Musicחיים לוק

Haim Louk

Haim Louk is an Israeli educator, cantor and paytan who sings in the traditional Moroccan style.

born 1942North African Jewish piyyutMoroccan Jewish cantorial musicTeaching Moroccan musical heritage

Occupation: singer

Haim Louk was born in 1942 in Casablanca

Haim Louk was born in 1942 in Casablanca. His father died when he was 4, and his mother supported the family with housework. He began singing in the Em HaBanim choir in Morocco.

He studied at the Etz Chaim yeshiva in Tangier. At 10 he became a student of Rabbi David Bouzaglo, a Moroccan cantor and paytan. At 13 he was sent to London to study at the Torat Emet yeshiva.

In Morocco he worked as a teacher, and at about 20 he founded a Jewish school at the direction of Rabbi Aharon Monsonego. He moved to Israel in 1964, already married with a child, and kept teaching. In 1987 he moved to the United States and served as a cantor and paytan in Los Angeles.

He returned to Israel in 2004. In 2011 he received the Culture Minister's Prize for music performers for preserving the musical heritage of Moroccan Jews. He has 11 children, and his nephew is the paytan Moshe Louk.