Shai Margulies, the tenor who led University of Maryland’s Jewish a cappella group in its performance at “Marking Oct. 7 Together” at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., didn’t start singing until he got to college. He “didn’t know anything about music at all,” in fact, and gave it a shot because Margulies’ friends said he sounded like his twin brother, who sang in high school.
Now, Margulies, a junior studying psychology and criminology at UMD, is the president of Rak Shalom, an award-winning co-ed a cappella group. He is involved in UMD’s vocal elective program, taking voice lessons and studying music theory.
At the Jewish Federation-sponsored event marking one year since Oct. 7, Margulies led Rak Shalom in singing first the Israeli national anthem, then a mash-up of “Ekrah” and “Olatz,” two prayer songs.
Margulies is originally from Silver Spring and attends Kemp Mill Synagogue and Maryland Hillel. He hopes to pursue law school after his undergraduate studies.
Tell me about your Jewish upbringing and background.
I grew up Modern Orthodox in Silver Spring, Maryland. I went to Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville. [I had a] pretty traditional Orthodox upbringing. I grew up in a very homogeneous environment — I really was only friends with Orthodox people and was only around Orthodox people because my community is very heavily Orthodox Jewish, and my school was only Orthodox Jews. Then, coming to college, I’ve met a bunch of different kinds of Jewish people, and it’s really opened my eyes to what different kinds of Judaism looks like. You just learn to appreciate everybody’s tradition, and it’s really nice.
What was it like singing in front of a crowd of 3,000 people?
It was really crazy, I don’t think Rak Shalom has ever performed in front of a group that large. I also don’t have so much solo experience [in music]. I wasn’t able to comprehend I was singing in front of 3,000 people, but I think that’s probably for the best, because I was able to give it my best shot and not let the nerves take over.
You’re the president of an a cappella group. How did you get to where you are today?
There’s been a lot of changeover, which I think every college group goes through, in terms of people graduating. So last year, we had a really young group, I would say. I became really passionate about the group and had a lot of good ideas in terms of how we can grow and improve the group’s culture, and also how to get our name out there more, to improve our business. So I ran for president, and it’s been very exciting. It’s a lot of work. Every day, I’m dealing with something in terms of Rak Shalom while also balancing a part-time job and a full course load. It’s challenging, but because I’m so passionate about it, it doesn’t feel like hard work.
What are your responsibilities as president of Rak Shalom?
There’s the business side and the social side. There’s three realms of Rak Shalom: the music, the social and the business. The business is getting gigs, making sure that we have enough finances to pay for our albums and our tour and stuff like that. And then there’s the music side is arranging our songs, making sure they sound good. The social side: We’re also a friend group, so I think the president focuses on the business, making sure [members] are going to practice and making sure people are on top of their work, then also coordinating with the business manager.
How else are you involved in the community?
I’m the opinion editor of the [University of] Maryland Jewish newspaper, Mitzpeh. It started a while ago, but it’s really picked up this year in a way I didn’t expect, and it’s been amazing. We’ve published some great articles this year. I work for Maryland as a program assistant, so that’s helping run programs for [students] who live in residence halls.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I like to do my own musical projects, recording myself, making different songs or playing music by myself. I like to run; I’m training right now for a half-marathon that’s in a week. Mostly music, running, some reading.
