Chaptzem Blog!      

In just six months, 13-year-old Shay Viner from Beit Shemesh has become one of the most talked-about young stars in Jewish music. It all began with the song "A Jew of Nachat," recorded for his bar mitzvah, which racked up hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube within days.

Since then, Viner has released more songs, surpassed 2.5 million YouTube views, and started performing live. He is no longer just "the son of Giti Viner," a well-known Haredi social media influencer, but an emerging artist in his own right.

At 13, it is too early to talk about a long career, but Shay is sure about one thing: "I always want to bring people closer together. To strengthen them, to make them connect with each other. That's what I want to do when I grow up."

Recently, he released a new music video for "Mehila" (Forgiveness), a duet with singer Daniel Hen. It's a renewed version of a song originally performed by Avishai Eshel, with lyrics by Rami Lev. "I want to heal the heart and the mouth, so that we'll go back to being brothers who fight and make up," Viner sings — a release that came during the Jewish month of mercy and forgiveness.