Rabbi Jake Czuper, a Jewish educator and singer-songwriter/entertainer, recently released his third album. He’s based in Atlanta, Georgia
I taught high school boys for several years, and that time showed me how a yeshivah student could be completely fluent in Torah and mitzvos yet lack a personal relationship with Hashem and love for Yiddishkeit, unfortunately. I decided to create upbeat, original Jewish music for kids that stresses gratitude, simchah, emunah, and the awesomeness of Hashem. After playing a few local children’s concerts in Atlanta, I noticed that the children went wild over the songs and interactive concert experience. Based on the feedback I got from parents and educators, I realized the greatest time to teach kids is while they’re already having an amazing time, which is why an interactive concert is the perfect setting for teaching hashkafah. The next step was an album, because an engaging album is also a great teaching tool.
While I had a guitar, a keyboard, great songs, and concert success, I realized I had no connections in the Jewish music scene and no idea how to make an album. I davened that Hashem should connect me to the right producer. Soon after, Hashem answered my tefillos — I came across the name of a producer on my son’s Middos Man book. I sent Hillel Kapnick my demo, and he loved the material and was excited to help me out. Since then, he’s been on board with all of my albums, and I love working with him — he’s an amazing musician, producer, and most important, a real mensch.
That’s hard to answer, but “Roar Like a Lion” is definitely one of my favorites. It’s a catchy children’s song about being proud to do mitzvos. I end all my concerts with it, it really pumps the kids up, and I also like the verses because they work well: “There once was a boy named Tani / Who woke up singing Modeh Ani / He got out of bed like the Shulchan Aruch said / ‘Yisgaber ka’ari.’ ”
In the summer I do a lot of local camps and I travel up to New York, New Jersey, and beyond. Holiday seasons like Chol Hamoed of Succos and Pesach, Chanukah, Purim, and Rosh Chodesh are always busy, and I perform regularly at simchahs throughout the year. I’ve played all over the US — as far out as L.A., Dallas, Minnesota, Alabama, North Carolina — and in Canada. I’ll never forget the trip I took to Israel with teens, sitting with a guitar in the Kabbalah Cave in Tzfat, singing “Tov Lehodos Lashem.” It’s called the Kabbalah Cave because Kabbalah’s been studied there for hundreds of years, and it has incredible acoustics.
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