The Musician and Actor Yosef Sikurel Takes to the Streets to Play and Sing: An Interview

If you've ever walked through Mamilla Boulevard in Jerusalem and seen the musician Yosef Sikurel standing in a corner near the stairs, playing tunes by Shuli Rand and the late Meir Banai, you might have raised an eyebrow. No, the fact that there are street musicians in Mamilla is not surprising, but a musician like this has yet to be seen. Dressed in a long coat and wearing a hat, his long side curls decorating his cheeks, his fingers strumming the guitar strings, he sings and plays...

But Yosef Sikurel does not understand our amazement. "I've been performing for people for over 30 years," he explains. "Initially, I did it as an actor, but today I mainly focus on street performances. That is my role - to fulfill the talent that Hashem has given me."

"I Had Everything, But Wanted to Die"

Sikurel's story begins much earlier. "I was born in Be'er Sheva," he recounts, "and from a young age, I connected with the acting field. As a teenager, I began performing on stages, and after a few more years, I achieved all my aspirations and reached pivotal roles in the theater. For me, I had everything. I aspired to be a leading actor - and succeeded in becoming one; I wanted money - and had plenty because I knew how to demand very high sums for every performance I gave. Ostensibly, I had everything, but inside, I had nothing and felt like I wanted to die. I wasn't happy with it. I realized I had to search for something else."

At that time, as Sikurel notes, his good friend - Shlomo Tzim, who was also an actor, began the process of returning to Judaism and he told him: "There is an amazing book called Likutei Moharan. For every question you ask, you can find an answer in it." It intrigued me greatly, and I told him, 'Let's try, bring me the book.' Shlomo brought me Likutei Moharan, and I began asking many questions full of ignorance, without a hint of understanding, but as I started reading, I truly found answers there, and it was very captivating. I read the book from beginning to end, and from there, I learned for the first time in my life that one can and should talk to Hashem."

Sikurel smiles as he recalls: "In those days, I told my mother, 'You know, Mom? Rabbi Nachman says this and that,' and I quoted Rabbi Nachman. My mother was the first to realize that a transformation was happening within me, and she said to me: 'Hey, you're returning to Judaism. What happened to you, did you go crazy?' And I just laughed: 'Returning to Judaism? No way!'"

But very quickly Yosef himself realized that he was becoming more and more connected to Judaism. He started wearing a kippah on his head and even informed the theater that he wished not to participate in performances held on Shabbat.

At that time, he had no idea what Judaism required of him, so he did the only things familiar to him - read Likutei Moharan over and over, and talked to Hashem in his own words. "When I was little, my mom always said Shema Yisrael with me, and later the first section of the Shema prayer. So when I strengthened in faith, I said it all the time, again and again," he recounts.

And how did you have the strength to undergo this process? After all, it is a real transformation!

"Honestly? It wasn't hard for me at all," he responds sincerely. "Understand, at that time I felt such emptiness. Day after day passed, everyone around me had smiles on their faces, and only I was finished. The moment I began to understand the truth, it was the only thing that interested me. The career and theater simply ceased to be a significant part of my life. I remember looking around and seeing all the older and talented actors working around the clock and fighting for every role. I asked myself: Is this what I will do too - work forty years in the theater and end my life like this? I knew I didn't want that."

From the Stage to the Yeshiva

But the big push for Sikurel came one day after he talked with his good friend Shlomo Tzim. "I told Shlomo about how much I want and aspire to get closer to the Creator, and he simply suggested - pray to have a rabbi. I didn't really know what a rabbi was, and yet I adopted the idea and prayed to Hashem."

And the salvation came sooner than expected. "One day," Yosef recounts, "I went to Jerusalem and entered a shoe store. "While I was measuring the shoes and paying for them, the seller suddenly said to me: 'You must be linked to the Kabbalistic yeshiva here, I can tell by the kippah on your head, you must be a Kabbalist.' I immediately replied: 'I am not a Kabbalist and do not know the Kabbalistic yeshiva, and I don't live here at all.' But the seller insisted: 'Go to Rabbi Tzion Bracha who is in Nachlaot. You need to meet him.'"

From here, the story unfolded with wonderful providence. "I arrived in Nachlaot and discovered Rabbi Bracha's yeshiva there. I sat there and tried to learn. I understood nothing, and yet I sat there day after day. One day, the supervisor approached me and asked what I do for a living. I told him I work in the theater, and he suggested: 'Come stay and learn with us.' I asked him: 'And what about a livelihood?' And he said: 'The rabbi will take care of your livelihood.' In the end, I stayed."

Sikurel says that the decision was also influenced by the fact that at that time he was not lacking money. "I had enough money to get by for a whole year, and those days I was still single, so I didn't have very high expenses."

The Decision: The Hophle Trio

After some time studying at the yeshiva in Jerusalem, his friend Shlomo Tzim persuaded him to move to study at the Netivot Olam Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. "I completely left the theater and turned to study in yeshiva. I sat there for days and didn't really manage to learn," he admits. "The Gemara was very difficult to understand and I experienced a lot of frustrations. I wanted so much to feel the sweet learning that I heard about from everyone, but it simply wasn't there."

But even here he met the right person at the right place. "One day I met my old friend Ofer Levi - a well-known and talented actor. I felt like I had returned home, then I discovered that he too had returned to Judaism."

From that moment, Sikurel says everything became easier and simpler. "We both sat daily with Rabbi Vislovsky, one of the yeshiva rabbis, and he taught us like little children, Gemara word by word. The truth is, it was never easy for us, I remember a certain class on interest laws that completely exhausted me, and I left it without understanding at all what interest is, but I insisted on learning, and whenever it was hard for me, I would pray. I told myself - maybe I don't know how to learn well enough, but I am certainly capable of praying."

One day, Ofer Levi suggested to Sikurel to act together in a show for religious people and to go on a performance. "I was shocked," he notes, "and said to him: 'A show and religious people don't go together.' But Ofer replied: 'What's with you? Religious people also need to be happy.' And so Ofer connected me with the organization 'Arachim,' and we went on various performances through them. We added our friend Shlomo Tzim, and called ourselves: 'The Hophle Trio.'"

Around that time, Sikurel also got married, when the matchmaker was none other than Rabbi Michael Lasry. Initially, the young couple lived in the city of Elad, but after a few years, they moved to Jerusalem, and Sikurel began to study at Rabbi Arush's kollel. "At that time, I started becoming weary of performances," he recounts, "and told my partners - 'That's it, I don't want to perform anymore. I just want to learn.' And then they asked me - 'What will you do if you need money?' And I replied to them: 'I'll go play on the street.'"

\"Rabbi

And that's exactly what he did. "Initially, I played in the Jewish Quarter, but was chased away from there, so I moved to play near Jaffa Gate. Even there, I didn't find my place because I had problems with Arabs who would harass me and steal things from me. Until eventually, I arrived at the Mamilla area. I have a permit to stand and play here, and that is what I do every day, for about three or four hours."

And can one make a living from it?

"Absolutely," he replies with confidence, "especially when I stand in such a place, I tangibly see how when I need 100 shekels, Hashem arranges 100 shekels for me, and when I need 1000, He brings me 1000. It's divine assistance, and there's no connection between it and my efforts. I, thank Hashem, am raising eleven children, and we never lack anything. You just have to believe."

But the reason Yosef Sikurel stands and plays is not only for income. "I discovered that through the street, I can also bring people closer," he says with excitement, "I play songs like 'Song of Ascents' or soul and emotional songs, and people stop by me, and it simply affects them. Occasionally, I also hand out pamphlets."

One of his most favored pamphlets is on the subject of thankfulness. "Through this pamphlet, one can see how important it is to say 'thank you.' I always explain to people around me how wonderful this act is. The idea is that even when things don't go well in our lives, we need to learn to thank for them. Because if you cry, then Hashem gives you another reason to cry, but if you say thank you, even for the hard things, then Hashem brings you reasons to be happy so that you also have good things to thank for."