Botzer: "Hashem is Creative, He is Local, He Lives"

The short yet densely packed life of artist Eliezer Botzer has been filled with many surprises, but one stands out in particular, not a pleasant one. While serving as the chief security officer of the conflict-ridden settlement of Yitzhar in Samaria, he was indicted, accused of shooting and injuring a leftist activist involved in olive harvesting.

Although 16 years have passed since that incident, it seems to still stir his spirit. "On this occasion, because you asked, it's important for me to talk about the case, and emphasize that if it weren't for biased editing of other articles, and my Wikipedia entry, you wouldn't even be asking me about it, because the whole story is just a joke."

"Not only did I not shoot in that situation, the opposite is true — I was the moderating force in the whole story, and even received commendations for it. Moreover, I received warm recommendations from senior IDF commanders for my performance as a security officer in general, and specifically in this event. After investigating the matter, it turned out the leftist activist was a provocative and serial complainant, who simply saw my picture on a certain website and decided to target a settler. Of course, with Hashem's help, I was acquitted of all charges."

What feelings arise when you remember that today?

"Beyond what I've said, I won't elaborate, because I don't want to partake in the inflammatory political discourse that various politicos unfortunately manage. I choose not to become a whining and inciting victim of the absurd reality that unfortunately creates too many victims on all sides. Violence must be uprooted."

"Wisdom is Being a Simple Person with Everyone"

Botzer (36), married and father of eight, residing in Neve Tzedek in southern Tel Aviv, is currently basking in the success of "The Home" - a hit raving on Galgalatz, a collaboration with an international artist, and a third album on the way. He honestly shares that it wasn't always like this.

"I grew up in the Old City of Safed, in a national-religious home living for the community. My father founded a project called 'Building and Being Built' in Safed about forty years ago, allowing young Jews from abroad to have a meaningful experience in the land. Our house always had a lot of movement of different people, and I was always present in an environment where people were having significant experiences in their lives. I am hugely grateful to my parents for the privilege of growing up in such a hospitable home."

"Alongside that, in elementary school, I was diagnosed with severe attention deficit disorder, ADHD. After spending a considerable time on psychologists' couches, IQ tests, and additional expert evaluations, I left educational frameworks in early high school stages."

Do you harbor resentment towards the educational frameworks that perhaps gave up on you too quickly?

"A few years ago, my mother told me she met the principal of the high school yeshiva I dropped out of in eighth grade and asked if he ever looked at the evaluations and my IQ scores she brought when I entered. He said he hadn't looked because he believes a child should experience failure. I always knew I was very smart, but my dyslexia reminds me that wisdom is being a simple person with everyone. It also helps me be fully myself."

At 17, after going astray and wandering around the country, Botzer began studying in a baalei teshuva yeshiva but was soon enlisted in the army because he wasn't registered in a formal framework. "In the army, I was in the Nahal Brigade," Botzer says, "and I got married after completing my course. I spent our first married year on operational activities."

"One of the hardest things I experienced during those years was losing my good friend on the team, Daniel Mandel z"l, who was killed after I was discharged in an operational activity in Shechem, while he was commanding his soldiers. He continued in military activity after our team was released. In addition to his many talents, Daniel was also an amazing musician. We wrote and sang a lot together during training and the course."

(Photo: Ohad Romano)

"Daniel's death is what eventually led me and my wife Noa to open Jewish homes in India and turn them into a life project. After being released, I served for a year as a security officer in Yitzhar, and then we set out for the unknown, to India, with our two eldest daughters, and for five years we lived between Israel and India."

What can you tell us about the Jewish homes you established in India?

"For the past fifteen years, I've been managing, along with my wife, a social project in India that includes, among other things, volunteering travelers in orphanages, performances, a warm and welcoming home, and a nurturing corner for Judaism and home. We also engage in other initiatives, such as a center for rehabilitation through art and more."

Alongside this activity, your main occupation is creation. When did you start creating professionally?

"Writing and composing have accompanied my life since my early childhood, but in the last eight years, they've become my main occupation, with performances in Israel and abroad. I've released two albums so far, and now we're in the midst of recording the third album due to be released soon. My method of working is such that I essentially write and compose, then create a basic demo with a suitable musician. This way, I select songs for performances and the album, which is now heading to completely new territories than I planned."

On a deeper level - what drives you in your creativity? Why do you write songs?

"Through writing, I'm searching more for my new self than for the new song. Writing for me is a way of life. It's a daily meeting for summary and blessing for the journey, and it's a treasure detector along the way itself. It's the place that allows me to be objective about the contradiction within me, from the most subjective experience."

"Our Home is Alive and Breathes Music"

The latest single you've released, 'The Home', is currently playing non-stop on Galgalatz and has reached the ears and hearts of hundreds of thousands of Israelis. How does that make you feel?

"I'm full of gratitude and very happy for the playlist entry. Galgalatz provides an amazing and rare service to the songs it plays several times a day. Success, for me, is validation to keep doing what I love and can't stop doing, which is, of course, music. In any case, I always strive to be a good friend and person, and to be myself without comparison and competition with anyone."

Speaking of 'The Home', tell a little about your wife and eight children.

"My wife and I got married very young, at 19, and we're really growing up together with the kids. My eldest daughter is an active social leader. I also have two daughters who are musicians. Our home is alive and breathes music and creativity. We write songs together, as life writes us. Each of them has a rare and unique talent, and together it sounds simply wonderful."

Speaking of a close-knit family, you recorded the second album in two and a half weeks following a meeting with the Sha'ar family. What happened there?

"Right after the first album, I started working on the second one, and I really wanted it to be personal and devoid of social statements. So, every time I wrote a social song, we made a demo for it and put it in another folder we called 'Am Ha'aretz'.

"In the summer of 2014, when I visited the Sha'ar family home after their son was kidnapped, I felt the need to release the demo recordings of the social songs I wrote, which resonated a lot with the emotional and faith upheaval that all of Israel experienced that summer."

"I wanted to do it quickly, but my manager, Bob Stark, demanded that we record it professionally. So we entered with a deadline of two weeks until 17 Tammuz to record the album with top musicians. It was working around the clock, almost without sleep, amid missile falls. All this while I was waiting for a draft order, during the operation Protective Edge. Above all that, during those days, our beloved daughter Uri Bat Galim was born."

It seems Hashem has a significant place in your life. How involved is Hashem in your creation? What role does He have in your life?

"Hashem is creative, He is local, He is life. I hope He continues to help me not lose my humility, and to keep enjoying the things that make me happiest in the world, which are prayer, family, creation, and learning with friends."