Everyone can relate to a powerful song of inspiration at akumzitzor duringtefillah, but it’s often fleeting unless it’s put into somethingtachlis
Go pick between Abie’s Journeys 3 and MBD’s Tamid B’Simchah. That’s like asking someone smack in the middle of winter what their favorite Yom Tov is. Each one is treasured, and does exactly what it needs to do in its time. I love albums that sound authentically Yiddish and make you feel that way. Although I consider myself a Jewish music traditionalist and I prefer the oldies, a lot of the newer songs are so pure too. They strike a chord that resonates with our generation because the messages tap into our struggles, challenges, and triumphs.
As a member of the Tzlil V’zemer choir in the late 1990s, I sang on Hear Us Now and Hooked on Chanukah, which can still be heard on store loudspeakers around Chanukah time. My kids always get a kick out of hearing me singing on it. At around the same time, I had the privilege of going to the studio with Rav Shmuel Brazil and singing on his Shuvu el Hashem album. Reb Shmuel was makpid on each kneich and kvetch, and showed me that it isn’t enough to sing a song, you have to feel a song — because the listener can sense it. But the most famous solo I recorded was “Esa Einai” on the first Shalsheles album in 1999. The song really took off, and even as a young kid, I recognized what a privilege it was to inspire so many.
MBD’s Yiddish song “Modim” on the Kulam Ahuvim album. It’s the story about the Chofetz Chaim explaining to a mispallel who inquired about the length of his Shemoneh Esreh. The Chofetz Chaim said it’s because he always gets stuck at the brachah of Modim and simply can’t move on when contemplating Hashem’s kindness.
My parents. My father always loved music and brought us to the early HASC concerts, and he was never shy about the nachas he shepped each time I davened from the amud. He pushed me to sing at every simchah, which was unquestionably a major factor in my early music development. My mother a”h was the one who drove me back and forth to choir practice, which wasn’t very close to our home. She recognized the healthy outlet it provided and did whatever she could to provide me that opportunity.
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