If you’ve ever spent time in a Reform synagogue, you’re probably familiar with the three most commonly sung versions of Shema: Sulzer’s version (which is usually referred to as chanting), Debbie Friedman’s version (which leads into her English V’ahavta), and Tzvika Pik’s version.

Here’s a clip from Temple De Hirsch Sinai’s website of Tzvika Pik’s version. Take a moment to listen to it…you know that one, right? It’s a standard at most Reform synagogues, camps, and youth groups.

This week in Molly’s “Israeli Folk & Pop Music” class they talked about Tzvika Pik, and here are Molly’s Top 5 Mind-Blowing Facts About Tzvika Pik:

1. He’s a man…maybe just a revelation to me, but in my head Tzvika Pik was definitely a woman

2. He has his own reality TV show, called “The Maestro” (on channel 2, for all our classmates who attended Dr. Paul Frosh’s lecture)

3. He’s a judge for Kochav Nolad (literally means “A star is born”), the Israeli version of American Idol

4. He was apparently seen as a sex symbol in the 70s

5. This is what he looked like (…and this is what he looks like now)