There are so many songs on these albums that became classics
We can all think of concerts or songs that have been used as fundraisers for worthy organizations, but what most people don’t know is that the very first Pirchei album back in 1966, the brainchild of Rabbi Eli Teitelbaum a”h and Rabbi Josh Silbermintz a”h, was actually produced to generate some much-needed funds for the youth programs of Agudath Israel.
At the time, Pirchei of Agudath Yisrael of America’s most notable program was the annual Siyum Mishnayos, but as the only admission price for the Siyum was the learning of Mishnayos, funds were low. That’s when Rabbi Josh and Rabbi Eli had a dream. The two of them, being musically inclined, decided to release an album called Pirchei Sings, which they hoped would raise the requisite cash.
Josh and Eli had something else in common in addition to their love of music — they were both beloved rebbeim in their respective institutions: Rabbi Silbermintz was a third-grade rebbi in Toras Emes and Rabbi Teitelbaum was a fourth-grade rebbi in Torah Temima. Rabbi Silbermintz was also the lifelong director of Pirchei, a well-known baal tefillah, and the head counselor of Camp Munk. Rabbi Teitelbaum, an accomplished clarinet player, would become head of Camp Sdei Chemed and the brainchild behind Dial-a-Daf.
On a Motzaei Shabbos, Eli, Josh, and Baruch Chait — who the next year would become part of the Rabbis’ Sons troupe — met at Josh’s house in Crown Heights. The three of them stayed up all night, choosing songs and coming up with musical ideas. Although there was plenty of talent in the room, none of them were music professionals at that point. “We were all ‘camp people’ with a lot of siyata d’Shmaya,” remembers Rabbi Chait.
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