Lipa Schmeltzer
Encyclopedia
Elazar Lipa Schmeltzer is an American
Hasidic
singer and composer. He is a headliner within Hasidic and Haredi
communities worldwide and has been called "the Jewish Elvis". Schmeltzer has released 10 solo albums as of 2011. In 2008 he was named to the Forward 50 of most influential Jews.
Hasid, grew up in the Hasidic enclave of New Square, New York
, a village in Rockland County, New York
. His grandfather, a Jewish farmer in pre-war Hungary
, was killed during World War II, leaving his father, Reuven, an orphan
at the age of 13. Reuven Schmeltzer was one of the 1684 Jews who escaped Nazi
-controlled Hungary on the Kastner train
and spent time in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
before being released in Switzerland
. Lipa was the eleventh of 12 children born to his parents.
He married his wife Miriam on August 27, 1998. They have four children.
and bar mitzvahs in the Haredi Jewish communities of upstate New York
and Brooklyn
. He earned a reputation as a natural performer, and began releasing discs and videos. The first, Nor B'Simcha (Only Be Happy), was released shortly after his wedding. With his thick, round eyeglasses and sidelocks, "outlandish" outfits, and comical YouTube
videos, he has rocketed to stardom in the Hasidic music world.
Schmeltzer's music has both gained popularity and generated controversy within the American Hasidic community due to the fusion of traditional Hasidic music and lyrics with contemporary music styles. His performance range includes "hard-driving rock tunes, jazzy shuffles, pseudo-rap numbers, solemn prayers, klezmer dances and jokey skits, accompanied by a nine-piece band and a troupe of actors". He writes lyrics in English
, Hebrew
, and Yiddish
. As is the norm in Hasidic circles, Schmeltzer's concerts are gender-segregated.
He has been criticized for introducing "too modern" musical styles to the Hasidic community. Opponents contend that Schmeltzer's identity as a bona-fide Hasid makes it more appealing to a wider Hasidic audience and therefore more likely to introduce contemporary music to their community, which tends to be insular and more reserved.
shluchim
Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg
were murdered in a 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai
and their two-year-old son Moishe was saved, he wrote the song A Letter to Moishe'le. He was part of an all-star group of Jewish musicians who produced a musical tribute to Sholom Rubashkin
after the latter's conviction in federal court in 2010. Following the 2011 murder of Leiby Kletzky
in Brooklyn, he released a ballad called "Leiby Forever" and a seven-minute music video depicting home movies of Kletzky growing up.
's WaMu Theater in New York featuring Schmeltzer and Shlomie Gertner, under the playbill "The Big Event". On 20 February, a full-page notice was printed in the Hamodia
newspaper. The notice stated that it was "a serious prohibition to attend or perform" at the concert and added that it was "forbidden to hire these singers to sing at any party, celebration or charity event."
Following speculation over whether Schmeltzer would cancel the concert due to the ban, on 26 February it was confirmed that he was canceling his performance. He was quoted by The New York Times
as saying, “I have a career, I have a wife and kids to support, I have a mortgage to pay, I have to get out of the fire”. At the same time, Schmeltzer pulled out of a concert scheduled for later that month in London
with other singers.
In the aftermath of the cancellation, questions were raised regarding the ban. Specifically, why the ban was issued so close to the concert date, causing the Israeli charity financing the concert to lose $700,000, and why the wording of the ban seemed at odds with views that had been expressed elsewhere by the rabbis who signed it. In an interview in June 2008, Schmeltzer stated: “If I knew the truth, 'The Big Event' would not have been cancelled ... Many Rabbis have told me that people came to them with false information regarding my concert".
In 2009, one of the signatory rabbis, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky
, told the The Jewish Star newspaper that he had no problem with Lipa: "As far as I know he is an ehrliche Yid [a truly devout Jew]."
Three months after the controversy, Schmeltzer released his next album, titled A Poshiter Yid (A Simple Jew), with a cover image and songs that portrayed him as a tradition-minded, Torah
-observant Jew instead of the rock idol portrayed by the ban. Since that release, Schmeltzer's concert and recording schedules have increased.
Shortly after the cancellation of "The Big Event", promoters began planning another concert with the scaled-down name "The Event", which went off without controversy before a sell-out crowd at Madison Square Garden's WaMu Theater on 1 March 2009. Later the same year, Aderet Records released a double CD and DVD of "The Event".
in the village of Airmont, New York
, where he and his family reside.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Hasidic
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
singer and composer. He is a headliner within Hasidic and Haredi
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
communities worldwide and has been called "the Jewish Elvis". Schmeltzer has released 10 solo albums as of 2011. In 2008 he was named to the Forward 50 of most influential Jews.
Background
Schmeltzer, a SkvererSkver (Hasidic dynasty)
Skver is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rebbe Yitzchok Twerski in the city of Skver . Followers of the rebbes of Skver are called Skverer hasidim....
Hasid, grew up in the Hasidic enclave of New Square, New York
New Square, New York
New Square is an all-Hasidic village in the Town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Hillcrest; east of Viola; south of New Hempstead and west of New City...
, a village in Rockland County, New York
Rockland County, New York
Rockland County is a suburban county 15 miles to the northwest of Manhattan and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the southernmost county in New York west of the Hudson River, and the smallest county in New York outside of New York City. The...
. His grandfather, a Jewish farmer in pre-war Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, was killed during World War II, leaving his father, Reuven, an orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
at the age of 13. Reuven Schmeltzer was one of the 1684 Jews who escaped Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
-controlled Hungary on the Kastner train
Kastner train
The Kastner train was a trainload of almost 1,684 Jews who, on June 30, 1944, escaped from Nazi-controlled Hungary, eventually arrived in Switzerland, while some 450,000 members of the Hungarian Jewish community were deported to the gas chambers at Auschwitz....
and spent time in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Bergen-Belsen was a Nazi concentration camp in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle...
before being released in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Lipa was the eleventh of 12 children born to his parents.
He married his wife Miriam on August 27, 1998. They have four children.
Musical career
Though Schmeltzer had no formal musical training, after his marriage he began performing at weddingsJewish wedding
A Jewish wedding is a wedding ceremony that follows Jewish law and traditions.While wedding ceremonies vary, common features of a Jewish wedding include a ketuba signed by two witnesses, a wedding canopy , a ring owned by the groom that is given to the bride under the canopy, and the breaking of a...
and bar mitzvahs in the Haredi Jewish communities of upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
and Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. He earned a reputation as a natural performer, and began releasing discs and videos. The first, Nor B'Simcha (Only Be Happy), was released shortly after his wedding. With his thick, round eyeglasses and sidelocks, "outlandish" outfits, and comical YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
videos, he has rocketed to stardom in the Hasidic music world.
Schmeltzer's music has both gained popularity and generated controversy within the American Hasidic community due to the fusion of traditional Hasidic music and lyrics with contemporary music styles. His performance range includes "hard-driving rock tunes, jazzy shuffles, pseudo-rap numbers, solemn prayers, klezmer dances and jokey skits, accompanied by a nine-piece band and a troupe of actors". He writes lyrics in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, and Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
. As is the norm in Hasidic circles, Schmeltzer's concerts are gender-segregated.
He has been criticized for introducing "too modern" musical styles to the Hasidic community. Opponents contend that Schmeltzer's identity as a bona-fide Hasid makes it more appealing to a wider Hasidic audience and therefore more likely to introduce contemporary music to their community, which tends to be insular and more reserved.
Benefit performances
Schmeltzer frequently contributes his talents for Jewish benefit performances. He has also written songs and performed in response to tragedies within the Hasidic community. After ChabadChabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
shluchim
Shaliach (Chabad)
A Chabad shliach is a Chabad member sent out to promulgate Judaism and Chasidut around the world.Chabad shluchim as of 2010 number about 4,500 worldwide, and can be found in many of even the most remote worldly locales.-Origins:...
Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg
Gavriel Holtzberg
Gavriel Noach Holtzberg was an Orthodox rabbi and the Chabad emissary to Mumbai, India, where he and his wife Rivka ran the Mumbai Chabad House. He was also a religious leader and community builder for the local Jewish Indian community, and led the Friday-night Shabbat services at the Knesset...
were murdered in a 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
and their two-year-old son Moishe was saved, he wrote the song A Letter to Moishe'le. He was part of an all-star group of Jewish musicians who produced a musical tribute to Sholom Rubashkin
Sholom Rubashkin
Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin , an ultra-Orthodox Jew of the Lubavitcher Hasidic movement, is a former executive officer and vice president of Agriprocessors, a now-bankrupt slaughterhouse and meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa formerly owned by his father, Aaron Rubashkin...
after the latter's conviction in federal court in 2010. Following the 2011 murder of Leiby Kletzky
Murder of Leiby Kletzky
Leiby Kletzky was an American murder victim. The Hasidic Jewish boy was kidnapped on Monday, July 11, 2011, as he walked home from his school day camp in the Hasidic neighborhood of Boro Park, Brooklyn...
in Brooklyn, he released a ballad called "Leiby Forever" and a seven-minute music video depicting home movies of Kletzky growing up.
"The Big Event" controversy
In February 2008, a large amount of publicity was generated for a concert at Madison Square GardenMadison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
's WaMu Theater in New York featuring Schmeltzer and Shlomie Gertner, under the playbill "The Big Event". On 20 February, a full-page notice was printed in the Hamodia
Hamodia
Hamodia is a Hebrew language daily newspaper, published in Jerusalem, Israel. A daily English language edition is also published in the United States, and weekly English-language editions in England and Israel. A weekly edition for French readers debuted in 2008. The U.S. version is the first...
newspaper. The notice stated that it was "a serious prohibition to attend or perform" at the concert and added that it was "forbidden to hire these singers to sing at any party, celebration or charity event."
Following speculation over whether Schmeltzer would cancel the concert due to the ban, on 26 February it was confirmed that he was canceling his performance. He was quoted by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
as saying, “I have a career, I have a wife and kids to support, I have a mortgage to pay, I have to get out of the fire”. At the same time, Schmeltzer pulled out of a concert scheduled for later that month in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with other singers.
In the aftermath of the cancellation, questions were raised regarding the ban. Specifically, why the ban was issued so close to the concert date, causing the Israeli charity financing the concert to lose $700,000, and why the wording of the ban seemed at odds with views that had been expressed elsewhere by the rabbis who signed it. In an interview in June 2008, Schmeltzer stated: “If I knew the truth, 'The Big Event' would not have been cancelled ... Many Rabbis have told me that people came to them with false information regarding my concert".
In 2009, one of the signatory rabbis, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky
Shmuel Kamenetsky
Shmuel Kamenetsky is a Haredi rabbi and co-founder and rosh yeshiva of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia. He is one of the best-known living Haredi Litvish Jewish gedolim outside Israel and the best-known son of Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky , one of America's greatest Torah...
, told the The Jewish Star newspaper that he had no problem with Lipa: "As far as I know he is an ehrliche Yid [a truly devout Jew]."
Three months after the controversy, Schmeltzer released his next album, titled A Poshiter Yid (A Simple Jew), with a cover image and songs that portrayed him as a tradition-minded, Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
-observant Jew instead of the rock idol portrayed by the ban. Since that release, Schmeltzer's concert and recording schedules have increased.
Shortly after the cancellation of "The Big Event", promoters began planning another concert with the scaled-down name "The Event", which went off without controversy before a sell-out crowd at Madison Square Garden's WaMu Theater on 1 March 2009. Later the same year, Aderet Records released a double CD and DVD of "The Event".
Other activities
In 2010, Schmeltzer built a synagogueSynagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
in the village of Airmont, New York
Airmont, New York
Airmont is a village in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States located north of the state of New Jersey; east of Suffern; south of Montebello and west of Chestnut Ridge. The population was 7,799 at the 2000 census....
, where he and his family reside.
Discography
- Nor B'simcha (1999)
- Shemaa (2000)
- Letova (2001)
- Bederech (2003)
- Le'eilu Uleeilu (2004)
- Keneina Hora (2005)
- Hallel (2006)
- A Poshiter Yid (2008)
- Non Stop Lipa (2009)
- Me'Imka D'Lipa: From the Depth of My Heart (2010)
- 24/6 Lipa (2011)
- Leiby Forever (2011)