Rav Shmuel

Skaist performed at the 2014 New York Antifolk Festival alongside artists like Hamell on Trial and Anne Husick of Band of Susans.

In 2010, he was featured in the music video for The Groggers' song "Eishes Chayil".

Looking to pursue his music career, Skaist found an open mic night at East Village's SideWalk Cafe via Google search. Receiving a positive response despite his blatantly rabbinic appearance, he began performing there regularly and developed a following. He caught the attention of the non-profit Jewish Music Group label, who released his debut album Protocols on September 30, 2006. A month later, Skaist released another album, also through Jewish Music Group, called B'yameinu, which featured more traditional Hasidic songs.

In 2005, Skaist released an album called Some People Think That I Am Damned through My Friend Steve Records.

Skaist later relocated to Israel, where he taught philosophy at Bar-Ilan University and gave weekly performances at Mike's Place in Jerusalem. During this time, one of his students introduced him to the band Phish and, after initially being unimpressed, he ultimately became a fan. He later met fellow Phish fan and concert promoter Adam Weinberg and, in 1998, the two founded Gefiltefish, an outreach organization traveling to stops on Phish tours to provide community and spiritual advice to disaffiliated Jews in attendance. The following year, Skaist and Weinberg created the similarly-minded Shabbat Tents, which hosted Shabbat prayers and meals for people at the tour stops. This project received a boost in publicity after Jewish reggae singer Matisyahu requested a Shabbat Tent at a festival he was headlining. Gefiltefish and Shabbat Tents have been present at several Phish festivals including Camp Oswego, Coventry, and Festival 8, as well as venues like the Empire Polo Club and Radio City Music Hall.

Shmuel Skaist (born December 8, 1964), known professionally as Rav Shmuel, is an American Orthodox rabbi, speaker, and musician from Brooklyn, New York. Initially gaining recognition for his Jewish outreach programs aimed at Phish concertgoers, Skaist taught in yeshivot in New York and Israel for several years before deciding to pursue a music career. His debut studio album, Protocols, was released in 2006 by the Jewish Music Group label.

Shmuel Skaist was born on December 8, 1964 to a devoutly Orthodox family in Brooklyn, New York's Crown Heights neighborhood. He is descended from a long line of prominent rabbis.