Rabbi Yaakov Klein calls himself an “old soul”— he is an author, a lecturer, and a musician
An obvious choice is a classic with a theme of connection, like “L’maan Achai” or “Acheinu,” which most people know. But it really depends on the crowd. If it’s a kumzitz for a frum audience, I often begin with Eitan Katz’s “Ki Karov” (a nice bonus is that it prominently features the word “Eilecha,” the name of our organization). His “L’maancha” also works very nicely.
“Od Yeishvu,” by Yossi Green. The tune so wonderfully reflects the prophetic vision of Eretz Yisrael in a state of Geulah described in the words. MBD’s inimitable soaring vocal on the words “u’rechovos ha’ir yimalu” gives you the sense of tranquil expansiveness that all of us will b’ezras Hashem soon experience.
In a kumzitz setting, you want to get them involved, so it’s important to choose songs they’ll know. But I also think there’s no reason we have to stay within the very limited genre of “kiruv songs” — if they learned those songs, they can surely learn so many others! So I’ll usually try to teach a new song as well. There’s also value in asking people to close their eyes and listen for a meaningful song with English lyrics they can appreciate even without singing along. If I’m taking that route, I sing songs from the Only You album that we put together in 2019 in honor of Rav Moshe Weinberger, featuring the compositions of Michael Shapiro — songs like, “An Everlasting Love,” “Only You,” or the English lyrics from “Memaleh Kol Almin.”
In January, I participated in an Aish UK volunteering mission to Israel with university students. Sitting on one side of me was Reb Yosef Lefkovitch, a 98-year-old Holocaust survivor who suffered through seven concentration camps, rescued 600 children from monasteries, and went on to become a Nazi hunter. On the other side of me were the parents and siblings of Binyamin Airley Hy”d, a rare and shining soul who was murdered in Gaza in the early months of the war. I don’t have words to describe the power in that room that night — the way that, after all they’ve endured, these heroes could surrender to Hashem’s love and continue singing “Tov Lehodos” with joy, was simply incredible to behold.
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