Sometimes it’s the unsung, uncelebrated deeds that boost a singer into the limelight. Who helped advance these popular entertainers with an unforgettable yet enduring gesture?

Yoeli Dikman, Conductor and Arranger

I owe a huge thank you to composer and choir producer, Reb Chaim Banet. When I was very early on in my career, he let me into his studio to learn up close about the world of recording and once even agreed to let me borrow the most expensive microphone in his studio, which we used to record “Chavivin Alai,” on Yosef Chaim Shwekey’s second album.

Hershy Rottenberg, Composer

I’m surrounded by a great circle of kindness, baruch Hashem, and I can think of several people who gave me the confidence to move forward in music. My friend, Moishy Damen, son of Belz composer Rabbi Yirmiyah Damen, who is a popular wedding singer here in Antwerp and around the world, pushed me to play and sing at local simchahs. Another good friend is pianist Duvid Fink. We sit together to go over my compositions and sometimes fine-tune them. My producer, Yosef Honig, is also a friend, and it’s his guidance which brings out the best in every song.

Eli Laufer, Composer and Singer

Sitting in shul one week when I was around 15 years old, I was suddenly struck by these amazing words in the haftarah: “Kol tzamei lechu lamayim… shimu utechi nafshechem — Whoever is thirsty go to water… listen and your soul will be revived” (Yeshayahu 55:1-3). The reference is to Torah, and I composed the song on the spot. At that time, I also composed “Im tachaneh alai machaneh, lo, lo, lo, yirah libi,” and “He’vai mekabel, mekabel es kol ha’adam, besever panim yafos es kol ha’adam… asei torascha keva. Emor me’at ve’asei harbeh.” Shortly after that, Yeedle Werdyger was in Eretz Yisrael working on a new album with my father [composer and arranger Moshe Laufer]. My father told him about my songs, and he was willing to buy them even though I was just a kid. That began everything for me.

Shloime Cohen, Singer

When I was a bochur learning in the Seret-Vizhnitz yeshivah in Haifa, my chavrusa was Ruvi Banet, Reb Chaim Banet’s son. He once heard me sing and said, “Come home with me, I want my father to hear you.” I sang some solos on Reb Chaim’s albums, the first one being “Machnisei Rachamim,” and he became my “rebbi” in music. After I married, it was Chaim Banet who introduced me to Mona Rosenblum and Yuval Stupel. Mona encouraged me to bring out an album, but I had no funds. He said, “So I’ll bring it out.” Can such a kindness ever be forgotten?

 (Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 759)