I first met Avigdor Gavish when I was in the IDF. He was an officer in my unit, yet was always humble and with a steady smile on his face. Even though I knew his story – pretty much everyone knew it, as it had been on the news – you couldn’t really see it on him.
As a kid, Avigdor used to write songs. Just for himself. Music was in his family – so it’s no wonder that he and all his siblings were musical.
Avigdor grew up in Elon Moreh in Samaria. When he was in second grade, he used to travel to Kedumim via Shechem to learn music. (Back in the day, before the disastrous and bloody Oslo Accords, Jews could travel through Shechem.) His mother, z”l, pushed him and his siblings to learn music. She had played piano from a young age, and even after she got married she would play for four hours every day. Her father, Yitzhak Kanner, z”l, Avigdor’s grandfather, was a big fan of chazanut. He and his siblings used to sing together and even recorded themselves.
Avigdor’s father, z”l, was also very connected to music. His father, Avigdor’s grandfather, Shlomo Glatt, was a poet and even published poetry books. He was born in 1917, moved to Israel in 1934, was a Jewish guard in the British police force during the British Mandate period, and was among the founders of Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi and Kibbutz Beit Zera. Avigdor’s father was a fighter in Sayeret Shaked, the legendary special unit in the IDF in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. He was wounded during the War of Attrition which took place from 1967 to 1970. After his army service, he went to learn in Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav in Jerusalem and got involved with Gush Emunim. After living in Jerusalem for a few years after his wedding, he moved with his wife and their young kids to Elon Moreh to settle the beautiful hills of Judea and Samaria.
As Avigdor puts it, from his father, he and his siblings got the military part, and from his mother the music part. With such a family, it’s no wonder that Avigdor’s older brother, Avraham Gavish, z”l, decided to serve in the elite unit Sayeret Matkal and was an officer in the unit. Following his older brother, Avigdor enlisted in one of the top units in the IDF. It was just the beginning of his basic training, only a few weeks into his army service, when he was released home for Passover to celebrate the Seder with his family. He still barely knew how to operate a gun.
On March 28, 2002, Motzei Pesach, a terrorist broke into the Gavish family home in Elon Moreh and murdered Avigdor’s parents, his grandfather, and his older brother. David and Rachel Gavish, their son, Avraham, and Rachel’s father, Yitzhak Kanner, were all killed. Avigdor ran to the second floor to bring his gun that he just got from the army to his brother Avraham, because Avraham, being an officer in Sayeret Matkal, was far better trained. Avraham was already wounded from the terrorist’s shots yet he managed to shoot back when Avigdor gave him the gun. But the terrorist shot again and killed him.
Avraham’s wife, Na’ama Gavish Miller, survived the attack by hiding under a table with her daughter. She held her daughter’s mouth shut and waited for the terrorist to go up to the second floor. She then fled the house, saving her life and that of her daughter.
After the terror attack, Avigdor went back to his unit and became an officer. Then, after completing his army service, he started to learn industrial engineering at Ariel University in Samaria. It was after the end of his second year in college that he flew to India between semesters. (Many Israelis have their “big trip” to India after their army service.) This was the first time Avigdor was able to stop and to think. To connect to himself. To digest and reflect. The first time after several intensive years in the army and college that he was finally not mission-driven. The first time he could think about what he wanted to do in life.
In India, he started to play a lot and to write music. It was the first time he started to deal with the terror attack and what he had experienced during his army service. The trip to India changed his view on life. It was there that he started to learn the Torah of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.
When Avigdor returned from India, in parallel to his academic studies he started to learn music professionally with music tutors. After graduating, he realized that he was not interested in industrial engineering and decided to go back for another four years of college – this time in professional music studies. Four years at Mizmor Music School, which he says he really enjoyed. Toward the end of his music studies, he started to work on his first album, which was released in 2017.
I asked him what the music style of his first album was. He answered that he likes to call it “Samaria Soul.” The album is called “Yom Chadash,” which is also the name of the first single he released.
Avigdor grew up on classical chassidic music – Mordechai Ben David, Avraham Fried, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, etc. He used to wash the floor every erev Shabbat with their music in the background. But he was also very influenced by soul and blues music. His is not the typical “wedding music”; rather, his style is more reminiscent of Ishay Ribo.
The song “Yom Chadash” begins acoustic, but as it continues, you can hear trumpet and saxophone in the background, together with small touches of piano. But you should also listen to the words – to the optimistic message: “Lo hakol shachor, yesh gam lavan,” not everything is black, there’s also white. “Lo hakol poched, titzmach emunah,” not everything is fear, faith will grow. “Lo hakol chashuch, yesh ner katan,” not everything is dark, there is a small candle. “Yom Chadash, akum im lev simcha,” a new day, I’ll get up with a heart filled with joy. A big light shines on everything, he continues. I’ll forget pain, I’ll know things are good. “Yom echad od alaket peirot,” one day I’ll pick fruits. Not everything is lonely, there’s family; not everything is sad, there’s comfort. Not everything is unkempt; the ruin will be rebuilt.
Other songs I liked on the album are “Lehodot,” “Shabbat,” and “Lech Lecha.” You should listen to all nine songs and see what you like. The music is powerful and touching. While some of the songs might sound melancholy, many of them have very optimistic messages. Before even listening to the music, looking at the album cover gets you into the ambience. Avigdor says he was fully involved in creating the cover.
His second album is “Tzohar,” which has four songs. I liked the song “Kol Haneginah,” the words for which come from Likutei Maharan, a book by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.
The album “Shirim MeBayit” (“Songs from Home”) is actually the reason why I reached out to Avigdor. In this album, Avigdor, together with his siblings, sing the zemirot their family used to sing every Shabbat. When I worked on the “The Music of Shabbat” column for The Jewish Press a few weeks ago, I was thinking of mentioning this album in that column, but then decided to do a whole column about Avigdor’s music.
Avigdor had a dream to release an album where he could show the home that he had before the terror attack – the home that gave him education, tools for life, Torah, and good deeds. An album that would bring out the beauty of his family and their home, to fulfill the dream of his parents. Making “Shirim MeBayit” was the closing of a circle for Avigdor.
The songs in this album include “Mah Yedidut” and “Kah Ribon,” which are piyutim which many sing every Shabbat. The performance of these two songs by Avigdor and his siblings is beautiful and touching. Another beautiful song on the album is “Shimu Melachim,” with words from Sefer Shoftim (the Book of Judges). Avigdor says the album is very much influenced by the music of Avraham Fried and Mordechai Ben David.
Music is a tool of expression, as well as a tool of therapy and healing, Avigdor says. A few months ago, following the October 7 attacks, Avigdor released a single called “Yaldei HaMilchama Shel Kulanu” (“Our Children of the War”). He works with kids who lost their parents in the war and tries to help them through the Our Children, Our War Foundation. More information about the foundation can be found on their website, www.ourchildrenourwar.com. He is currently working on new songs about the situation in Israel and about October 7, which he plans to release soon.
What is your dream? I ask him.
To perform one day at Carnegie Hall, he says.
Avigdor Gavish’s music can be found on Bandcamp at https://avigdorg2.bandcamp.com as well as on Spotify and Apple Music.
