Inside the unexpected cultural renaissance happening in Beit Shemesh

“Did they play 'Achashverosh”? she asked, referring to the 1985 Purim parody of “Rock Me Amadeus” by Falco. When I responded affirmatively, she was genuinely disappointed that she had missed the event.

Over four decades, Solomon released 42 albums full of his unique musical parodies intended to teach people about their Jewish heritage and inspire them to get closer to God.

An indication of how far the group had become part of mainstream US culture by the early ’90s, Shlock Rock was even the subject of a question in the 1993 All-American edition of the Trivial Pursuit game: “What style of music did the Jewish group Shlock Rock adapt in the song, ‘Yo Yo Yarmulke’?” The answer is rap.

The venue for the concert, as well as for many other cultural events in Beit Shemesh, tucked away in a corner of old Beit Shemesh, is the city’s cultural gem, the Beit Shemesh Heichal Hatarbut.

Now, over five years since its construction, the Beit Shemesh 537-seat auditorium has become an oasis of song, music, and theater for residents of the city and surrounding areas, who previously had to travel to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem to enjoy first runs of plays and concerts.

Numerous dramatic productions from the Gesher Theatre, the Cameri Theatre, the Habima National Theatre, the Beit Lessin Theatre, the Haifa Theatre, and others have graced the cultural hall’s stage.

Inside, the building is bright and sparkling, with excellent sightlines, comfortable seats, clear sound, and colorful, attractive lighting. There is a snack bar on the first floor, and unlike some other public places in the city, it is clean and well-maintained.

Miri Shalem, manager of Heichal Hatarbut, notes that approximately 170 events are held there throughout the year. While 70% of the audience is Beit Shemesh-based, many events attract audiences from throughout the region, notably Mevasseret Zion, Gush Ezion, and Modi’in.

Over the past six weeks, my wife and I have attended an eclectic selection of events, experiencing firsthand the wide variety of cultural programs with broad appeal available to Beit Shemesh residents and visitors.

In early December, we enjoyed a nostalgic performance celebrating the music of Elton John, featuring American-Israeli vocalist Michael Harpaz, a former member of the group Hi-Five. A large percentage of the audience was English-speaking, and while no one would mistake Harpaz for Elton John – though his spectacles were quite eye-catching and reminiscent of the real rock star’s eyewear – the performance was enthusiastic, entertaining, and enjoyable, as the band played a wide assortment of Elton John’s hits, which included “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Crocodile Rock,” “Daniel,” and “Candle in the Wind.”

Toward the end of the month, we ventured out on a rainy Saturday evening for the aforementioned 40th anniversary kickoff concert of Shlock Rock. For a near-capacity crowd, Solomon, together with Eitan G (known as “the Jewish Rapper”), performed such crowd pleasers as “Abarbanel,” based on the Beach Boys’ hit “Barbara Ann”; “Rashi,” a takeoff on the 1967 hit by The Association; “Hashem Is One,” taken from the 1976 standard “You’re Still the One” by Orleans; and one of my personal favorites, “Under the Chuppah,” based on the 1964 Drifters classic “Under the Boardwalk.”

Jewish music icon Rabbi Shlomo Katz made a surprise guest appearance, singing several songs together with Solomon. Solomon and his family made aliyah to Beit Shemesh in 1996, and many of his most devoted fans live in the area.

While the audience was mainly comprised of English speakers with a similar demographic to those who had attended the Elton John evening, their enthusiasm was far greater, as they had come to hear the soundtrack of their youth. Many were already familiar with Shlock Rock from performances in their former communities around the world and were delighted to have the opportunity to hear the band in Israel.

Before the music began, a video was screened featuring congratulatory messages from Hollywood filmmaker Saul Blinkoff, comic Elon Gold, and Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz, “Weird Al” Yankovic’s drummer and historian. Throughout the evening, images from Solomon’s lengthy career were displayed on a large screen, while outside in the lobby, Shlock Rock CDs were on sale, giving the evening even more of a retro vibe.

I noticed numerous audience members singing along to almost every song, and several women in our row were squealing in delight and dancing to the music as Solomon pounded the keyboard, backed up by energetic guitarists, saxophone players, and a drummer. “I grew up on this music,” said one audience member happily.

When Solomon played “Prayer Jumping,” a parody of the 1997 hit “Tub Thumping” by Chumbawamba and reached the chorus, “I sit right down and say ‘Kriyat Shema,’ then I get up and do the Amidah,” many in the crowd stood up and swayed to the tune, mimicking the movements made during the recitation of the prayer.

Solomon’s recipe for parody success is simple. “The song has to be extremely popular where you hear it, and you know it immediately, because otherwise, you might as well write your own song. It is instant gratification,” he said.

Just three days later, we returned yet again to Heichal Hatarbut, this time with a decidedly native Israeli audience to see the play Freeing Nechama, starring Tzipi Shavit, the Israeli actress, comedian, and entertainer, who has been described by the media as the “First lady of Israeli entertainment.” In my Anglo ignorance, I was unaware of her fame, but when she first appeared onstage, the audience gave her a thunderous ovation.

The play was a mixture of humor and pathos, as it told the story of four women hospitalized in an internal medicine ward who are having difficulty sleeping because of a fifth, Nechama Cohen, who makes noise at night. When all hope of moving her to another room is lost, one of the others proposes a somewhat controversial solution. After a stormy, emotionally charged moral debate, the four fall asleep and wake up in the morning to a surprising piece of news.

Several weeks earlier, we attended a decidedly more serious drama about a couple’s unhappy marriage, titled Permitted to All Men, from the Beersheba Theatre. The play focuses on a wealthy husband’s refusal to grant his wife a religious divorce (get) and her desperate efforts to obtain freedom through the religious courts. The audience sat silently, absorbed in the gravity of the circumstances.

We attended the cultural center again on January 1 to welcome legendary singer Ehud Banai to Beit Shemesh. He strode about the stage comfortably and deliberately, and, together with his band, provided an enthralling performance, playing a mixture of his greatest hits, along with more contemporary songs. The show drew a wide variety of people from Beit Shemesh and the surrounding area.

The Beit Shemesh Heichal Hatarbut has attracted growing interest in its five years of existence, and its multilingual appeal is reflected in its publicity materials, which are printed in Hebrew, English, and Russian.

Local residents, used to the sometimes rough-and-tumble goings-on in the town’s city hall just up the street, can find refuge in the enjoyable events held at the cultural center.

Heichal Hatarbut Beit Shemesh provides escapism at its best.