The Lynyrd Skynyrd Connection to Mount Zion (A7)

Thousands of people will visit the Tomb of King David and the Mount Zion neighborhood of Jerusalem for the Jewish festival of Shavuot, starting this Tuesday afternoon.

A tidbit of local lore that many visitors may not know is that Artimus Pyle, drummer of the celebrated American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, moved to Jerusalem to live and study in the neighborhood for about three years in the 1980s. 

Rabbi Avraham Goldstein of the Diaspora Yeshiva spoke with Arutz Sheva about the connection on Tuesday, just before the beginning of the Shavuot holiday.

“He wasn’t Jewish, but I feel the Diaspora Yeshiva attracts every type of neshama [soul],” he stated. “King David prayed about everyone. The Psalms are about Jews and non-Jews, righteous and non-righteous. Also, the friends that Artimus came with were Jewish and were inspired.”