He said they played in caves and on street corners and eventually began doing original music. Written by Dov Shurin, it has a reggae beat and the chorus “I want you to be my rebbe,” my spiritual guide. Their video for the song “Kudshabrichu” - a variation on a name of God, translated as “The Holy One, blessed be He” - garnered more than 150,000 views. “The person who looks mamash like the biggest shlepper, once you get to know them and look beyond, then you can see the person is the biggest fire and the holiest soul,” said Steinberg, whose nickname is Diddy.ĭrashot - Torah lessons - are as much a part of their music as their vocabulary. Yedidya Steinberg, 30, originally from Lakewood, New Jersey, said the group’s motto is not to judge a book by its cover. So the term ‘shlepper’ - all our friends would argue who is the biggest shlepper.” I was hung up on that idea, you know, of a simple Jew, who deep down was very holy. “He looked like his life was terrible, but he was always so happy. “He was a big gadol and he was a big shlepper in that he wore ragged clothing,” Trachtenberg said. Trachtenberg, who goes by the nickname “Trak,” said he was inspired by 18th-century Hasidic master Reb Zusha of Anipol. “Shlep” means to drag or carry a burden, while a “shlepper” can describe a slob or a beggar. The name is a pun on the Yiddish phrase “shepping naches,” which means to derive joy, usually from one’s child. So at that point we were a make-believe band and the chevra made a social media page for us.”

“They said they had photos and wanted to know where they should send them.

“We said we weren’t a band,” he told the New York Jewish Week. Trachtenberg, 26, from Far Rockaway, Queens, said they were busking on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem and people would ask for the name of the band. “It’s not just a performance with Shlepping Nachas, it’s an experience.”Īhead of the two gigs the four were staying in a cabin in Rockland County, where they talked about their excitement over the shows, how they got together and how they got their name. “We picked them because of their vibe, because they bring the energy and they uplift everyone,” said Juzefest founder Hannah Esther Teichman-Taub. This month they’ve come to New York for their biggest shows to date: opening on Thursday for the powerhouse Jewish band Zusha at Nublu 151 in Manhattan, and then heading upstate for Juzefest, a Jewish music and camping festival taking place over Labor Day weekend. Two years and one pandemic later, the four-man group, with three members who grew up in New York, have broken out in the niche but impassioned world of Jewish rock. They did: a New Year’s tour in Tel Aviv as 2019 ended and 2020 began. He convinced us to go on tour that week.” No one ever sat us down and told us that. “He said ‘Guys, you need to stop what you are doing and do music,’” Skaist recalled. He wasn’t in the music business, but sounded like he knew what he was talking about. But that’s before a businessman from New Jersey named Moshe Morris ran into them in the Arava desert.

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