Ari Lesser

Ari Lesser
Native name Ari Binyamin ben Reuven
Birth name Ari Benjamin Lesser
Born (1986-11-09) November 9, 1986
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Genres Jewish hip hop, reggae, spoken word
Occupation(s) Rapper, singer, songwriter
Years active 2003–present
Website arilesser.com

Ari Benjamin Lesser (born November 9, 1986, Cleveland Heights, Ohio) is an American Orthodox Jewish rapper, singer, songwriter, and spoken word artist. Since 2010, he has released thirteen albums and has collaborated with artists like Gad Elbaz, Lipa Schmeltzer, Kosha Dillz, and C Lanzbom. Although his lyrics cover a wide range of topics, he is best known for his pro-Israel songs "Boycott Israel" and "Hamas".

Biography

Early life

Lesser grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. He is the son of Raymond Lesser and Susan Wolpert, who co-founded the humour publication Funny Times.[1] His family is culturally Jewish, and he had a bar mitzvah at a Reconstructionist synagogue.[2]

He attended the University of Oregon, where, despite being "fairly liberal" and minimally observant, he found himself shocked by the intense anti-Israel sentiments on campus, particularly in a class called "Israel-Palestine". Lesser stayed with the class, even after several Jewish friends dropped out, saying he "had to stay in it just to be a voice of reason". He ultimately graduated in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in political science.[2]

After graduation, Lesser worked as a musician in Los Angeles, where he became known in the "hippie jam band" scene. While working on his first album there, his financer, a Rastafarian selling Medical Marijuana, gave him a copy of Psalms. Lesser found that he related to King David as a songwriter and started rhyming the psalms; this ultimately led him to a deeper interest in Torah and his Jewish roots, and he became a baal teshuva.[2][3] He visited Israel on a Taglit-Birthright trip that he ended up extending to ten months, during which he studied at Yeshiva Temimei Darech in Safed and Mayanot in Jerusalem.[3][4]

Career

Lesser began his career in college, releasing music through Bandcamp, and Soundclick.[2][3] His song "Purim Poetry Slam", with lyrics comparing Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Haman, received over 74,000 views on YouTube.[3]

In October 2013, he released a music video for "Boycott Israel". Commissioned by pro-Israel campus advocacy group Here Is Israel, the song depicts Lesser responding to the BDS movement, arguing that those who boycott Israel should also boycott other countries engaged in human rights violations, which he proceeds to list. Lesser used information from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to research the song.[5][6] The video gained over 140,000 views in two months.[1]

The following month, he opened for Moshav at Congregation B'nai Jacob in Park Slope, Brooklyn.[1]

In the summer of 2014, Lesser teamed with the organization StandWithUs for the song "Hamas". The video received 52,500 views in three days.[7]

In 2016, he appeared in a promotional video for the Jewish outreach organization Oorah entitled "Got Five Bucks?", where he sings a song encouraging people to buy five-dollar tickets to the Oorah charity auction.

Personal life

Lesser lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife Miriam and son Samson.[2] He is a vegan.[1][3]

Discography

Albums

Singles and music videos

Guest appearances

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Alan Zeitlin (Dec 23, 2013). "Rapper Joins Fight Against BDS". The Jewish Week.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Jennifer Goldberg (July 29, 2015). "Ari Lesser, unorthodox rapper". Jewish News of Greater Phoenix. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Ben Bresky (April 14, 2013). "Acapella Jewish Hip-Hop with Ari Lesser" (radio interview). Arutz Sheva.
  4. ↑ Allie Freedman (Jan 15, 2014). "Rapping to God". The Jerusalem Post.
  5. ↑ Amanda Borschel-Dan (October 8, 2013). "'Boycott Israel', says Jewish rapper". The Times of Israel.
  6. ↑ Rachel Silberstein (October 9, 2013). "Jewish Rapper Urges Viewers to 'Boycott Israel'". Tablet.
  7. ↑ Renee Ghert-Zand (Sep 12, 2014). "New video makes Hamas take the rap". Retrieved 1 February 2016.
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