Lipa Schmelzer: The Jewish Lady Gaga

Heart and Soul

Lipa Schmeltzer is a bright star in the world of Jewish music; only his music sounds nothing like traditional Jewish music! In fact, he has been nicknamed, the ‘Jewish Lady Gaga’!

Growing up in New York, in an ultra-conservative Hasidic community, Lipa was always different. At school, he was taught all subjects in Yiddish, and when he found it hard to concentrate his teachers called him the 'dumb kid' and told him he would never amount to anything. He had a dream of being a singer, but when he started writing and performing his own songs, his father and rabbi told him to stop and concentrate on studying the Bible. Lipa agreed and publicly apologised to the community for the modern music he had been creating - but it was not long until he started again.

Lipa's music and performance style represented a split in his community: the younger Hasidic Jewish who loved the modern Jewish beats and wanted him to perform at their weddings and children's bar mitzvahs, and then the older more reserved Jewish who thought it was disrespectful and would lead people away from holy scripture and on a path to hell.

Today Lipa lives in both worlds, creating modern Jewish music while trying to stay true to his roots. But it is not always easy, as Colm Flynn found out when he went to New York to visit Lipa.

(Photo: Lipa Schmeltzer)