Sam Benjamin "Shir Yaakov" Feinstein-Feit is an American rabbi, composer, liturgist, singer-songwriter, and graphic designer. As a musician, he has recorded several albums both solo and with the groups Darshan and The Epichorus. In his spiritual career, Feit is a figure in the Jewish Renewal movement, having served the congregations Kol Hai, Kol Zimrah, and Romemu and served as ritual consultant at Eden Village Camp and visiting faculty at the Academy for Jewish Religion and the Jewish Theological Seminary. ^[1] He is also a member of the Zen Peacemaker order. ^[1]

Early life

Feit was raised in Manhattan by a secular Jewish family. He attended the Abraham Joshua Heschel School beginning in third grade when his mother got a job there. His family were members of the B'nai Jeshurun synagogue. As a child, Feit took piano and guitar lessons and taught himself music, including transcription and composition. In high school, he was influenced musically by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. ^[2]

After graduating high school, Feit worked in photography, graphic and web design. He started becoming more religious in his early 20s, influenced by Sefer Yetzirah and the works of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, the founder of the Jewish Renewal movement. ^[2]

Feit moved to Jerusalem's Nachlaot neighborhood in 2005 to study in yeshiva. There, Feit and his friends created an informal band called Lev Yerushalayim, with whom he would beatbox and freestyle rap at late-night concerts outside Yeshivat Simchat Shlomo. ^[3]

Music career

Solo albums

Feit began his music career with the EP Shir (2008), followed by his debut album Zeh (2009). He has since released two more solo albums, Az (2010) and Lah (2015). His song "Broken Hearted" won The Forward's 2016 Soundtrack of Our Spirit competition. ^[4]

Darshan

In 2008, while working at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Feit met the Jewish rapper Eprhyme (Eden Pearlstein). After playing their respective music for each other, Eprhyme invited Feit to sing on his debut album Waywordwonderwill, and the two later formed the duo Darshan. ^[3] Their debut EP Lishmah was released in 2010, followed by a full-length album, Deeper and Higher, in 2015.

Other

Feit has collaborated with the multifaith world music band The Epichorus, singing on their 2012 debut album One Bead. ^[5]

Other activities

Feit is one of the founding members of Kol Zimrah, an independent minyan and chavurah on the Upper West Side. ^[6] He has also founded and worked with the Jewish Renewal congregations Kol Hai ^[2] and Romemu, and has served as a ritual consultant at Eden Village Camp and visiting faculty at the Academy for Jewish Religion. He was a participant and later a facilitator of Rōshi Bernie Glassman's "Bearing Witness" retreat at Auschwitz. ^[7] In April 2016, Feit was one of around 100 Jewish leaders, including Rabbis Rachel Barenblat, Saul Berman, and Shefa Gold, to sign a petition of denouncement against spiritual guru Marc Gafni, in light of allegations of sexual misconduct against Gafni. ^[8]

Discography

Solo recordings

• Shir EP ("Song") (2008)
• Zeh ("This") (2009)
• Az ("Then") (2010)
• Lah ("To Her") (2015)

With Darshan

• Lishmah EP (2010; Shemspeed)
• Deeper and Higher (2015)

With The Epichorus

• One Bead (2012)
• Precession (2016)

Other

• Blanket Statementstein, Blanket Statementstein (2008) – vocals ("Never Stress")
• Eprhyme, Waywordwonderwill (2009) – vocals ("Tikkun Adam" and "Fixing Midnight")
• Eprhyme, Dopestylevsky (2011) – vocals (with Darshan) ("Better in the Dark")

References