Aharon Razel

Razel was born in 1974 and grew up in Jerusalem’s Nahlaot neighborhood.[1][6] In a 2013 interview, he recalled a secular childhood with little connection to Jewish practice, followed by his family’s gradual movement toward observance when he was about eight or nine.[6] Participation in the neighborhood synagogue, particularly its Selichot prayers, helped bring about this change, which he remembered as drawing the family together rather than creating conflict.[6]

He studied classical music from a young age and admired Paul Simon, Matti Caspi, and Bob Dylan.[6] He and his siblings studied at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and formed the Razel Band with their younger brother; he later remembered the band as a pleasant experience in which they became “a little famous.”[2] His education included nonreligious schools, service in military ensembles, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music.[6]

Razel recalled removing his kippah during his army service.[6] About six months to a year after his discharge, he traveled to Safed, renewed his religious commitment, and began studying in a yeshiva.[6] His brother Yonatan and cousin Nitzan Chen also pursued original music independently, with a subtle musical affinity linking their work.[7]

His family history included his grandparents’ survival during the Holocaust in the Netherlands.[8] Razel recounted that his grandmother spent two years hidden on a Dutch farm owned by people later recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, separated from her husband and infant son.[8] His grandfather, Mark Rozelaar, escaped from a deportation train by jumping when it slowed; some other escapees were shot, but he survived and eventually reached his wife’s hiding place, where they remained together through the war.[8] Razel recalled telling his grandfather, “I feel as if I jumped with you.”[8]

Razel began writing “Tze Min HaTeivah” (“Come Out of the Ark”), which he identified as his first song, on a bus to Safed after reading the Torah portion Noah.[6] He understood the verse as a call to leave one’s “box” and find joy, composed a melody during the journey, and taught it to fellow passengers, who were singing it by the time the bus reached Safed.[6] He recalled that, after returning from Safed, he began inventing melodies constantly.[6]

Another song, “Mah Asita Hayom” (“What Have You Done Today”), originated when he was newly arrived in Safed and uncertain where to go.[6] Remembering Rabbi Nachman’s practice of hitbodedut, or solitary prayer, he went down to a ravine and began singing, then recorded the words in a notebook his brother had given him.[6] Years later, while searching for material, he rediscovered 12 or 13 sketches in that notebook and developed some into an album, including “Mah Asita Hayom.”[6] The song subsequently reached mainstream audiences, with lyrics drawing on contemporary Jewish ideas.[4]

His early music set Psalms and biblical verses to reggae rhythms and jazz patterns before he increasingly wrote his own Jewish-Israeli material.[4] His debut album, “HaSneh Bo’er” (“The Burning Bush”), included the title song and “Tzeh Min HaTeivah” and became a milestone in the emerging field variously called alternative Hasidic music, original Jewish music, or music by baalei teshuva.[9] A tenth-anniversary concert for the album was scheduled for February 2009.[9]

On the Hebrew-language track “כשיבואו לפנות את ביתי,” from the album “להיות מחבר,” Razel is credited as composer, lyricist, arranger, and performer.[10] The recording, dated 2007 and issued by Hindik Productions, runs three minutes and 27 seconds and is cataloged under Jewish musical traditions, Ashkenazi/Eastern European, popular, and Hasidic music.[10] The catalog entry was generated automatically from the ACUM database.[10]

By 2009, Razel was known for animated stage performances, often jumping around with his guitar.[9] His anniversary show was planned as a return to his musical roots, including the piano he had played since childhood.[9] At the time, he was developing what he called his sixth album, seeking a more intimate and mature sound with richer arrangements and production.[9] He said he had not invested in public relations or marketing, preferring to devote his attention to making music.[9]

Torah study became a central commitment alongside his musical career.[5] In 2009, he said he had four children and studied every morning in a kollel.[9] By 2012, his daily routine centered on study at a yeshiva near his home in Nahlaot, while he continued to regard music as a mission.[5] He had begun the Daf Yomi cycle about seven years earlier during an outreach trip to India with his wife and two children, inspired by his younger brother, Rabbi Yehuda Razel.[5]

His 2012 single “Ani Kavati” (“I Have Set My Seat”), also rendered as “Ani Kava’ti” (“I Determined”), expressed the place of Torah study in his life.[5][7] Released as the first single from an album in progress, nearly 15 years after his debut, it adopted the perspective of a Torah student choosing the beit midrash as his place.[5] Razel described its tone as humorous and affectionate rather than sarcastic, said he believed the time called for renewed commitment to Torah study, and explained that he had not intended to enter political debates.[5] In August 2012, he completed the Daf Yomi cycle after 2,711 consecutive days of studying a page of Talmud daily and wrote a song for the completion celebration.[11] He compared the experience to finishing a long race and called it an achievement worthy of a medal.[11]

After the kidnapping of Gil-ad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach, and Naftali Fraenkel, Razel wrote “Nachamu Ami” (“Console My Nation”).[3] The song drew on a reading of the biblical phrase from Isaiah, particularly Carlebach’s interpretation that it could mean the nation should console God.[3] Razel initially questioned whether releasing music during such a difficult period was appropriate, but decided that it might help others because working on it had helped him.[3]

For his 2015 album “Ha’ish B’Ketseh HaMinharah” (“The Man at the End of the Tunnel”), he favored quieter, more personal songs over energetic hits.[4] He explained that he had come to understand that listeners wanted his personal “language of the heart.”[4] By 2017, he had made 12 albums and had eight children; he and his siblings continued to live near their parents in the surrounding alleys of Nahlaot.[2]

Jerusalem childhood memories shaped “E’mtza Makom” (“I Will Find a Place”), whose lyrics consist entirely of verses and phrases from Psalms referring to Jerusalem.[12] Its 2017 video, previewing an album then in progress, was filmed in the alleys where Razel grew up.[12] In an accompanying personal essay, he remembered older neighborhood residents, including a grocer who calculated bills using Hebrew letters and a synagogue attendant who knew which residents wanted to be awakened for prayer.[12]

In 2020, Razel released “Ani Acher” (“I Am Another”), his first single collaboration with his close friend Evyatar Banai.[13] The lyrics draw on Maimonides’ Laws of Repentance, with music by Razel and production by Naor Carmi.[13] Razel said he was moved to discover language in an old legal text that sounded like a song he might have wanted to write himself.[13]

At a January 2024 gathering of relatives of Gaza hostages, Razel played piano while Idan Raichel accompanied him on accordion for “Ani Maamin” (“I Believe”).[14] The two performed songs of prayer and liturgy, with attendees joining in the singing.[14]

Razel’s position as an early figure in alternative Hasidic and original Jewish music has been linked particularly to his debut album, “HaSneh Bo’er.”[9] In 2009, he expressed the hope that Jewish music would become a natural part of Israeli culture, rather than attracting celebration only when a religious song entered the mainstream.[9] He characterized himself as “always a pioneer and running ahead.”[9]

He has described religious discipline and creativity as compatible rather than opposed.[2] In 2017, he argued, “Only when you have rules can you create,” comparing the study of Torah with the years of musical training that preceded Beethoven’s compositions.[2] His own account presented Torah study and music as parallel commitments.[5]

Carlebach’s music remained an important part of Razel’s performing repertoire.[15] At a concert reported in 2018, Razel read a letter he had written after a Seven Blessings party at which about 100 yeshiva students sang Carlebach melodies through the night.[15] The letter reflected on Carlebach’s ability to attract people and bring those who had strayed back to Jewish tradition; Razel accompanied the reading on keyboard and interspersed it with “Shifchi Kamayim Libech.”[15] At the same event, he performed his own composition “Et Achai” with the Ramatayim Choir.[15]

His repertoire also includes “Yah Echsof,” performed with Yitzhak Meir, a Shabbat song with words by Rabbi Aharon of Karlin.[16] Its melody has been adapted by numerous Hasidic groups, and the version associated with their performance is likely not the nigun originally created by Rabbi Aharon.[16]

Razel also used music to accompany the transmission of his family’s Holocaust history.[8] In the years before 2011, he performed with his grandmother at Beit Ha’edut in Nir Galim, singing alongside her account of survival.[8] He recalled being moved by young listeners’ connection with her firsthand testimony.[8]