Shloime Gertner (Hebrew: שלמה גרטנר) is a British HasidicJewish singer from London, England. He achieved international celebrity with his first album, Nissim (Miracles) in 2007. He often performs at Jewish weddings, and in concert and benefit performances with other top-billed Jewish singers.
Gertner was born to a Hasidic Jewish family in the Hendon neighbourhood of London.[1] He is married with six children.[2] His second daughter, Malka, is developmentally disabled; Gertner dedicated the song "Kodesh" ("Holy") on his debut album to her.[2][3]
In 2007 Gertner released his first solo album, Nissim, featuring songs composed by Yossi Green, Pinky Weber, Eli Laufer, and other top Jewish composers.[11]
In February 2008, a large amount of publicity was generated for a concert of 9 March at Madison Square Garden's WaMu Theater in New York City featuring Lipa Schmeltzer and Gertner, under the playbill "The Big Event". On 20 February, a full-page notice of a rabbinical ban was printed in the Hamodia newspaper. The notice stated that it was "a serious prohibition to attend or perform" at the concert which would lead to "ribaldry and lightheadedness" and added that it was "forbidden to hire these singers to sing at any party, celebration or charity event".[12][13][14] Gertner and Schmeltzer backed out of the concert within days, after 3,000 tickets had been sold.[12][15]
Shortly after the cancellation of "The Big Event", promoters began planning another concert with the scaled-down name "The Event", which went off without controversy before a sell-out crowd[16] at Madison Square Garden's WaMu Theater on 1 March 2009.[17][18] Later the same year, Aderet Records released a double CD and DVD of "The Event".[19]
Gertner's second solo album, Say Asay, was released in 2010.[5] This was followed by two more solo albums, Vehiskin (2012) and Imagine (2013). The latter album features songs in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish.[20] In 2014 Gertner collaborated with Dudi Kalish on the album Dovid V'Shloime (Dovid and Shloime), an all-Yiddish production.[21]
Gertner is the co-founder of Shmeichel (Yiddish for "Smile"), a "cheer-up squad" consisting of Gertner and his friends who visit and entertain sick adults and children in the London area.[2]
^Resnick, Elliot (5 March 2008). "Concert Ban Sounds Sour Note For Some". The Jewish Press. Two weeks after 33 rabbis banned a concert that was to feature chassidic singers Lipa Schmeltzer and Shloime Gertner, confusion and rumor continue to percolate.
^Aron, Suri (4 March 2009). "Lipa Schmeltzer's Big Event a Big Success". The Jewish Press. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2014. He was of course referring to the Lipa concert that was banned by certain gedolim. This year, the event made it through, with the permission and brachos from various gedolim.
