will give us a dis-
tribution deal [for the recording], and we'll be able to do
a worldwide tour;' he says. "Right now, we're doing every-
thing ourselves."
For now, he's happy to continue his juggling act. After
all, he notes, it's not all for the love of rock 'n' roll.
"We feel that we're doing a good thing here he says.
"We'll keep at it as long as it lasts. Until God says stop!" El

In honor of Israel Independence Day, Heedoosh
appears in concert with New York-based Jewish
pop-rock band Blue Fringe 6:30 p.m. Tuesday,
April 24, at Yeshivat Akiva, 21100 W.12 Mile Road,
in Southfield. Doors open at 6 p.m. The concert
will be followed by an afterglow with Israeli-style
salads and desserts. Tickets are $15 adults, $8
students (up to age 18). A $250 sponsorship
includes four reserved seats and a CD. For reser-
vations and other sponsorship opportunities, call
Ariella, (248) 356-5663, or Fern, (248) 557-4007.

April 19 2007

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