A musical journey
Akiva the Believer is a Master Drummer who is reintroducing drumming back into Jewish prayer settings. He is the first ordained "Holy Drummer" since the Temple was destroyed thousands of years ago. He was ordained by the well loved Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi of Blessed Memory as the first Temple Drummer in 2000 years. Akiva plays at synagogues, retreats, drum circles and concerts around the world.
He began his career by playing as a teenager with Shlomo Carlebach, zt'l, the man who really launched the entire modern Jewish music genre. In the 60's, he invented a new instrumental style, the Electrified Tambourine, which you can see demonstrated here. Later he played with Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul & Mary. He has played with a who's who of Jewish luminaries including Craig Taubman, Debbie Friedman, Gad Elbaz, Yossi Piamenta, and Alberto Mizrachi among many others.
One of Akiva's projects is the amazing band "Indigo Musicians." This band includes Eran Polat, a rising guitar virtuoso playing in the Spanish and Flamenco styles and Sicanni, a flute player from Peru, featured on native and ethnic world instruments.
Akiva is a well known fixture on Long Island, leading many drum circles. He plays monthly at Temple Beth Emeth in Mt. Sinai, New York, accompanying the singing of his wife, Cantor Lisa Ann Wharton.
Akiva's first CD, "The Rhythm of G!d," is available for purchase on this site.
Akiva lives on a beach on Long Island. There he holds spiritual services where people come to sing, pray, dance and drum!
Hester produces fresh, organic produce from local farmers in New York. Even our spices are fresh. Just because pickling is a preservation process doesn’t mean you can use dried-up thyme or week-old asparagus that’s already a little spongy.
We want to give our customers crisp, crunchy and delicious pickled vegetables and fruits. Most of all, we want to expand people’s palates and prove that pickles don’t always come in a green or red variety.