When Miri Ben-Ari – who has collaborated with rap artists like Kanye West – plays the violin, it doesn’t just produce beautiful music, but also brings attention to the various causes she champions.
The five-year Jersey City resident and Israeli native has gained a reputation in the music world as “The Hip-Hop Violinist” for putting her classical training to work, collaborating with rap artists such as West on the 2005 Grammy Award-winning song they wrote together, “Jesus Walks,” and creating her own hip-hop tinged instrumental hit, “Symphony of Brotherhood,” a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King.
On May 2, she took on the role of educator, announcing a new education campaign from her Gedenk (“remember” in Yiddish) Foundation, an organization she formed in 2006 to educate youth about anti-Semitism and the Jewish Holocaust.
Specifically, three PSA (public service announcement) videos will be shown on national television, including MTV. There will also be a billboard in Times Square.
The announcement falls in the same month as the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel, first settled by Holocaust survivors including members of Ben-Ari’s family, many of whom came from Poland and Russia. In a recent e-mail interview, Ben-Ari explained why she formed Gedenk.
“It is my duty to promote awareness and education to remember what happened in the past so it will never happen again,” Ben-Ari said.The Jewish Holocaust
The Holocaust is a term used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, as part of an intentional extermination program carried out by the National Socialist regime in Germany under Adolf Hitler. It also refers to other groups persecuted and killed under Hitler’s command, including gypsies known as “Roma,” Russian prisoners of war, ethnic Poles, other Slavic people, the disabled, homosexuals, and political and religious dissidents. With all the victims of Nazi persecution, the death toll is estimated to be nine to 11 million people. She never forgot
Ben-Ari said in an interview that it was on her 12th birthday that she found out the horrible truth about the Holocaust after years of silence from her family.
“My grandparents never spoke about the Holocaust except just one time, when I was 12 years old interviewing them for my school’s family tree project,” Ben-Ari said. “Their painful stories, among those of many others, made me realize that people, under certain circumstances, are capable of turning into inhumane monsters.”
Ben-Ari is still haunted by a story her grandmother told her about a girl who lived in her grandmother’s hometown in Poland.
“She told me about a young girl who played the violin just like me, but the Nazis then cut her hands off,” Ben-Ari said. “Sometimes, I think that is why I play the violin – for that little girl.”
With the Gedenk Foundation, Ben-Ari sees herself as more than just a musician.
“Absolutely, I love to use my music to promote a message that is bigger than me,” she said. Being Miri
The 29-year-old Ben-Ari learned to play violin starting at age 5, and by age 12, she had studied under the legendary violin master Isaac Stern.
She eventually made her way to New York in her early 20s after mandatory service in the Israeli Army, as well as performing in their string quartet.
Ben-Ari studied jazz in college and would struggle for a few years to carve out her musical career.
In 2001, Wyclef Jean brought her to the attention of the management of the Apollo Theater in Harlem, N.Y., where her debut performance earned her a standing ovation. In the seven years since, she has worked with every major music star from Janet Jackson to Jay-Z.
But when she is not performing, she retreats to Jersey City.
She said she loves it here because “it is so close to Manhattan and still feels outside the city.” For more on the Gedenk Foundation, visit www.gedenkfoundation.org. Comments on this article can be sent to rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.