Yaroslav small and his new girlfriend. Yaroslav Maly: As soon as we start to take some things seriously, we have a huge number of problems

More precisely, a small part of them, unexpectedly for dad, came to congratulate him on a solo concert. As it turned out later, there are already eight of his offspring living in the world, which Yarik diligently keeps silent about. And, judging by the latest data, the artist is not going to stop there.

Very little is known about the singer's personal life, although he assures that the answers to all questions can be found in his songs. Each album is a piece of the story of his life.

Yarik had several wives and, it seems, each tried to tie him to her in the old proven way - with children. But Small is not the kind of person who agrees with conventions. Therefore, when his last official wife gave birth to a daughter, he still filed for divorce a couple of months after this pleasant event. What to do - love in the life of creative people has a special place. If it is not, then there is no inspiration.

By the way, the singer manifests himself as a caring and attentive father. He does not shy away from responsibility and provides for his children. The only pity is that he does not like to brag about their successes and achievements.

The children of Yaroslav the Small, Luka, Eva and Solomon (what names!), ended up on solo concert father is no coincidence. True, no one thought that this fact would lead Yarik into such confusion. Of course, he could not evade the curious fans who filmed the happy dad on and off stage. It is important that the guys prepared not only flowers for him, but also congratulations. Nice reminder of yourself, right?

They danced backstage, periodically ran out to the dance floor of the fan zone and, according to others, sang all the songs that their father performed that evening.

Unfortunately, we could not find out anything about the other five guys. Still privacy, Yaroslav Maly guards with enviable stubbornness.

That is why, once again, we turn to you, our beloved readers. If you know the names of the children, what they do and how they live, share this information with us and everyone else. Comments are provided for this case.

Nature rewarded him generously. The growth of Yaroslav Maly is so significant that next to him on the stage, Philip Kirkorov himself seems to be short. But the surname seems to have been specially given so that the leader of the two groups - "Tokyo" and "Machete" - does not become arrogant, remembering spiritual development.

origins

A citizen of Ukraine, a future soloist, was born in the Dnepropetrovsk region (Krivoy Rog). Date of birth - 02/11/1973. Vocal ability the music teacher I.S. Beer was the first to discover, almost by force sending the boy to music school, where he studied in the balalaika class. Then in Kyiv he entered the music school at the conductor's department. From the third year he was expelled, and Yaroslav Maly, whose biography has changed dramatically, went to conquer the Russian capital.

It was 1991. With him were only his talent and ambition. Before the creation of the Tokyo group, 10 years will pass, filled with composing music, parties and, unfortunately, drugs. Two people during these years played a decisive role in his life: Gosha Kutsenko and Natalya Simakova.

Gosha Kutsenko, after listening to the song "Indira Gandhi", said that this is worth doing. He agreed to participate in his video without payment, and did everything so that the musician began a relationship with MTV.

The actress and singer was friendly with Ilya Lagutenko, appearing in his studio to record her tracks. The growth of Yaroslav Maly (204 cm) and his talent impressed the girl. A romance began between them. For eight years (2005-2013) they were husband and wife. A few months after the birth of their daughter Michelle, the couple divorced. But did Natalia succeed in something for which the musician will always be grateful? - get him off drugs.

Success

In 2002, together with bass guitarist Demyan Kurchenko, the composer and musician created the Tokyo group, which has nothing to do with the Japanese capital. "Currents" is energy, constant forward movement. The compositions of the collective are love: for a woman, friends, country. Their video clip "Tenderness" has collected more than 15 million views on the Internet.

Films by F. Bondarchuk "Ninth Company", " inhabited island", R. Gigineishvili's comedy "Heat" added popularity to the group, thanks to the amazing soundtracks. The song "When you cry" was dedicated to the main woman at that time in the life of a musician - N. Simakova.

After the appearance of the group on the television screen, especially at the "Christmas Meetings" by A. Pugacheva, they began to speak openly about the growth of Yaroslav Maly: "Two meters of beauty and talent."

Label "Machete"

In 2010, the composer and musician created his own production center "Machete Records", launching three more projects: Machete, Siberia, Mishka. In two of them - "Tokyo" and "Machete", the author remains a soloist, having fallen in love with the audience due to his charismatic appearance, recognizable timbre and amazing emotionality. The groups are distinguished by different musical material, which has accumulated quite a lot over the years of creativity.

After the divorce, the contract with Siberia was terminated. This is the whole Yaroslav Maly. His wife (N. Simakova) was the soloist of the group, and he did not want to bind her with obligations.

"Tokyo" is actively touring abroad, having big success. "Machete" for a long time successfully performed in Russia, but a year and a half ago the situation changed.

Homecoming

Before historical events in Ukraine, Maly bought an apartment in Kyiv. He accepted the events on the Maidan, and even performed there with his team. Subsequently, he began to feel misunderstanding with former colleagues on Russian show business, which is connected with the media's incorrect presentation of events in their historical homeland. Together with a new wife named Rachel, who became the director of his projects, he moved to Ukraine.

Having four children from previous wives, he brings up four more with Rachel, born before they met. Father of many children does not separate children into their own and others. The spiritual growth of Yaroslav Maly is connected with his appeal to the religion of his ancestors. He has Jewish name- Moshe Pinchas, he reads the Torah, attends the synagogue and honors Religious holidays and traditions.

His latest disc is dedicated to the relations between Ukraine and Russia "War and Peace". I would like to believe that peace will definitely come, and Yaroslav Maly will speak to admirers of his talent from Russia more than once.

When Yaroslav Mal th, the lead singer of the Tokyo and Machete groups, and his wife Rachel agreed to an interview, I was very surprised, because they never talk about their personal lives, and even more so about children. Until now, the press only knew that Yaroslav had four children from ex-wives and four children of Rachel, who also became his children.

We met at the synagogue at 9 o'clock in the morning. All morning I could not collect my thoughts - I was very worried. First of all, because I wanted to meet Yaroslav the father - I know Yaroslav the musician from his performances: these are almost the only concerts after which you leave with a feeling of love and light inside. Unusual warmth comes from texts, music ... and in general - from Yaroslav himself.

During our conversation, I found myself thinking that the typical relationship "I am a father - you are a child: I teach - you listen" is embodied in something amazing here. Yaroslav and Rachel complement each other so much and talk about their children in such a way that it immediately becomes clear what love is.

- Yaroslav, do your children go to your concerts?

Yaroslav: Yes, of course, our children perform with us.

Rachel: And then we go and look at those who they like (laughs - author).

- And what performers do they like?

Yaroslav: Well, now, for example, we are going to go to Hurts. So let's all go together.

- I asked about the concerts, because I saw only one news that your children were at your concert.

Yaroslav: Oh, by the way, you are somehow miraculously the first to take pictures of us with children. I mean - in this form, when we came with the family and give interviews - this is the first time.

Rachel: We've been offered before, but...

Yaroslav: Somehow Rachel liked you.

- It's nice! Yaroslav, tell me, what is it like to be such a father of many children?

Yaroslav: We don't have any dramatic stories. Each of our children is ours common child. The fate of each of us is ours common destiny. Therefore, we do not share our children, all of them are really ours. We love them very much.

For example, Rachel was on the phone with my daughter for an hour and a half yesterday. Between them - excellent contact. I know less than Rachel what is happening to her.

Vitalik (Yaroslav's son - author), for example, calls only Rachel. Because he knows - dad can ask questions (laughs - author).

- What feelings did you have when you found out that you would have your first child?

Yaroslav: You know, with the advent of Rachel, 4 children appeared in my life at once. Straightaway! And I can say that, of course, I did not expect this. But it's so strong... I can't explain it, but I see myself in them - they really look like me. Literally yesterday there was a situation: we came to the synagogue, I sat down behind a column, opened the Torah, started to teach... And I heard the conversation of two grandfathers: “Look, what good children this man has - they themselves are beautiful and their names are beautiful. And a copy of the pope - they don’t look like a mother at all! (laughing - auth.).

I believe that, in addition to physical connections, there is a spiritual connection. And we feel it very well.

In general, we feel each other so much - you can’t even imagine. If something happens to us with some difficulties, we immediately see it in our children. Here we have to face something, resolve something, overcome some obstacles, and we see that they are at one with us. We never ask them for anything. We very rarely say that this is the situation and you need to be careful. What you need to pray to the Almighty, ask him to help us.

Rachel: This is because together with them we get to know this world, God. Together with them, we sit down every Saturday on Shabbat, a family day, and read stories about people, about their qualities, where it is clear what is good and what is bad. And we discuss it, and then the whole week everyone goes about their own business. Saturday is a special day when we comprehend the world together with children. These days we come to understand who we are, what we want to do.

- In your cultural tradition it is customary to treat children up to a certain age as celestials, when, in principle, everything is allowed to them - is this so?

Yaroslav: We do not have such a tradition. It's just that until the age of 3, some people do not make comments to children, and then already underway some kind of adjustment. But, in principle, we were just really lucky with the children. It’s just that they chose us, I don’t know why - apparently, to make it easier for us (smiles - author).

That is, they do not bother us at all, and they are not deities for us, in any case, they are just our kind of partners in this life: we learn something from them, they learn something from us. We have a common scale of values. And there is no violence in this - we absolutely calmly talk on different topics and never force them to do anything. Just how we feel is how we talk about it with them. And then we realize that they feel the same way. This is an amazing moment, because sometimes children speak to us in such a way that we understand that this is the ruin of the situation that we had.

So you don't have to raise kids?

Rachel: They need to be corrected. 🙂 And our faith helps us a lot. First of all, it is respect for parents. What is respect? It's just trust. That is, not just stupid obedience, but precisely trust in the opinion of your parents, because they have already lived something. Our faith teaches children to treat their parents properly.

Yaroslav: We do not insist, we do not impose - we give them freedom in their choice. But at the same time, we adjust very carefully so that later it does not affect their psyche. We take great care of them, and they take great care of us.

Rachel: Dad talks to them. In any situation, they close in the office - and talk.

Yaroslav: They love to travel with me. We are always going somewhere, the children always talk to me. They have the whole world inside - in general, cool! And we share this world with each other.

- Do they go on tour with you?

Yaroslav: Yes, sometimes we take them with us.

- And on the recording of songs?

Yaroslav: Yes, and at the rehearsal. They are with us everywhere. The two of us don’t go anywhere at all - someone else always goes with us.

- I saw someone helping you, do you have a nanny?

Rachel: Yes, there is a nanny, of course. But, this is not education - this is care.

- How long has your nanny been with you? I'm asking because I recently got a nanny too, and I was painfully worried about this fact, because I'm kind of a bad mother, since I leave my child and want to work.

Rachel: Well, firstly, a nanny must be there so that mom feels good. Because the state of the mother is directly transmitted to the child. When the mother is tired, the child will also be irritable. It's verified! 🙂

When a nanny appears, it is not necessary to leave the house immediately. It is better to take a nanny just when you are still at home. And you can see this person, correct somehow. After all, in any case, the nanny cannot justify all expectations at once. But the most important thing is that she should be treated as an assistant, because even if there are feelings between the child and the nanny, this is not mother's love. She is only a child with a mother. Even if mom is very busy.

- How is your typical day? A normal working day when everyone woke up and went somewhere?

Yaroslav: We wake up at 6 am. Rachel prepares the children for transportation to school, I go to the synagogue for prayer, then we meet after prayer at home. We hang out there, do some business, sometimes I manage to make music if there are no rehearsals or some kind of meetings. Then I go to a rehearsal, and Rachel does things related to business, contacts, negotiations, concerts. On her great amount everything hangs, besides the fact that she is a mother. Then I arrive, and we all meet together again, the children are just returning, we eat together, then we go to the synagogue together. In the evening we have time to play together, sometimes I have time to make music - a little bit. 🙂 They also take part in this process, and then we pass out instantly. 🙂

- Is it scary to be a father?

Yaroslav: Not scary at all!

- Have you ever been afraid?

Yaroslav: No, it's generally a huge buzz. It is impossible to explain what happens when you have contact with a child. It's fantastic and not scary at all - it's absolute happiness. And we want to have as many children as possible.

- What is the role of the father? What is the most obligatory thing a father should pass on to his children?

Yaroslav: The father just has to be a kind and worthy person. Sometimes strict, but very rarely. Basically, mom should be strict. It seems to me that we are doing just that. Our mother is the general in the house. 🙂 Really, dad is there, on the street, and somewhere else in charge. And at home everyone is guided by their mother.

It is important that children are good people. And this must be shown by example. After all, you grow up with your children. You understand that you can not give up slack, because they look at you. You have to be more organized, you have to be clearer. Well, because they follow your example. They do love you. So they watch what and how you do. And, of course, this is a mutual process of growth.

- How is your family? I understand there are older children. Do they choose their own path? Or are you trying to guide them in some way?

Yaroslav: We help them with this. This is exactly what Rachel does with us. As, in principle, and everyone else. 🙂 I say, you should have interviewed her - she would have told you everything!

Rachel always has some ideas and she shares them with our children, and then they think that these are their own ideas! Somehow, miraculously, she does it all. But we never insist on anything. We always have our opinion, it is 100% clear for us, and we very rarely change it, because we are very rarely wrong, very. 🙂 But in general, of course, they are adult guys, this is their life. Our task is to make everything around them so that they make as few mistakes as possible.

- Do you share your experience with them? That is, tell them about some moments of your life?

Yaroslav: We don't really have much to share. They can take food themselves (laughs - author).

- I mean, for example, that I opened Wikipedia and read that since the age of 16 you have been taking drugs and you were addicted. Do you tell them about such moments?

Yaroslav: The elders know about it, of course, but children live in such an atmosphere and environment that they do not understand what drugs are at all. God bless! And for me, it was also a spiritual search, because all the things that surrounded me stopped inserting me. And so I looked for something else. Some way out. And, in fact, the whole life of a person is an opportunity to become better, an opportunity to let your soul manifest itself. The opportunity to feel a part of the Almighty within yourself. And this is the most important, so here all paths are good. Apparently for me, for the soul that I have, it was necessary to go through these moments. And they don’t need it at all - they are already initially at such a level that sometimes you just look at their actions, at the way they look at things, and you understand that you yourself have something to learn from them. We do not hide it in any way. This is my path, and I am very glad that I went through it with dignity and move on.

- If you were speaking to your parents and you were asked to advise them something - what would you recommend to them ?

Yaroslav: Well, probably, be yourself and understand that you do not live this life for children - you live this life for the person who is next to you. You must make a person in your couple beautiful, happy - this is the most important thing. Children - they are around it. They are not in the first place, because as soon as the children come first, a substitution occurs. The most important thing is to feel whole in this world. And you can’t feel complete without your soulmate. Children need to be taught this too. They understand this very well, and then they tune in to meet their soul mate, and they will continue to pass this experience on to their children in the same way. And in this sense, the only thing we would like to wish is not to lose ourselves under any circumstances.

The soloist of the group "Tokyo" and "Machete" Yarosav Maly, after 8 years of marriage with actress and singer Natalya Simakova, filed for divorce. After a long discord in the family, the couple came to a mutual decision to leave. The couple have been living separately for several months now.

From the marriage, Natalia had a daughter, Michelle, who was born just a few months ago. As it became known to Heat.ru from Yaroslav's inner circle, she will stay with her mother, and Yaroslav himself promised that Natasha and Michel would not need anything. More recently, Maly posted his photos with his daughter and seemed very happy. He does not comment on the divorce.

Much has been written about the high-profile romance between Maly and Simakova, and with great pleasure. Young, eccentric, in love - this is how most of their friends and fans spoke about them. Yaroslav always said in his interviews that love comes first for him. And Natasha admitted that Yarik is the love of her life. The plans, then newlyweds, was to create a large strong family with 6 children.

By the way, in the work of Yaroslav everything sounds much simpler: in his texts he asks the audience - "no matter how strong you are, do not part with your loved ones."

For 8 years of marriage, the couple Maly - Simakova has become one of the most beautiful and stable in show business. The couple constantly appeared together at various film premieres and screenings. But a few months ago the situation changed dramatically. Small began to appear alone, while Natasha was engaged in her work. And the artist categorically refused to answer questions about his wife and personal life.

In addition, the music label Machete Records terminated the contract with the Siberia group - the project of Natalia Simakova. From February 1, his wife will be free from any contractual obligations. Now the Machete Records label includes only two musical projects: the groups "Tokyo" and "Machete".

At Beit Shabbat in Holon:
Exclusive concert of the leader of the group "Tokyo / Machete" Yaroslav Maly in Israel, in a club format. Featuring Moishe Jankowski. Acoustic set, new songs, the possibility of personal communication with the musician. May 25 at 20:00.
Then we all go together to celebrate Lag Baomer on Meron.
Reservation of places by tel. 0526940770
https://www.facebook.com/events/863286387151561/

Nine am. Small cafe in the center of Kyiv. The entrance is well camouflaged. Establishment "for their own". At the table, a man and a woman drink Americano coffee from the same cup. They could order a second one, but they like to share everything for two. The waitress asks if the guests will have breakfast, she is answered: "Yes, everything is as usual for us." Once every 10-15 minutes, one of the visitors comes up to their table and greets them in a friendly way. These two have already become "friends" in the Ukrainian capital, although they have moved less than a year back. The man's name is Yaroslav Maly, he is known to music lovers as the frontman of the Tokyo group and the creator musical project"Machete". Movie fans - as the author of soundtracks for the films of Fyodor Bondarchuk "9th Company" and "Inhabited Island". Gamers - as the author of music for the game Need for Speed ​​Shift. The woman sitting next to him is his wife and part-time director of Rachel Ora.

Get out of Moscow

Until recently, they were prominent figures in Russian show business- one of those who can afford to start something grandiose, without lacking money and support from the authorities. What is worth only international festival alternative music Red Rocks, founded by Yaroslav and his company Machete Records. He not only gathered celebrities like Brainstorm and Okean Elzy and invited world stars of the level of the British Morcheeba, he sent them to a remote province where most people did not even know what alternative sound was: to Kemerovo, Barnaul, Ulan-Ude, Chelyabinsk etc. In a word, he systematically raised the level of musical literacy in the vastness of the federation, and reputable financial institutions, such as the Savings Bank of Russia, gave money for this. Dmitry Medvedev during his presidency personally patronized one of the events organized with light hand Yaroslav Maly.

It is impossible to be in Russia now. Thinking people are getting smaller. Many are leaving. The rest live in such severe information pressure that the brain does not have time to process the information in order to draw the right conclusions. People who used to communicate with me, their parents and spouses are watching TV, watching the news on the Web and believing that children are being crucified in the Donetsk region. They do not understand how I can live in Ukraine, and it is useless to explain it. Firstly, I am outraged by the lies pouring from television screens. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, I feel good here. He almost did not shine at secular gatherings, but he was constantly at the center of the discussion of the Moscow glamorous party. IN Last year the leader of "Tokyo" was talked about especially a lot, and most often with bewilderment. He did something strange modern Russia act - he moved to Ukraine, moved his wife and four children to Kyiv, and also completely abandoned concert activities in the Russian Federation. IN last time he was in Moscow three months ago and claims to have been counting the hours before departure.

"Blessed are You, Lord, who wishes to return"

Of the eighteen blessings of the Jewish prayer "Amidah"

A year and a half ago, when buying an apartment in Kyiv, he did not yet know that he would call it home. Yaroslav simply liked the Ukrainian capital with its unhurried course of life, quiet streets of the old center and friendly residents. When the Maidan began, he also did not think about moving. I just saw on the Internet photos of students beaten by police officers and decided to support the protesters.

“We made the decision to march on the Maidan together,” Rachel’s wife joins in the conversation. “It was not yet about taking any position in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, and we have not seen a conflict as such, we just wanted to express solidarity with people who are defending their rights. Many Moscow acquaintances did not understand us then, and they do not understand us now. Generally for Lately we have seen enough of how bonds between people are destroyed, friends disperse and families break up.

beautiful far away

On the Maidan, Yaroslav Maly experienced his own internal revolution. I was imbued with the atmosphere of the protest movement and dedicated many songs to it: "Fight", "Freedom and Love", " New hero". These compositions were played at a recent Kiev concert. The audience sang along with pleasure: "The hero must return home," suggesting that this is about the heroes of the Revolution of Dignity. Only people who knew Yaroslav personally understood what he was putting into these lines double meaning. He sang not only about those whom he saw on the Maidan, but also about himself, about what begins in his life new stage- period of return.

Maly was born in Ukraine, but since childhood he knew that he would leave. I looked at the horizon line and imagined thousands of amazing places where I had to come, see and conquer. Small homeland- Krivoy Rog was cramped for an energetic boy who had grandiose dreams. IN music school He didn't fit either. He was expelled from the third year. When Yaroslav's father asked the head teacher why his son was expelled, the answer was short and succinct: "For everything!" This did not upset the little junior at all, he was not going to waste time in boring classes and wanted to quickly plunge into the real adult life. It was 1991 outside, Soviet Union fell apart.

The old rules and foundations were losing their force, and the new ones had not yet emerged. Almost immediately after being expelled, Maly went to where, as he believed, one could take a sip of freedom and start his "big voyage" - to Moscow.

“I didn’t think about getting rich or achieving fame,” the musician recalls. “I just sailed away from the shore, not really knowing what would happen next.

About what happened next, there are different versions. Most of the media describe Maly's success story as a male version of the Cinderella tale. A guy from the outback without money and connections, but with diligence and talent, came to conquer Belokamennaya. He was noticed, given a chance, and now he is already receiving the "Discovery of the Year" prize at the "Maksidrom-2003" festival, then the prestigious MTV Music Awards, albums released in hundreds of thousands of copies and music videos on YouTube, garnering over a million views in the first three days.
What remains behind the scenes is that Yaroslav arrived in Moscow at the age of eighteen, and organized the Tokyo group at twenty-eight. He speaks reluctantly about this decade, he only reports that he opened nightclubs. He does not share details and, apparently, not without reason, it was in the 1990s. The fact that from the age of sixteen he took drugs, journalists also, as a rule, do not mention. Although Maly himself does not hide this.

Return trip

In conversation, Yaroslav is stingy with stories about his biography. But it is easy to turn on when it comes to creativity, love, God, revolution. He frowns, clenches his fists and raises his voice, talking about the Russian war. But when I try to find out how the real Moscow, where he arrived, differed from the one he imagined, leaving Ukraine, he instantly moves away, the tone becomes indifferent, the phrases are stereotyped.

In the end, clearly wanting to close an unpleasant topic, he says in a tired voice:

— Well, as it usually happens... People unite around a common idea. They are moving somewhere together. You trust those whom you have chosen as fellow travelers, you think that you are on the same wavelength. And then one day you see that they have long changed direction for the sake of money or some other interests, and you have been walking with them all this time, going the wrong way.

Didn't like being rich and famous?

- Fame dealt blows to the psyche. You go to the pharmacy, and everyone looks at what medicines you buy. That way you can go crazy. I wanted to hide somewhere. Therefore, for some time the "Tokyo" group was not visible at all. Worst of all, we seemed to have achieved what we wanted, but the dream come true did not bring any joy.

- And did the return to Ukraine bring you joy?

“Before, I was always fighting for something, running somewhere. Now all the fights and races are over, I seem to live out of time. I manage to read, write music, communicate a lot with my family.

A boyish smile appears on my interlocutor's face.

“I’ve just grown wiser over the years, I’m already over forty, and this is largely thanks to my other half,” he turns to Rachel and takes her hand, “well, our beloved city, of course, matters.

It cannot be said that after the move, Maly had less work to do. He regularly gives concerts, updates the Tokyo repertoire, develops the Machete project, which has already officially become Ukrainian. A production center Machete is about to open in Kyiv. In addition, Yaroslav and Rachel are busy with a new English-language project HAVAKKUK. The first compositions have already been recorded - in Brussels. In addition to Yaroslav, six more musicians from different countries Europe. One of them, Vlady Mind, first violinist of the Brussels Royal Orchestra, performs his parts on the legendary instruments Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesu.

- Now there are three groups instead of two, you work simultaneously in Ukraine and Belgium, but you claim that you have more free time?

Yaroslav smiles condescendingly and speaks with the intonation of a mentor:
— When you do exactly what God wants from you, the world bends under you, and time stretches and contracts exactly as you need.

Call me Moishe Pinchas

The musician spoke about God not by chance. Over the past few years, he has made not one, but two important returns: to Ukraine and to the faith of his ancestors. By origin, a Small Jew, and the name new group HAVAKKUK is associated with the name of the prophet Havakkuk (Abvakum in Orthodox sources). The name comes from the Hebrew word "hibuk" ("embrace") and literally means "the one who was hugged twice."

It is believed that he died shortly after birth and was resurrected with the help of the prophet Elisha. "Havakkuk" means that after the first embrace, maternal, there were the second - the embrace of the prophet. Some commentators on the Tanakh see this as a hint of a second chance - an opportunity to start life anew. The musician liked this idea. Maly was born into a family of Soviet Jews, grew up in a secular environment, he recently discovered religious world and believes that from that moment began his second life.

The name Havakkuk is now carried not only by the group, but also younger son its leader. Yes, and he himself has recently been less and less represented by Yaroslav. In the middle of the conversation, my interlocutor unexpectedly announced that he had taken the Hebrew name Moishe-Pinchas. Then he confessed that he had never actually been an atheist. Most of his songs are non-canonical prayers, desperate attempts to turn to God in their own words. Now Lesser addresses every day in the form prescribed by the Jewish prayer canon.

It is impossible to be in Russia now. Thinking people are getting smaller. Many are leaving. The rest live in severe information pressure

It started back in Moscow, when Yaroslav, out of curiosity, went into the local synagogue and saw two religious men emotionally discussing some issue from the Talmud.

— I understood almost nothing from their discussion, but I was struck by the very tone of the dialogue. They argued passionately, but without the slightest hostility, with love and respect for each other. No one humiliated anyone, did not try to assert themselves at the expense of the interlocutor. It seemed that even to prove their case was not the main thing for them, it was more important to get to the bottom of the truth. How different this debate was from any I've seen before. I even regretted that I could not participate. I wanted to read some Jewish books, and the more I read, the more clearly I understood: they contain something important for me.

Gradually he learned to pray; on Saturday and Jewish holidays does not use transport, electrical appliances, money and observes many other religious restrictions. He eats and drinks only what is allowed by the laws of kosher, which is why we met in a kosher cafe. Every day he allocates at least an hour in his busy schedule for studying the Torah. And at the same time, he claims that Judaism made him much freer.

Doesn't sound very plausible. As well as the fact that time is stretched and compressed at will. I might consider it a fantasy creative person. I could have suspected Yaroslav of posturing when he said that he did not regret at all the earnings he had lost by refusing to perform in Russia, and money and fame did not matter to him.

But here's the thing - as soon as Yaroslav talks about his two returns, that special smile appears on his face, which only a completely happy people. You certainly can't fake it.