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Last update - 00:00 31/10/2008 Rockiah combines hard rock with the holy book By Raphael Ahren Tags: Israel news, ultra-Orthodox  After the rise of Matisyahu, whose music is a fusion of Bob Marley and Shlomo Carlebach, one shouldn't be too surprised about a religious rock band that combines Van Halen and Def Leppard with performers well-known in the Orthodox world. Yet David Yehuda, the front man of Rockiah - a band of three Anglos based in Ramat Beit Shemesh - can catch you off guard by being a self-defined Haredi who does not sound very ultra-Orthodox. "I am physically 40 years old, but I am mentally like 22, 23," the father of five said in a recent interview. "I just don't feel like I'm 40. I feel closer to being a teenager - I mean, I am responsible but inside I'm a little, mischievous kid sometimes. I like to make jokes, I like to yell. I embarrass my kids all the time by yelling out loud songs about them, and they always scream: Daddy, stop it!" While few music critics call Rockiah's music revolutionary, the musicians' way of putting Bible quotes and lines of prayer into easy-going, relaxed rock songs, some of which are even slightly reminiscent of punk bands, was well received at this month's 10th annual Shemeshfest, a local music festival where the band has performed the last three years. Advertisement "It's a combination of rock and roll and holy words," said band member Yehuda, who writes, sings and plays guitar. "Instead of sex, drugs and rock and roll it's uplifting, good rock and roll." On second thought, he added, "It has a little evil in it also actually." He said the music contained a "little blues and a few unorthodox chords. There's a lot of Nirvana in there, there's Van Halen in there - all kinds of influences which are not Hasidic-traditional." For the Jewish content, the band cites popular Orthodox performers such as Yosef Karduner and Mordechai Ben David. The band - whose name means sky in Hebrew besides alluding to rock music - recently released its debut album with the help of Shemesh Music, a local studio, music production company and record label. founded by Columbus, Ohio native David Epstein. The 23-year-old Epstein, who moved to Israel last year after studying at the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, plays bass and percussion on Rockiah's album, titled "Boneh Yerushalayim" (Builder of Jerusalem), and sits in as drummer at live concerts. Currently, the band is promoting its record and is putting a show together for Hanukkah. Rockiah's long-term goal is to get together "with other religious bands that play music in a similar vein as we do and take it to places where this sort of music is not necessarily heard so often," said Zvi Newman, the band's bassist. But in spite of singing only about religious themes, Rockiah does not want be seen as proselytizing. Newman, who moved from Washington, D.C. to Israel 15 years ago, says the band wants to give observant listeners another avenue to express their religion. As for the non-religious, he says, "this is a way to introduce them to a whole different side of Judaism, a side they hadn't seen before, a side that is very artistic." He added, "We find people who say: Wow, this stuff is cool, and this is Jewish? That's something to think about. We're not about to give Torah lessons, but if we can have this kind of effect, if we can help people connect to their Judaism, then why not?" Bookmark to del.icio.us   Off with your seat! Likud committee bumps Feiglin down to 36th on party ticket. Trotting for the Globe Israeli animated feature 'Waltz with Bashir' nominated for Golden Globe award.   1.   Intresting 17:10  |  Sarah M. 02/11/08   2.   Real Musicians 09:32  |  Meir 09/11/08   3.   Strikes the right chord 11:00  |  Sharon 09/11/08   4.   Rockiah Rocks 01:49  |  Dovid Y 12/12/08

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