Music is that extra-sensitive, personal topic that seems to bring people out of the woodwork with their staunch opinions
TO keep Erev Shabbos a bit more interesting, every Friday, I send out a text to friends, relatives, Hatzolah members, shul lists and more — about 800 people in all — where I pick a song that somehow relates to the week’s parshah, a Yom Tov, or something in the news. I usually get a one-word response or nothing at all.
Last year on parshas Vayechi, however, I sent out a text that generated lots of unexpected action: I forwarded Abie Rotenberg’s vintage and much-loved “Hamalach Hagoel” (Dveykus IV, 1990) and added a personal note: “Very possibly the greatest Jewish song ever. Abie’s tune, with the words from this week’s parshah, are perfect.”
Of course, no one — on my list, at least — could let such a comment go without putting in their two cents. It became like a vote. I immediately got bombarded with opinions, some agreeing, many offering their own selections.
“Wait, what about MBD’s ‘Mashiach’?!” one friend responded, while my brother Yosef Chaim was more generous: “So beautiful! I listened to it five times.” Yaakov Salomon of the 1970s Simchatone group commented, “It certainly ranks in the discussion.” Nachum Segal came back with, “A truly legitimate claim,” and one famous singer replied, “Definitely one of the best!”
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