by Telemachus Gaffiganiakis
April 21, 2006
Schmuley Levine was just another average kid of the Jewish faith growing up in Brooklyn. "In Brooklyn, you can kick it with anybody," Levine says, discussing the diversity of the community he loves. "But, I never turned my back on the Jewish community. I know a lot about being Jewish. I know that we did not kill Jesus and we did not invent astroturf, but that's what Hollywood will tell you."
It was not until Levine was 16 that he realized he found a medium where he could bring out his Jewish faith to a larger number of people. In 1998, Levine met DJ Bicky, a noted New York-based disc jockey, who collaborated with musical groups as diverse as Onyx and Toto. "DJ Bicky showed me the ropes, and in a couple years, I began to mix songs in the Jewish tradition with more popular contemporary songs."
Since then, Levine has become an underground DJ in the New York scene known as DJ Schmuley, but while his name may seem obscure to some in the five boroughs, he is no stranger to the Jewish community in the Northeast. DJ Schmuley, now 23, has been tapped over the past three years to provide music at bar mitzvahs, graduation parties, anniversary celebrations, and even weddings. I had the pleasure of following DJ Schmuley to his last Jewish wedding: the union of Mark Davisson to Julia Stein.
While DJ Schmuley may be new to the wedding goers, he is drawing a lot of attention and a mix of reviews. His most famous creation is a combination of the hugely popular Jewish celebratory wedding song "Hava Nagila" with the background techno sounds of Darude's "Sandstorm." While the song has many of the young crowd dancing up a storm, the choice of mixing such songs is drawing varied responses.
"I love it," said Hannah Stein, a bridesmaid at the wedding and bride Julia's cousin. "There is a ridiculously larger number of strobe and neon lights at this reception, but it adds to the ambience of the whole event."
Matt Bloomberg, a wealthy businessman and friend of the Davisson family, however, is hesitant about the approach. "I don't know how to feel. It's a little odd. This isn't the normal kind of wedding that we'd see. When he played that strange sounding 'Hava Nagila,' many of the people holding up the bride and groom's chairs collapsed out of exhaustion. They had only been holding the chairs up for three or four seconds, yet they were sweating profusely."
"It's awesome!" said another young woman at the reception. "I've never seen so much ecstasy being passed around at a wedding reception!"
"There just seems to be a disproportionate number of more bizarre instances occurring at DJ Schmuley-run events than others," Bloomberg said. "For example, I went to the bathroom. While at the urinal, I heard a couple men in the stall sniffing a great deal. When I finished urinating, I offered them a tissue, but they shouted at me to go away, and seemed to be scrambling from inside the stall. When I returned to the bathroom a second time, they were still in there sniffing. This DJ Schmuley seems to be spreading some sort of illness."
Rabbi Schmuley Boteach (no relation to DJ Schmuley), who reaches out to mainstream America in addressing Jewish issues as a notable TV personality on his own TLC show and appearances on such programs as "Larry King Live" weighed in with his own opinion.
"While I can understand the suspicions and hesitancy of many of the partygoers to DJ Schmuley, I also think that he is reaching out to a younger generation. If their ability to conceive and connect with the Jewish faith is through varied musical renditions, then it's acceptable to me. However, we should not get too out of hand, either, and remember the importance of faith, which should be the underlying message of DJ Schmuley's music."
"I've never made out with more random guys in one night than tonight," said an inebriated Hannah Stein near the end of the evening. "I'm desperately going to convince my other relatives and friends to get their reception musically done by DJ Schmuley. He brings a new life. He is like the exact opposite of the Shabbos!"
While many people may be debating DJ Schmuley, the man himself is avoiding any kind of controversy. "I'm just doing what I love to do, and bringing my faith into it. Is it any different than Christian Rock? Not to me at least." DJ Schmuley is currently in the studio working on his first album, tentatively titled "A Touch of Judaism." While he would not tell exact details of his mixes for the album, he said that he would focus in on "after the meal" Passover songs merging together with such songs as Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch's "Good Vibrations," Amber's "This Is Your Night," and the Romanian hit, "Dragostea Din Tei."
"The hope is that you'll be hearing a whole lot more of DJ Schmuley. I won't just be doing events in the Haven (his slang term for New Haven, CT) or clubs in Chelsea. I'll be around nationally, maybe hit the Billboard charts. But, I know I can only do that with hard work. Hard work earns lots of money. And there's nothing that I'm proud to say that a Jew like me can do better than to work hard and earn lots of money."