From Jaffa Street to the World: The Story of Shlepping Nachas

It was just another quick WhatsApp break during lunch, checking the status tab to see if there was anything interesting to entertain me for a minute or two before getting back to work. My friend, screen name Shaaryashuv, who rarely posts statuses, had shared a few photos from a recent alternative Jewish music festival he attended with his kid, Sababafest. Their matching outfits were pretty cool, but one picture in particular caught my eye.

“Is Eli in America?” I texted him.

“Yes!” Shaaryashuv replied. “Actually, that’s Eli, his brother, and his father in the picture.”

Eli’s brother? Wait, Eli’s brother! At that exact moment, it hit me – I had finally found an “in” with Shlepping Nachas!

For a long time, I had been trying to schedule an interview with Shlepping Nachas. I had actually spoken to Eli earlier, telling him I’d love to feature him but wanted him to release a few more singles first. When I interview artists for this column, I want to make sure my readers can easily look them up on YouTube and listen to their music. “Let me know when you release a few more tracks, and I can write about you,” I told him. “Sure,” Eli agreed, “I’m planning to release more soon.” Eli is a very busy person – between his day job in education, his family, and his music, he has also spent countless days over the last few years serving as an IDF reservist.

A few days later, when I mentioned to my shul’s rabbi that I was thinking of writing about Eli, he said, “You should really talk to his brother too – he has a band!”

So, I reached out to Eli again. “I heard your brother has a band. Could you ask if he’d be open to an interview?”

“Sure,” Eli said, and sent over his brother’s number.

I didn’t even know his name yet, but I reached out anyway. His brother, whose name, it turns out, is Simchi, was completely on board: “Sure, let’s talk!” But making it happen proved tricky. Every time we tried to coordinate, they were either performing or recording. On top of that, the fact that they live in Israel created a time-zone barrier that made scheduling even more complex. Every few months we’d exchange messages, but our schedules just wouldn’t align.

And then came Shaaryashuv’s status.

“Hi Simchi! Are you in America?” I messaged.

“Yes!” Simchi replied. “Let’s talk!”

“When?” I asked.

“Tonight!”

“Great, let’s talk right after I finish work.”

And that is how I finally got to sit down and chat with Shlepping Nachas over a video call.

Talking to Shlepping Nachas was a blast. They’re cool, easygoing guys who genuinely enjoy a good brew. During our conversation, I couldn't help but notice the beer bottles in their hands and on the table – in fact, good vibes seem to be their defining characteristic. Honestly, I regretted that we were only talking over a video call instead of sitting down over a beer to chat and maybe even jam.

They take the music very seriously, but don’t take themselves too seriously.

Even their initial meeting with Dov Shurin to work on their debut album started over a good beer before any music was discussed. We’ll get to that shortly.

They came to Israel to explore, study Judaism, and search for spirituality and a connection to G-d. Some of them entered yeshiva, while others came to do their own research. Along the journey, they bumped into each other, hit it off, and started making music.

They began playing on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem for pocket change. But it was about more than just forming a band – it was about creating a whole world. They never actually planned to build a band – it just happened organically, as an evolution. They simply wanted to play together.

For a few weeks, it became an everyday routine: They would perform on the street as passersby enjoyed their music and dropped in coins. They made about 148 shekels a night – just enough to buy pizza for the chevra.

When they finally recorded their first song, “Kudsha Brich Hu,” they paid the studio with a bag full of cash – literally filled with the shekel coins they had collected on Jaffa Street.

The core crew of Shlepping Nachas consists of Simchi, Skilly, Trak, and Diddy.

They first came together around Lag Ba’Omer, but their real break came a few months later, around Sukkot. Eli’s friend, Freddy, was organizing Ushpizin Fest at the iconic Beit Alliance in Jerusalem. Eli saw an opportunity and pushed Freddy to give his brother Simchi’s new band a shot on stage.

Freddy was skeptical. “Are you guys going to get up there and just make noise, or do you actually have a tight, well-rehearsed set?” he asked. “Are you serious, or just messing around?”

In the end, Freddy decided to give them a chance – with a safety net. To minimize the risk, he slotted them as the festival’s opening act. That way, if they turned out to be a mess, it would happen early, before the crowd had fully gathered. But the guys took the stage and delivered a fantastic performance.

Adding to the charm of their debut, the festival flyer didn’t even spell out their full name – it just listed them as “S-Nachat.” As it turned out, Freddy was paying for the flyer artwork per letter and wanted to save a few shekels!

“So, how did you actually get the name?” I asked Simchi.

After weeks and months of playing on the street, people kept stopping them, asking for their name, where they could stream their tracks, or how to buy a CD. That was the moment they realized: It was time to get serious and pick a name.

Searching for inspiration, “Little Trak” looked up to the sky, recalled a famous quote from Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, and the idea struck him: Shlepping Nachas.

Their next major show was during Chanukah. The venue was packed to capacity, with the crowd overflowing into the street. By Purim, they were headlining at the Purim Festival in Bat Ayin – which ended up being their last live performance before the world shut down for Covid-19. Back then, they were still just a crew of friends jamming together rather than an established band; they had built a local scene, but not yet an official presence.

Then came a string of serendipitous moments, starting with a song called “Tov Tov” and a man named Nachman Bowmel.

The backstory of “Tov Tov” sounds like a chassidic tale. It all began late one night at a cafe in Medzhibuzh, Ukraine. A few friends of the band were visiting when they noticed a guy sitting by himself, looking visibly anxious, nervous, and sad.

They walked up to him. “What’s up, my brother? Is everything okay?”

“I wrote a song about the Baal Shem Tov – Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov HaKadosh,” the guy confessed, looking down. “I’m just really down because I’m terrified no one is ever going to hear it.”

“How does the song go?” they asked.

Right there in the middle of the night, he started singing: “Tov, tov, Baal She Tov...”

The guys loved it. When they returned to their yeshiva in Jerusalem, they immediately ran to the two guys known for always holding guitars – Simchi and Skilly. “Yo! We have this insane song from Medzhibuzh – you have to hear this!”

Simchi and Skilly fell in love with the tune and began playing it everywhere. One day, while busking on Jaffa Street, they got into a zone and played “Tov Tov” continuously for 15 minutes straight.

Opposite them, a warm and friendly chasid named Nachman Bowmel was standing on a balcony with his daughter, listening attentively. Inspired by the vibe, Nachman walked down to the street and said, “Listen, I have a friend who’s a famous singer – Pinny Einhorn. He has to record this song with you guys!”

At the time, the band wasn’t even thinking about studio recordings, but Bowmel took their number. Within two weeks, they got the call: “Come down to Yitzy Berry’s studio!”

That track became their foot in the door of the professional Jewish music world. Released on Pinny Einhorn’s YouTube channel, it officially featured Shlepping Nachas. Shortly after a memorable Rosh Hashanah in Uman, the crew – along with Einhorn and close friends – traveled back to where it all began, in Medzhibuzh, to film the official music video for “Tov Tov.”

When the guys walked into Berry’s studio to settle their share of the recording costs, they brought along their usual form of payment: that very same bag stuffed with shekel coins collected on Jaffa Street.

That experience opened their eyes to what was possible. Having tasted the studio experience with Einhorn, they were ready to release a standalone single of their own – which brought them to “Kudsha Brich Hu.”

Years earlier, Little Trak had heard Dov Shurin perform “Kudsha Brich Hu” live and fell in love with the melody, and it became a staple of the group’s street jams.

Then, fate stepped in again. Trak randomly bumped into Dov Shurin at a grocery store in Gush Etzion. He walked up to Shurin and mentioned how much he loved the song and how often they played it. Shurin shared that he used to perform it at shows, but had never actually recorded it in a studio. Trak got his number, and soon after, the band called him to ask for his blessing to record their own version.

Shurin invited them over. True to Shlepping Nachas style, they sat down over a few beers, connected, and Shurin enthusiastically gave them the green light. The band took his classic tune, gave it their signature reggae twist, and turned it into their official debut single and breakout hit.

Skilly is the lead singer. Simchi handles rhythm guitar and bass, Diddy plays bass, and Little Trak is on percussion.

While they might look like laid-back hippies, don’t let the relaxed vibe fool you – they take their music deeply seriously (even if they don’t take themselves too seriously at all). They have a precise vision for every track, handling initial recordings in Simchi’s home studio before polishing everything to perfection in high-end professional studios.

Their sound is a unique bridge between mainstream Jewish music and the raw energy of the alternative scene. Simchi grew up surrounded by classic alternative Jewish artists – Achrit HaYamim, Adi Ran, Yosef Karduner, DYB, Dov Shurin, and Moshav Band. The rest of the crew was raised on a rich mix of the Piamenta Brothers, Lipa Schmeltzer, Chaim Dovid, and iconic jam bands like the Grateful Dead and Phish.

In fact, musical heritage runs deep in the band. Simchi’s father is Rabbi Shmuel Skaist, an American Orthodox rabbi, speaker, and musician who famously founded Gefilte Fish in the 90s, following the Grateful Dead and Phish on tour to spread the joy of Shabbat with Jewish concertgoers. Simchi grew up in a house filled with guitars, picking up chords from his father at an early age.

Little Trak’s musical roots are just as colorful. Raised in Far Rockaway, he grew up singing along to the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, country music, and Avraham Fried. (Whenever his family sang Shir HaMa’alot at the Shabbat table, they tuned it to the melody of “Yellow Submarine”!). He was always the guy tapping rhythms on the table.

His journey to percussion was pure fate. One day, his friend Diddy got booked for a Lag BaOmer gig on a boat in Tiberias and hired Little Trak to play percussion. Before the gig, Trak headed up to Meron to pitch a tent – right next to Simchi and Skilly, who had their guitars out. Trak had literally just bought his first drum for the upcoming boat gig. That Meron encounter connected the dots, and soon they were all jamming together back in Jerusalem. Self-taught on percussion, Trak eventually taught himself to play a full drum set.

Meanwhile, Diddy, who hails from Lakewood, NJ, got his start in high school. One day around Chanukah, he walked past a guitar class in his yeshiva, got hooked by the sound, picked up a spare guitar, and taught himself using another student’s homework sheet. He started on acoustic, mastered electric guitar and bass, and eventually shifted to electric guitar as Shlepping Nachas started booking bigger gigs.

When it comes to songwriting, the process is entirely collaborative. As they see it, the inspiration comes directly from Above – they just channel it.

Take their recently released track “Ma Ashiv” from Hallel. Skilly originally received a call from a singer who wanted to reimagine the Hallel prayer with fresh melodies. Skilly sat down, and the tune for “Ma Ashiv” simply poured out of him. Though that initial collaboration fell through, the demo sat in the Shlepping Nachas archives for two years until they decided it was time to bring it to life.

Wanting the best reggae sound in Israel, Simchi reached out to Beno Handler, a legendary producer, bassist for Berry Sakharof, and producer for Yossi Banai. After laying down the foundation in their home studio, they finished the track with Handler. The result was exactly what they had dreamed of.

Today, Shlepping Nachas is a powerhouse. They’ve built massive momentum, playing private events across the globe – from Miami to Switzerland. Right now, they are hard at work on a major new project featuring leading Israeli musicians, scheduled to drop right before Rosh Hashanah.

Looking back at how it all started – from collecting shekel coins on Jaffa Street to recording with industry legends and flying off to perform around the world – it’s clear that Shlepping Nachas is more than just a band with a cool reggae twist. They represent a fresh, unfiltered spark in Jewish music, driven by pure heart, deep spirituality, and a whole lot of good vibes. Sitting down with them (even if only over a video call rather than a cold beer) was a reminder of what happens when real passion meets genuine friendship. They might be “shlepping,” but the joy and inspiration they deliver are completely effortless.

Keep an eye out for their upcoming Rosh Hashanah release – because if their past journey is any indicator, we’re all in for something truly special.