Real Music, Real Job

Raised in a Reform family in a suburb of Chicago, composer, conductor, pianist and arranger Leib Yaacov Rigler began piano lessons when he was eight years old — but despite his obvious musical gifts, his parents wanted him to have “a real profession.” They compromised on a degree in music therapy at the University of Kansas, but that career didn’t last long.

“I had been working in a hospital for less than a year when I got a call from a musician friend — the late banjo player Skip Devol — asking me to work with him. I took the leap and quit my job,” Leib Yaacov says. “I’ve been performing since.”

A move to California followed. The young musician was hired as music director for comedian Jerry Van Dyke, then moved on to freelance work. Writing and arranging music and playing at nightclubs and other venues across the United States fulfilled Rigler’s musical aspirations. Not much was left of his Jewish observance or identity, though.

Then, Rigler found himself hired by a frum band in L.A. “All their events were in the Orthodox community. I got to see Jewish life through those Orthodox weddings. I’d ask the band leader why they did what they did, and I was struck by the deep meaning of everything. My Jewish identity had been sparked.” Pretty soon Leib Yaacov was attending Shabbos meals — and then started learning Torah. In 1987, he made aliyah, keeping the music playing all the time.