David ben-Ami (nicknamed "Dadi" from an early age) was born to one of the founding families of the
Nahalal moshav. In his youth, he studied drama with the theater director and acting teacher
Nola Chilton. He served in the
IDF in the
Southern Command Band and in the
Northern Command Band. After his release from the army, he studied theater studies at
Tel-Aviv University and worked as an actor in the
Cameri Theater. A short time later, he began his return to Jewish religious practice under the direction of Rabbi
Israel Meir Lau and Rabbi
Yitzchak Ginsburgh. Influenced by friends from the Chabad Chassidic school of thought, he traveled to New York to spend an entire year in the court of the
Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Eventually, he returned to Jerusalem and chose to follow the directives of
Breslov Chassidism. As part of his becoming a
ba'al teshuva, he began to use his full name "David Refael" and his original family name "Feinshil" which was used by his ancestors in the
Diaspora. His grandfather, who immigrated to Israel during the second aliya, had Hebraicised it to "Ben-Ami". For many years, he abandoned his musical career and focused on anthologizing ancient Chassidic melodies from the elderly people of the
Meah Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem, which he performed in his albums from 1988 onwards. He stated, "My mission is to endow the songs and to perpetuate the melodies." In his appearances, he performed Israeli songs, and in one of his later albums, he sings Israeli songs and tunes that were inspired prior to the establishment of the State of Israel. ==Death==