"A Great Privilege": Interview with Akiva, the Rising Star in Music

"A person is well, a person is unwell, turning over and returning, taking root, disconnecting, distancing. A person wants to see beyond, to know, to live something different, blocked, blocked by walls of habit," sings the artist Akiva Turgeman, charmingly and truthfully winning more and more stages and audiences in our small country. Akiva, 26, married and a father of two, has been at the forefront of the renewed Jewish music scene for several years, notably as the lead singer of the quality band 'Lev Vamaayan' and as a producer and arranger in the 'Tzama' project. However, it was only recently that he decided to publish his personal songs and embark on a nationwide tour.

"I come from a very special family, both spiritually and musically," Akiva says, while his body exudes both energy and calmness simultaneously. "Therefore, my presence in the world of music is very natural for me. My father is a great rabbi and educator who founded the Torah nucleus in Dimona and still leads it today. But singing and music are also precious and important to my parents, so they decided to send all their children to study at the conservatory in Dimona. Thus, it turned out that all 11 of my siblings and I play instruments."

And where is your personal creativity within this musical family?

"I have been breathing music from a very young age, and at a certain point, I began to develop my own taste and listened to many musical styles, like jazz for instance, and fell in love with the influential power that can be conveyed through these styles. Simultaneously, I was constantly writing music, from my teenage years. I was always writing, storing it away. At a certain stage, after I got married, at 21, I decided I had to take music elsewhere. I really started earning a living from it, primarily in the field of singing. I performed for groups of soldiers, yeshiva students, but not with my own songs. After a few years of such performances, I reached a point where I wanted to do something with my personal music, with the worlds that come from within me.

"Following this, I went to study at the religious music school 'Mizmor', where I met Naor Carmi, one of the lecturers there and one of the top musicians in the country. We got to know each other a bit, and one day he said to me: 'Akiva, open your calendar, you're coming with us to a performance in the north, with Lev Vamaayan' (Naor's band, E.S.). That was essentially where my relationship with this amazing band began, which in my opinion is the band with the best musicians in the country. We have been playing together for three years now. I am also participating in a new album they are working on. Initially, they were entirely instrumental, then they brought me on to add words to the tunes.

"Besides all this, I had an important and interesting role in the three 'Tzama' albums. At a certain point, after I got to know Naor better, who produced and arranged 'Tzama', we started working together on Tzama 1, 2, and 3. I did some professional tasks on these albums, like backing vocals, but one of my roles was to perform the melody for the first time and essentially teach the artists how to sing them correctly. Most of the songs were in poor recordings, recordings from synagogues and such, and for Barry Sakharof to learn the tunes the way we wanted, he had to hear it with an Israeli rhythm and style, as he was used to."

How was this experience for you?

"It was very powerful. Both with Lev Vamaayan and in 'Tzama'. I performed a lot with Lev Vamaayan, in the country and also abroad – Austria, Germany, Czechia. Beyond all this, it is important to remember that this is also a dignified and honorable channel for earning a living, and it actually also gave me the artistic satisfaction in music. Within the band, I had the opportunity to express the gentleness in music, its quality. When you play for soldiers coming to Jerusalem and create a Shabbat reception for them, as meaningful as it is, you can't truly get there. And I will say something important now. It is a great privilege to play before people and move them. It is a privilege. But I always had the thought that my songs are not just a means to move people, but that they have the ability to touch them in deeper places. This is what is called the connection between the audience and the artist. When I sing my songs, I feel closer to the listener."

Why specifically Tel Aviv?

As we mentioned earlier, Akiva is originally from Dimona, but in recent years he resides with his family in the heart of Tel Aviv, known as the most secular city in Israel. Recently, many residents celebrated their 'victory' in the High Court, which allowed the opening of grocery stores on Shabbat. Consequently, during our conversation, the obvious question arises – what brings a God-fearing person like him to live in Tel Aviv? "I feel a mission," he answers simply. "I did not come there on behalf of anyone. Not Chabad, not Breslov, not Rosh Yehudi."

"Nevertheless, I feel that my presence there is very right. Very precise for me, for my family, for our neighbors, and for everyone around us. And I also feel that it is Hashem's will. Our presence as a religious family in such a place is very good and strong, and our ability to meet people who are not observant, and to be soul friends with them, in an unmediated way, without the alienation that often forms when you don't know each other, is very important and rare. In my opinion, this meeting is crucial for our people. I think there are people whose role is to maintain the walls, there are people whose role is to live within the walls, and there are people whose role is specifically to break the walls."

Have you always felt that your role is to break the walls?

"Yes, relatively from a young age. The connection between the people of Israel was always a guiding light for me. But again, everyone has a different mission. It's like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham is the revelation of kindness. He was the father of many nations. Open to all. Converting. Even wanting to keep Ishmael in his house. Isaac, on the other hand, set the boundaries. Isaac is might. Judgement. Jacob is a combination of both. Beauty. On one hand, he was a simple man dwelling in tents, on the other hand, he integrated with the people of the land, went down to Egypt, and so forth. After understanding that, after understanding that everyone has a role, you understand that even those who study Torah in Jerusalem or Bnei Brak have a super significant and important role."

And despite all that, why specifically Tel Aviv? There are many mixed cities in the country.

"Tel Aviv, in my opinion, creates a rare meeting situation. People do not just come to live in it, but also, and perhaps primarily, to develop. Business-wise, artistically, spiritually, and more. Everyone in their own way. People are somewhat on a journey there, less in permanent residences. Therefore, it is a tough nut to crack. Tel Aviv symbolizes Western freedom to many. And in this perception, freedom often goes hand in hand with casting off the yoke. And I, alongside this, want to discover this freedom within me in a way that aligns with the Torah and mitzvot, and is faithful and committed to them. I want to show myself and my surroundings that it is possible and even vital and positive. Alongside this, I will be candid and say that my efforts often hit a snag, and I encounter situations that cannot be bridged, and complexities that are bigger than me. But that is also part of it. Knowing that in the end, you are small and limited, with all your good intentions."

Dudu Tassa Suddenly Stood, Frozen and Amazed

Throughout our conversation, Akiva's great passion to touch people, to create, to be heard and to speak out stands out repeatedly, and to do all this in a way that is wanted before the Almighty. For this reason, I saw fit to talk to him about how he involves Hashem in his work. "Hashem's presence is constantly in my work," he notes. "I see my music as a mission, a mission that includes granting people the ability to open up to themselves, and making music that accompanies people through various processes in their personal lives. I want to create songs that will awaken people to movement, to thought. The most dangerous thing in life is stagnation and apathy. In my view, that is a very significant role for music. I remember often being inspired and moved by certain music, which made me a better person, which made me feel like a small but meaningful part within the entire existence."

Not long ago you released your first album. How is it related to everything we talked about?

"First, it's related because I constantly want to progress further and further spiritually, and I think this album expresses that desire well. I always want to fine-tune myself more and more. This desire is a very significant cornerstone in this album, although it was not made only with people who observe Torah and mitzvot. The production, for example, is by Nir Maimon, who mainly works with Dudu Tassa. This encounter between us causes the connection I spoke about before. In general, my music is not necessarily religious music. However, it entirely speaks of deep spiritual processes I have gone through, and the long journey that, with Hashem's help, still awaits me."

What can you tell us about your connection with the people you worked with on the album?

"Wow. Many things. For example, Nir Maimon, the album's producer, came to my son's brit a year ago, and during the brit, he heard us sing the 'Four Babot' tune of Chabad and was very moved. I can understand him. It's a tune not from this world. In any case, at the end of the event, he said to me, 'Let's do something like this on the disk.' And I was less inclined. Because in everyday life I sing a lot of tunes. A week later, to our concern, my son was in the hospital with meningitis. We went through very complex days.

"In the midst of all this, I came to work, to the studio, to continue recording, and even there he kept pressing me to include a Hasidic tune in the album. At a certain point, I decided to go along with him and told him, 'Listen, there is a tune I really love, from Breslov, named 'Ranenu Tzadikim', and this tune I am willing to include.' I played and sang it to him, he was very excited, and asked me to write the chords, and immediately recorded them. Everything happened very quickly. Usually, every song takes many takes, and we recorded this one in just one. Thank Hashem, it came out great on the first try.

"Later, when we brought Chilik Frank to play his part, Dudu Tassa was also in the studio, and when Chilik started playing Dudu suddenly stood, completely frozen, awe-struck. He was very impressed. The encounter of this music with different layers of people, and the touch it has on them, proved to me that I must remain true to myself and this music, and serve Hashem through it as much as I can."

Indeed a challenging task. What feedback do you hear from the audience?

"Thank Hashem the Great, I receive a lot of love and positive feedback. People tell me really moving things that give me a lot of strength to continue. However, I think not everyone can or should love me. I do not expect everyone who hears me to fall from their feet. But I also believe there are many people who can love and connect. In my mind, I am only at the beginning now. Everything is very initial. I have only released my first disk now. This is very hard work, and I want and intend to do it. And with Hashem's help, we will do and succeed."