Musicians of all ages and styles fill the holy city with song.
By ARIEL DOMINIQUE HENDELMANTzipora Alexandra Kanarit, a.k.a. the gypsy lady, delights with her violin in Zion Square(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Walking along the streets of Jerusalem is a sensory experience. You might be struck by the smells of fresh produce from the Mahaneh Yehuda market, or the feeling of ancient cobblestone under your feet in the Old City, or even the sights of the city center expanding outwards and upwards. But no matter where you are, if the air is infused with beautiful music, the journey becomes instantly more pleasurable.You are at once transported to another time and place. The street musicians of Jerusalem are as varied and vibrant as the city itself.Moshe Honickman, a guitar player and singer from Far Rockaway, New York, plays at several locations: outside Y Cafe in Nahlaot, in Sacher Park, and at the old police building on Jaffa Road between Mahaneh Yehuda and the Davidka.“When I play on the street, I don’t keep any of the money,” Honickman says. “I give it to tzedaka [charity] or to friends who are struggling. When I was younger and had just moved here, I used to get money [on] the street playing music. That money was used for not necessarily the best purposes. Now when I started playing on the street more in the last few years, I go by the principle that music should be free. I don’t like paying to hear music and I don’t play on the street for money.When people are crowded around and they’re smiling; that’s the point. But if they’re going to give, I don’t keep it. I feel like it’s a tikun. Music is about opening up and connecting to other people.”Honickman came to Israel after graduating high school in 11th grade. He attempted to move to Israel twice before: when he was 14 and 15 years old. He bought a plane ticket without his parents’ consent, which did not go down well. Finally when he was 16, he came for good. “I love playing music, but I would never do it as a career,” Honickman adds. For him, playing music on the street is a way to connect to those passing by and give something of himself through the song. Honickman prefers playing music from the 1960s and ’70’s; the Grateful Dead is his band of choice.“My dad turned us onto the Grateful Dead and my mom was always into the Beatles. I like a lot of different kinds of music, but that’s where I came from. When I was around 13, my dad would come up to my room and leave albums. One time, he left New Riders of the Purple Sage. As I started understanding that the music that was going on in the world at that point was not what I wanted to hear, my dad helped me along. I started playing guitar around that same time.”When he was seven, Honickman asked for his first guitar, but it wasn’t until years later that he finally got one. After learning a few chords and mastering a 10-song repertoire, he was ready to play campfires and jam with friends, but did not take himself seriously as a musician. “I didn’t get serious about it until the last four years,” Honickman explains. “Now I’m really involved. I play music with people at least two or three times a week and by myself five times a week. My favorite place to play in Jerusalem is that old police building on Jaffa Road. A lot of things happened at that spot when I was younger, so to play there now is redeeming for me in the mindset that I’m in today. I love playing “Deep Elem Blues” by the Grateful Dead and “I Shall Be Released” by Bob Dylan. They go with the hustle and bustle of the city. If I’m in Sacher Park, I’ll play “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” by Johnny Cash. All the old timers know that one.”For Ben Shannon, who came to Israel in January on a whim and is still here, playing on the street allows him to connect with the city he now calls home and the people who inhabit it. “I started playing on the street with Moshe [Honickman],” Shannon recalls.“In Jerusalem, everyone knows each other and there’s always somewhere to play. I love playing at the abandoned police building on Jaffa Road and outside at Y Cafe. There’s a lot of awesome musical stuff that happens here.”
Shannon plays the mandolin and prefers to rock out to bluegrass over anything else. Growing up in Westchester, New York, there was not a plethora of bluegrass from which to draw inspiration. So Shannon started off playing guitar and bass before finding that the mandolin fit inside his hands perfectly. “My ex-girlfriend put The Pizza Tapes on my iPod, which is Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. I heard the mandolin and immediately knew I wanted to learn to play it.Then it turned out that one of my friends had one.When I picked it up, I could just feel that I could learn how to play it.”Shannon has had some interesting experiences while playing on the streets of Jerusalem. Once while sitting in front of a yeshiva, a woman asked him to play for her elderly father at a nearby nursing home. Shannon and Honickman recently went to the Klezmer Festival in Safed and played Grateful Dead music to a somewhat shocked crowd at the Shlomo Carlebach-inspired House of Love and Prayer.“I learned to play mandolin in all the jams in Manhattan, so I bring all of those fiddle and bluegrass tunes with me here,” Shannon says. “There are unwritten rules of street music in Jerusalem like not playing too close to someone else and not stealing someone’s spot if you know that they’re there regularly. There’s also a certain amount of crowd draw and presence that you have to have in order to really make money. But if you’re focusing on that, you won’t make any money.During the times when I’m really in it, and just playing for the love of it, then people will give money.”Tzipora Alexandra Kanarit, otherwise known as the gypsy lady of Zion Square, is a true Jerusalem street music legend. On any given day, she can be found with her violin and amplifier, and often with her musical partner, Rabbi Tomer. “I met Rabbi Tomer around three years ago and we’ve been playing together ever since,” she says. “It all started with the song ‘Yesh Li Sikui’ [I Have a Chance]. Everything is from above and for a purpose. Before I met him, I used to play on the street by myself in Tel Aviv and a lot of other places in Israel. Before he met me, he also played by himself. We still each play separately, but together, we have something very powerful; it’s like magic.”As a classically trained violinist from Ukraine with 22 years of experience, playing on the street frees her from the constraints of other musical paths she might have taken. On the streets of Jerusalem, she has found her place. “The closeness with the audience is much more than in a concert,” she explains. “When I play in Zion Square, I’m very close to the people; connected to them and to spirituality. Music really does connect. I used to play in the orchestra in Ukraine, but I don’t need that anymore. I found my own way.”She plays almost every day either in Zion Square or along Jaffa Road near the Davidka. She also teaches violin and occasionally has concerts around Israel.Her love affair with violin began early, when she was only five years old. A musician came to her elementary school as a promotion for the local music conservatory and played violin for her kindergarten class. At the first sound of the strings, she was hooked. She ran from the kindergarten to the conservatory. Her father found her in the reception area, trying to sign her name. Her willpower and passion at such a young age may have been surprising, but she comes from a long line of Ukrainian musicians: Her mother and grandfather were both accomplished musicians in their own right.“For me, I’ve found my place,” she says. “I don’t need fame; I just need this. I pray to Hashem [God] that He will give me the power to continue what I’m doing on the street. The violin is part of my body now. I feel more complete when I’m playing. I do what I love and I love what I do. It’s good to know that it’s also good for other people. I’m very lucky.”Michael Sud, also originally from Ukraine, has a degree in engineering and in music, and has played all over Europe as a classical guitarist. Sud began in a quartet in 1978. In 1985, the Emma Quartet, as it was called, started taking part in various festivals and competitions in the former Soviet republic. In 1992, they played in a prestigious competition in Germany and won. Afterwards, Sud continued playing with the Emma Quartet for six more years, before joining the Kharkov Philharmonic. From 2005-2009, he worked for Princess Cruise ships. He played on the ships with his trio, along with an accordion player and violinist, as they took passengers all over the world.Classical guitarist Michael Sud (left) plays on Ben-Yehuda Street (photo credit: ARIEL HENDELMAN)Three years ago, Sud came to Israel because his father, who was living here at the time, was sick. He began playing on the street, and also by private invitation, and in concerts. “I used to play on the street in Kiev too,” Sud recalls. “I played for two Ukrainian presidents, but also for everyday people at weddings and birthday parties. There is a company who invites us to play every New Year in Ukraine. The majority of invitations for private events now come from people who hear me on the street. Sometimes the money is okay, sometimes it’s not so good. Every day is different. Now it’s not very good because there are not a lot of tourists.The first time I played in Israel with the Romantic Trio in 1993 in the spring holiday, there were crowds of people and every 50 meters there were musicians. Now it’s a different time.”Sud and his guitar can be found on Ben-Yehuda Street at the intersection of Ben-Hillel Street every day from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., unless the weather is bad or he has another music engagement. He has been playing guitar for 40 years. “I like to play all kinds of music: classical like Bach and Vivaldi, musicals, love songs like ‘Strangers in the Night,’” he says. “My favorite guitarist is Paco de Lucia. He is dead now, but he was a famous flamenco guitarist. In the street, there are a lot of very high level musicians. One time when I was in New York, I saw a men’s vocal quintet who were wonderful and unforgettable. Musicians should play not only in the concert hall, but in the street.”For harpist Sara Katsof, playing on Jerusalem’s streets is a chance to experience energetic give-and-take without the pressure of a concert performance. “If someone asks me to play for a bunch of people, I get really nervous,” she explains. “There are expectations, especially if they’re paying you. But when I’m playing on the street, there’s no fear and no boundaries. There’s a lot less pressure. I create a bubble with the world of my music. I can play whatever song I want for as long as I want.”Sara Katsof plucks her harp in Nahlaot .(photo credit: AVIVA ROZMARYN)Katsof grew up in Monsey, New York. She began taking piano lessons at age 10, but like many children that age, didn’t like to practice. At 15, she returned to it and was able to put in the required effort. A couple of years later, she taught herself to play guitar and ukulele using the music theory she learned from piano. She had always wanted to play the harp, but was unable to find a teacher. When Katsof came to Israel three years ago, she decided it was finally time to learn to play the harp. The beautiful wooden harp she currently plays was purchased from a custom-made harp company in California. “I made aliya a year ago and flew with it to Israel, which was crazy,” she exclaims. “I didn’t even know that [the airport] had this department of oddly shaped objects and that you have to wait in a special area for it. I don’t think I could ever fly with it again.”Katsof likes to play inside Jaffa Gate. People passing through can hear the ethereal sounds of her harp, coupled perfectly with the biblical surroundings.Two years ago, Katsof and some friends played in Jaffa Gate on the night before Rosh Hashana, as hundreds came to the Western Wall for slihot (penitential prayers), and ended up raising NIS 500 for Chaiyanu, an organization that helps children with cancer.“I think playing on the street is great for musicians who don’t want to be part of the whole social-media, music-marketing world. They just want to play and people will know them by name if they want them for a gig,” Katsof says. “I like to play whatever I’m thinking or feeling. Sometimes I’ll create a story, like it’s been a really hard day but it’s going to be okay. So I’ll play that. Music is channeling; it’s a gift that was given to you that you’re sharing form yourself to connect to others. If music ends at just the person themselves, then it’s incomplete. On the street, you can talk to people and make them smile. The musician is not up on a pedestal.”