Carlebach Fans Share Their Favorites

Rabbi Moshe Grylak, editor-in-chief, Mishpacha Magazine:

I will share something personal. More than a half-century ago, a group of us bochurim traveled from the Ponevezher yeshivah to the Galilee, where we hoped to influence the new immigrants who were placed in camps there. Our group included Rav Menachem Cohen, today a member of this magazine’s editorial board, and others. We were called Peylim, and our goal was to convince as many of the Yidden as we were able to send their children to Torah schools, and to encourage them to withstand the relentless campaign by the left, who were prepared to do anything to claim these children as their own.

On our trips, there was always a strong undercurrent of fear, for there were stories of the counselors at these camps, and how they had beaten the determined yeshivah bochurim who would dare enter their territory.

So when we felt scared, we would sing the new songs of Shlomo Carlebach, particularly “Al tira m’pachad pisom,” which would strengthen us. Another favorite was “Haneshama lach” which was our plea to Hashem to be compassionate with us, “chusah al amalach.”

Avraham Fried:

Besides the famous tune for “Mimkomcha,” which is sung in shuls all over, there is a slower, more classical piece for the same words. That song touches me in a special way.