NSN Kosher Halftime Show 2023 featuring Yerachmiel Begun and the Miami Boys Choir

hello everyone and welcome to the not home Siegel Network presentation of coaster halftime show 2023. Believe It or Not our 10th kosher halftime show brought to you by the Rothenberg Law Firm at injury lawyer.com today our coaster halftime show is a much anticipated long-awaited interview with your ahmiel begun the founder conductor choreographer arranger of the Miami Boys Choir as many of you know a few months ago Miami which has been so popular in our community for decades they just celebrated their 45th anniversary all of a sudden went viral on Tick Tock and other social media platforms your ahmil has not spoken at length with any media Source since that Viral explosion he reserved that for us here at the home Siegel Network so with great pleasure I say hello and welcome that is an unbelievable intro thank you but you left that one thing and that is composer sorry about that and to you that's probably the most important and definitely the most important part is definitely most important part I started as a composer right and then I didn't know what to do with the songs I figured once you have songs you know what you get to do so I wound up through certain people that directed me hey why don't you make a choir the whole choir was only a a what happened you for someone to sing your song right I never thought of singing myself I was in Yeshiva right I was like a 17 18 year old boy Yeshiva and I could become a singer so I figured you know what am I going to do get it so somebody said well make a choir and at that time was the Toronto Pearce when I was in Toronto so you know the composers are starting but then I had to learn how to conduct the choir and then I had to learn how to make choreography and then learn how to produce the shows but started first and foremost that was the driving thing and it's it's funny that that's the one thing I left out when to me as an observer of everything you've done for Four decades that's probably the thing I understand the least I get choreography I get the leadership when you're on stage with the choir but trying to Fathom how one composes a song I'd never been able to figure it out I tell you sometimes I feel the same way I sold writer's block right that's antibodies black but I just write well writer's block is when it's not coming out right and you say to yourself well it makes sense why how am I able to make it so much right but when you don't have the writer's block and especially when the song just comes you know like people say the songs are in the air and all those type of talks and but it just came so how did that happen that I also don't understand obviously it's the Minnesota type of a thing it gives certain people the ability to describe but their emotions through music other people describe their emotions by making a 40 million dollar business deal I guess that's where they they channeled their emotions other guy's an artist makes the painting you know it's it's just a a ton of to if you feel a certain way that they can make it come out in a song and if there'd be an original song even better why did you wait till now and believe you me you know because I've said it to you privately and now I'm saying it publicly I'm honored to have this distinction but why'd you wait till now to make any public comments regarding what happened a few months ago well in September when this whole thing happened and the calls were coming in from all over from the Jewish media from the secular media so my feeling was is that whatever I would say to these people in first of all a lot of these interviews were either by phone or whether they're going to come down we're going to be like a okay what do you think about that what do you think about that and I just feel whatever would be said would just not come across right would be like you know they're all looking for maybe perhaps you know to answer one or two questions and wouldn't have the the the the the depth meaning to say like this when I'm working with you we've done stuff together for 30 years I mean maybe it's more but we started say 40. 40 years when we're sitting here now those 40 years are with us the understanding we've spoken about music we spoke about these things and we have the the friendship that we developed so I felt the comfortability from a friendship point from a historic point from a depth point and and I knew that the type of questions that you would ask would be appropriate so all those things together made me feel like let me not do any interviews and if and when you're interested um I'll be more than happy to do well I appreciate that in the General Media you'd have to and I'm sure this is part of what you mean it'll give you an opportunity to really explain things well they they will take sound bites that have no backgrounds and context and that makes it very difficult for the viewer and listeners to even understand what's going on so right I appreciate that you appreciate this forum yeah now that was the that was the only way the first time I would do an interview to talk about this had to be if you know with you you know it would be follow-ups I don't know it will be but this I felt and this is I must have turned down you know between both Medias in the area the 30 to 50 interviews so I'm happy that you asked me to do this and during this um Super Bowl time as a alternative than watching what they're doing which is really your concept yes which to me is the big Mitzvah that you're doing in that um and this year I really hope people are taking advantage because uh the the NFL makes some some uh improper choices let's put it that way and I won't say anything first exactly so I I I think it's unbelievable thing that you do this thank you and that the world should know more about what the it's not just a soup it's not a Super Bowl intermission show it's in a proper alternative Super Bowl intermission show so I think that has serves a great value appreciate that um so many people are familiar with the story that your son suggested to you that there is this social medium platform called Tick Tock and he had a feeling and I can only imagine if he has the same type of the same type of feeling when it comes to these things like his father does I can imagine that there was some token to it there was some he brought a good case to the table let's put it that way yeah and he said if we go ahead and explore this option of promoting Miami and featuring some of their videos on this platform it could go somewhere and your reaction was well my my son hananya he had a line that he used when he mentioned it to me I think we were sitting on these exact couches by the way and um and we were this after I had moved to Jackson you know remember Brooke Brooklyn boy my whole life Luther Jackson with a little more liking the adjustment to make the adjustments and he says tati he says what do you think about um this idea of putting it on the ticket I knew nothing what Tic Tac was at all right exactly on the social media that I knew about was Instagram right and I don't really didn't understand it I just we put some pictures and some uh understand exactly how this is working how it's getting to people but it's getting to people it's getting to people you know but he's used a line of my legacy he wanted to the Miami his father's Legacy to be more um I've got which word he used to meet more robust to be a grander or put out there the Legacy should be uh that's some point of a legacy I remember the end of this did he mean it generationally that you you should be promoted to a group that may not be as familiar with you I didn't think he meant that I'm not sure he meant that but I said what's going to be the topless what's going to be the purpose you're going to go put on on to wherever this Tick Tock thing who's going to watch it I said the from people the from people already saw it I didn't understand where is this going to go right so a bunch of from people instead of watching it over here watching it over there they're going to watch it over there so what do you do no you don't understand it could go viral I understand we mean viral what does that mean exactly it's funny that he sensed that my son is more there's something too he knows more that world you know Young Generation right so I said you know what you want to put a couple of explain to me that they're short they're shorter pension span today's world you know all that those stuff okay you want to put on let's see what happens so I think that I I took the idea that he presented said you know what you want to try it you want to see mine you know that's basically what it was you know we're doing Miami for like I said 45 years and um you know okay so let's go for let's see what happens you know I I believe it would just be like you know a couple of only later that I find out that there were other Jewish music singers on Tick Tock already and they didn't get that many views it was not that much views some of them have 8 000 on The View five thousand if two thousand people in the millions right there was nothing there there was somebody talking there a lot of people for whatever reason they use the platform right so I that's what I thought would happen therefore what's the topless okay so that was my I said but you know what and it came after this word the Legacy that that word legacy wound up really is very interesting and then we'll talk about it I think if we get to it I think it really had um a big not only an outgrowth thing to the rest of the world but it really had an effect even on the from Community interesting uh and and therefore I think he wound up in the sort of a backdoor approach yes affecting the Miami Legacy which we'll we can go into very interesting um when he went ahead and uploaded I assume more than one video to Tick-Tock uh did he give some thought was there a process which videos and why these videos or was it basically let's throw it out there and see what happens I don't know he he had his makshaba of the ones that he felt were right then he put his comments on he knew how to put these comments you know him and I gave him all the Miami videos there's like 20 full-length Miami videos concert videos hours and hours of videos here it is do what you want you know you know and he went he started to pick certain things originally and it it was interesting what he picked I watched it I didn't know how to get to it so he explained it you know get to it and get the app and the thing and then the couple was going on and then and then the first one got like 3 000 and 4 000 and 5 000 and I I couldn't even understand those numbers by the what five thousand how did five thousand people find out about it so fast right yeah he couldn't understand this so fast you're starting to understand what viral men yeah what do you mean what do you mean five thousand I mean our Market got to put it in the juice press gotta go in the knuckles show and then we could talk about maybe I hope that maybe you'll retry that some people I understand what do you mean by that so but I figured okay there's some from people there I don't know they spoke to each other and they found out you know let's stand without he put another one it increased a little bit got the thirty thousand footies and so that's how it's not why do you think the yirushalayim one which I have to assume as a casual Observer is the most popular one why do you think that one was the one that went viral I I mean that's the the the like they said a six million dollar question why that song I know that the ones he did before that I thought were pretty good videos and it was pretty good and then there was this video and another one and another one I think it was like this must have been like the 15th one wow I think so and the numbers are going up on the other ones they weren't going into the millions they were like a hundred thousand this one right made a rose so I think I think why it had it erosion and again this is only my theory of the immediate erosion there was not we're not going into the idea of why uh this Jewish music video would have affected people worldwide that's a you guys question about the specific or for months yeah why was it this one so I think this video she picked something which had four soloists start with four soloists and I think that the that the world as a whole can identify with individuals more than a quarter ah two abramowitzes a hershco it's in a bender right and they were close-ups right so all the other ones were a little bit from a distance acquire and this type of thing very nice sounds good and the heat suddenly did something to a wheel uptight close thing and people are into the individuals sure even in the Jewish music world we have so many singers people identify with the singers identifying with the choir is not as not as easy because who are you really following am I following the choir you know the younger the kids they're not following me they're following the choir so there is a a social media thing and the viral and the following you know this guy's eating lunch and these things he's eating lunch on his Instagram and he's walking to school and he's coming back from this is all following the person but he following a choir and I've never over the years really featured the kids right something that we've discussed right many many times right what would happen if someone approached a member of the Miami Boys Choir and asked for an autograph right and my policy throughout the years absolutely there's no autographs there's no I in team we are a team correct and what's proper and I don't think that kids have to see themselves as part of that not as individuals and start to get to their head and by the way autographs is yesterday's selfie for those watching who may not know right what autograph fits right right exactly so that type of thing was always General policy and and foreign and that led itself to a certain divider from what's improper and all that so I I think that the the the idea of you know that that they were individual for kids I think that when it came out to the belt and it came out to the non-ferment people and into the uh into the non-jewish that was the impact of that video and he wrote some very smart lines on top of the four so was and the way that was video and the song started with that that I think had a high impact and then of course they sang great right but I think that was I think might have been it how ironic and maybe that's the wrong word that you shallian ends up being the theme of what goes viral because you have to admit if there's something that we want the world to recognize and pay attention to and celebrate one of the concepts or you know one of those things is going to be Jerusalem yeah well there's a plus I can tell them called the beginning of Taylor says Hashem sits in shamayam and you suck he smiles or he laughs this I think falls into the gets a kick out of it something of that sort I think the front should go a little bit different from something but yeah I think this is definitely you have people who never heard the word Jerusalem singing yerushalayim right the fact is the first million people or start to go viral and it went viral very close to Rosh Hashanah it was a million a day at that time I don't even think anybody knew what it was from out in the world correct and then some people started to say what does this mean what does this mean people started to translate and all that and eventually I saw that Ben Shapiro put out a video and he said so this is however ironic this is you know but I I think that it was something that uh when a coach Burke who decided to like I said at the Hask show pressed the button and decided to make this happen because there wasn't any of my effort I did nothing as the story is clear um I think that by this song became the thing that was like obviously it's it's a message for the world if they want to know what it means right right and uh he said it very smartly Ben shapiri said not only is it a message that uh about you shall I mean and that Hashem surrounds the world but it sounds your surrounds you shall I am but all that there is a Hashem in the world and all these multiple messages are in this sentence but yet it didn't really offend pretty much 99 of the comments were all positive all right and more than that pro-jewish and Pro this and very heavy statements so I think that the fact that it was you Schwan if the song would have been about something else it sort of caused this multi-dimensional thing and that became an unbelievable factor that the song was about yushalayim more with your begun coming up after this commercial break keep it here at the kosher halftime show we're here in pimonte this is the area where all the truffles come the black truffle the white truffle even the dog say we go side let's go oh wow [Music] now you and I have had only one conversation on this topic since Rosh Hashanah um in fact if I knew this was going to happen back then I wouldn't have had any conversations well I can't remember anything so we have one conversation on the phone where I called you and basically as a friend said you know just tell me what you're going through with this whole thing right right right and in that conversation you and I from different Avenues we sit in different places in the Jewish music world basically came to the same conclusion and that conclusion was you know the question is this going viral what's going on and the answer we came up with was that there are people out there thirsting for meaning and thirsting for appropriate funny we say this during the kosher halftime show thirsting for appropriate entertainment and appropriate atmosphere and there's no doubt in my mind I'm sure you feel the same way that even a simple Hamish well-produced Jewish music video can bring people into that type of atmosphere and feel like hey there's something good about this there's something really nice and pleasant about it yeah we talked about it I think that we touched upon I'll say it if you don't feel comfortable saying it is that listen the world the way it's developed over the list you know 30 and 40 years and more God less and less spirituality and more focus on secularism and all that type of thing and anything goes in life and all these type of things that all this song came along and reached these millions of people that are not part of the firm world and these people are are touched by this and they're being they don't even know why they're touched by it that was the question the question is what is it in this music that's touching them and that's filling something spiritually and they decided to make videos of it and the comment on the imitating but but the bottom line is the general comments through work this is doing something for me this is doing something for me right by everybody and I want to be Jewish because of this in the thousands and thousands such comments and people who are not Jewish people who are Jewish said now they want to go to Minion and people didn't put on Films those comments are what is the what is the shot what did why did this happen what was this music touching them and to me it was sort of like this is what we spoke about but that there is a a spirituality in the music based on my Torah upbringing but my my turbine but my music is a contemporary blend of that but it still has a um you know I'm from the Yeshiva World so it has a toradica um feel where it comes into and that is what they're feeling that's what they're hearing but they never heard anything like that think about it that before this these millions of people which now that one video is 12 million and the amount the videos that are now have been seen Through The Tick Tock uh universe that I have a hashtag of Miami Boys Square it's now up to 261 million if you look under you can see it when you go search under Miami Boys square and it gives you a choice it's what it's called hashtag you hit the hashtag and it says now it's up to 206 when it first started was 100 million now it's 261 million now views two interesting views of Miami Boys car videos not only this video other videos what is it why are they watching this if anything they should say oh it's not for me it's not for me they got all this other the answer has to be that's touched the nerve such a spiritual nerves and something in them and that's had that effect there's a wholesomeness there that they are gravitating to even if they don't realize that they're grounded right right it's good Melody well-performed professional impressing people about the Jewish people which is wild and comments over there which are have shocked me about you know uh well if this would have come out under Nazi Germany it must be hundreds thousands than that never would have happened right I mean what is why what is this about what makes someone say that it's so it's touching them in a way and impressing them which we took for granted because we have this for 45 years in our field so that alone should be a lot for thought is it a good song is your slime a good so what does it rank in your Alpha meal beguns uh hundreds and hundreds of songs maybe thousands I have to be honest it's a lot better than it was because honestly and you know that I'm very honest with you right it's not your best song no it's not it's not in fact I would put it as you know kind of nice intro yeah has a great hook as the as the kids would say right and you know right it is um a a shocking thing that a song that was a secondary song at that time right uh yeah javo and you had the galley and you had uh talk about that term 2008 and mashiach but I'm not talking about songs it's actually on the Machine album right right uh then you have the yovo album and the other video I mean you know we when we talk about Miami songs people told oh the great Miami song Sunshine and the hair and you know whatever other songs so it is surprising so if you're doing the ranking of let's say 400 songs that I made on albums it ain't gonna be near the top it's gonna be now I mean now somewhere in there but it would have been somewhere around maybe uh 150 200 exactly so so it is so it is unbelievable that that song and then other songs which have now gone on to and spread out there have not gotten the 12 million they've gotten some have gotten 2 million one million 600 000 which is also viral but nothing has gotten that amount to that alone is you know needs needs to be uh understood but it's funny that your salaam is from the mashiach album because the mashiach album is not your conventional Miami album I did a little bit of research and there's uh some guest stars on a studio album which is really unusual for for what Miami was doing all those years yes and there were medleys of songs that were not Europe began songs which is also very unusual so isn't it funny that that so song is representing Miami to the world and it's really from a source that's so different from your usual that's a very interesting point in fact it also will tell you something that when did I compose this song when was each line composed and I'll be able to answer that now what happened was is that in 2005 we put out the revok album right and every once in a while we put it into him albums but our greatest hits we do other type of things around them being you know really unbelievable but the next album was yovo in 2008. now now in 2006 or 2007 I was invited to come with the choir before Purim to Earth Israel to do a show there in the yadolio and it was about show so I figured okay I need a messiah song right and they wanted to fly out and we're gonna do like I don't know 40 minutes on the show it was in Galileo and it was like flying in and out in two days because the kids had school and put him before him so we took the show and I went out there with only with soloists like with um I think seven or eight kids it was the first time I had gone out with seven or eight kids to do a concert as opposed to a full choir right we had at that time uh you know much many more kids so I said you know what let me try I'll go with seven eight kids which means each kill have his own microphone the whole idea of every kid having is a microphone really visually only starting the Yellow Album all the previous videos they're standing by I remember the first night you did it in Brooklyn right the yellow was the first one that everybody where did that come from um the Royal microphone was an idea I had for years before but I practically uh there was a problem with the technology everybody on their own microphone but eventually they got better so we went to do the Heritage Trail show at the Chabad show in Yana Leo I made this machine got it arranged had it taught it to the kids and that's how the Michigan was made went to use July went there I just went to Tel Aviv and I was there for a couple of days I was in Irish alive for a day or two that's when I made the usual I am song now you show lives always made at that time when I went to Heritage Israel either on when I went to your slime or on the plane whatever they slimestone so I had I didn't sing it at the concert so I came back and and the Michelle so when they went crazy of the song it was like a wild wild and we did it at that show at that show we did it twice once when there was at 12 o'clock they were closing the lights we did a second then one earlier and then I came back I said you know what I gotta put out the song and then I had a pesach concert with other singers and other things and I figured you know what I have this thing I have some other singers some other stuff I had the machine song and I'll put this album out and that came out the mashiach album that came out I had a different version of your slime had Yoshi Bender in the beginning and that's how the meshiach album 2007 a year later we put out the Yellow Album which had all those other songs was not on that album right and we did the video of that concert and then we did use shalayam juried that event on that yeah that's how that answers the uh that's funny because it's sort of it's sort of that that huge Limestone was created by accident when you think about it yeah or it wasn't planned at least um so I'm sure plenty of people are curious um obviously for the last 45 years you've always had a plan going forward with Miami uh you and I have always discussed how in both of our Industries we've adjusted really well thank God every time we get into a new era so to speak and there have been a lot of eras in our in our careers at this point um does this change your plan not at this viral sensation has occurred is is your I don't know your your calendar of future projects or in general your attitude towards future projects any different than when you started 2023 well that's a great great Point um I think I have to be split into two parts one is you know promoting the Miami music to the world that's through obviously through social media and continue to do that old videos new videos of the choir a new song or whatever so that's like part one part the second part is to our regular from world to our world that we've been working for 45 years now this whole thing had an effect on the from world right because the film world now said oh wow what happened in Miami of course we've been following Miami but so a lot of people in the from World took a second look at Miami which they had not maybe looked in for a while right some people had right well these you know and they start to hear these songs a lot of people that didn't even know a lot of the song from yovo who didn't even know those things the stuff that was being viral and suddenly they would say wow these songs you know and then people started to listen on the Spotify and all these things so the firm world started to give a a stronger re-listen got tons of emails and letters from people from people as well as none but saying you know I really didn't appreciate till now and now I appreciate what just the songs are and then this and then the co-host and spirituality and where was this person the last 20 50 years right where was this person they went elsewhere they went down so all of a sudden you know NBC News is appreciating you they've they've turned more attention and this Lent itself to reevaluating I had all my new songs all set at the end of the summer all recorded for an album that would likely be released when which was going to be released the latest before pesach now in the next few weeks that was the original plan maybe even early it might have been a mechanica but when this happened in September and this whole fool out my feeling was one second you know is now the time to be releasing a new album in the middle of this to me it's just like I have a new album I have a new album all these songs are now all the old albums are new album this became new so it seemed to be almost like would be the wrong time so what is your timetable now so now because when I was last visiting with you right you were alluding to the possibility of it being out before Purim is that now not going to happen I think that I became very busy with this and um you know I didn't compose any more songs because I'm very happy with the songs that were there I really really happy with these 10 12 songs that I have it wasn't like oh I have all this extra time now I'm going to compose new songs no I I really I really like the songs and we did them in concert we did four or five songs in concert and well received but I didn't give to the audience the real kanaka deck of songs I didn't even give that out and the songs were well received and um you know right now you know I can't say that it's something that I would I would be able to put out now earliest log Bomer it sounds like earliest um I think that right now I have to let this new album ride you know we have a new album right now there's a feeling of this I might put out a single right I might put out a single in the middle now maybe before maybe before a new custom that's developed that we never had you're right the singles world right which I don't totally understand that either but that's the world we're in um and the uh so so we have to see exactly in the meantime while all this happened new boys entered the choir right and the popularity of the choir has to assume among those kids who want to be in it is and I recorded the choir before the summer on their on the songs right so now becomes the question of a lot of news and the choir a lot of new kids now do I want to include them in the recording of that so it's a little bit of a modification I spoke about this new popularity which I certainly appreciate um were you on stage between September now at events that you probably would not have been on stage for if not for this viral sensation well there's no question that the call is coming in high volume they want Miami right and uh not only from the from world but from the um less from world or the whatever the amount of Orthodox to the to the Federation and Jupiter on and on and on and calls that I don't think anybody ever got to perform unfortunately a lot of those shows we're talking about let's say 40 to 50 calls for shows but a lot of these shows I can't go with the kids they're in school right so I can't just run off in the middle of the week or go here I can't do it so it's very very few so times and Slots that we can go run around out of town I can't just run off to Portugal and do a show man I'm not going to do that yes during the summer but it's not really possible to do a lot of these shows so there were a lot a lot of calls and a lot of these calls I told them it just was not possible maybe another time maybe another thing right so there were a lot but there are a lot of shows and even the shows that we did do have been quite busy uh since then which shows but picked out the ones that make sense well I was in LA they were talking about your performance I was on stage with you at Hask they got a tremendous reception right and uh and the receptions are have been pretty strong right sometimes pretty even stronger than usual because you have to admit the reception's always been strong for Miami but yeah you know when you had a reception like you know uh you know when I first put out a donut aluminated the crowds were wild you know was a different type of wild a different type of almost the difference here it's important how many shows did we do songs we had these big hits and ended with the big hits ended with the revoc and with that don't Alum that the crowd was wild right but but here there was an element mixed into this few elements but one of the elements was the life of the crowd was almost like with a pride a certain Pride right that this music has become worldwide but it's really our music you know from different world so it's like a prime that the crowd has a pride in it and almost like a like a almost like a um a spiritual there's a word for it I forgot the word it's almost like you know where everybody is like an epiphany right and that together with that wow but I could see it in the eyes of the people I could see in the thing there's a like a happiness of this thing that they know it's out there we're doing it here so it's different than you know okay a big hit song from the past right and again you know we'll do a show now we say view slime for the end right but right which is to become the Encore right right that's part of the new album there you go a few moments ago we mentioned that you were at the Hass concert with uh with the Miami Boys Choir just a couple of weeks ago we actually have footage from that event take a look at this [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] myself foreign [Music] use your life [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] yeah so uh there's some Curiosities that people have I know as an Insider that your and we discussed this earlier with some of the policies of the choir I know that you're very careful about the image of the choir to say the least and rightfully so um how did you think the four soloists from yesteryear handled the entire situation some of them decided to do low-key to be low-key um depends on what they are where they are in life you know are they in Yeshiva are they not Yeshiva they are being a businessman already you know these soloists since 2008 so now it's 14 years later so if at that time they were 12 or 13 right you told about 26. well if somebody's already out there in the world and what his background was also you know what kind of background he had so but as a whole I would I would say they've been respectful they've they spoke with they've got called by newspapers and by this and that they spoke with me respectfully about about it and I think they've handled it pretty good um I uh you know I I'm I I do like that the music should speak for itself I'm a big believer in that you know you know like okay and that's part of the reason why I didn't do an interview let the music speak let it be let it be you know give it a chance to breathe yeah you're gonna go right away well I was this and I was that and I was let it be now we're sitting here in January with a perspective from September October to 77 for five months a different field different perspective not like so I I I I'm a big believer on let it be let the music happen so um so I think they did okay it sounds like generally yeah they acted like Miami people I think so to a degree they have that training to know what to say and what not to say because Miami is not just being trained in music or in harmonies or how to grab a microphone to be a soloist right there are other components to it as well and part of it is the the image that they project and right you've made that obvious over the years I mean part of what we've spoken about many times is the is they um I'm to be to be mature to know what to say how to be take uh take ownership of your responsibilities what to do and to be more self-aware and all those things come to besides the vocal training and the musical training that's part of it you ask any producer and they'll tell you the key to success is great songs right that's what it comes down to uh all the other stuff is you know nice add-ons um is that the success of Miami is the majority of the sets of Miami because hey the bottom line is that from the beginning they've just been great songs well my father all of a seldom would definitely say yes my father was a very big believer and it's all about the songs now there are stories of great songs that have been sung by certain artists that were not so good that didn't make it until it was re-sung by the different artists right so um I think that the Miami's Foundation are the great songs that and then that I was that I was mozoka to write but then making a great singer on top of it I look at Miami as a singer right it's an entity it's a singer the singer is the choir the harmony of this forget about the choreography forget about the stage training them for real singing live in concert how to sing how to breathe how to this how to sound like a mature I think that the combination is really where it came across that takes it over level if you have the great song but it's not gonna it's just not gonna make unless it sounds you know an A1 thing so I I think that the foundation is definitely the song There's no question about that with that in mind before this Maya album came out there were a lot of great songs that you were responsible for both Miami and you know through other venues but it seems to me that that album all the way back in 1984. is now viewed as a landmark revolutionary album the number of great songs on it the variety The Incredible potpourri if you will of both fast and slow songs so many of them that mean so much to the to the Jewish World all these years later discovered by youngsters who you know who were not even a thought when this album came out is is it is it looking back historically was that album as vital as I'm portraying it or Miami would be where they are right now even without a landmark a musical event of that era I believe that that album was a change in music meaning it was the yeshivish sound with a contemporary sound with great songs simple Arrangements and very nice singing that contemporary sound with my sound was something that the believe it or not had not been there before 1984. if you look back before 1984 shlama Karbach sounds and Sean McCabe was doing more of a European sound I mean your motor it's not a contemporary up sound with national Deca but great songs fantastic songs very heartfelt and easy to sing and easy to sing but it's a completely different world you galsalek from London School Jerusalem had or european feel also a little more theater some of the song Somewhere up but as a whole it was more of a strain wasn't this up contemporary Yeshiva thing that people could be David was doing a Hasidic band or whatever he was doing so when this came along and the early Miami apples wasn't that the early hours was something else this came across with this blend I think that blend and those songs was the tremendous Swedish now what I'm trying to say is like this there are some people that say those were the best songs and that's it whatever I've done for the last 30 40 years oh it was very nice now but I don't believe that way I believe that that was such a see this and such a breakthrough and so different that it took its place but when you go back and look at those on some great songs there yeah but there's some great songs later too but it was such a um important album and such a breakthrough album that had such a high impact again some people might disagree they'll say wow there's nothing like who and there's nothing like uh right but I would turn around say one second how about when how about sunshine how about this how about uh keep going so what what so what does that mean but the impact of that album was from the from the freshness of it from the Breakthrough of it to the degree that I was told by somebody maybe you that when that album came out you were in why you as a disc jockey and you played the whole album straight or is that on your regular radio station I'm not sure no it was probably a boy and that you played the whole album straight now nothing to take away from every song there's some songs in that album which are okay not every song is fantastic but it was an unusual practice right that's what I believe what that album did and then I continued that tradition and just you know composed differently or whatever but the show Rich was the same show it's moving forward my conversation with rahmiel begun continues after these messages keep it here at the kosher halftime show [Music] thank you [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] any different now after this whole uh viral video sensation do you feel a responsibility you know what uh and by the way we discussed this a drop when Hanukkah came out when your Hanukkah album came out because you viewed that as you know what there are people who may not be strictly in the from world who may pick up this album or may be attracted to it because of its theme after all it's Hanukkah do you feel a responsibility when you sit at the piano now and start composing you know what I really should compose something that will have a Mass Appeal not not for commercial purposes but a Mass Appeal just to get more and more people into this genre let them appreciate our tradition even more to be straight about that question that's a great question is that like I was telling you Mr sham the new album will come out right and those songs are finished but but it was hit it was there was a certain call that came in I don't want to mention yet to do it to perform at a certain event and this event is like a tremendous Jewish event um big whether I'm going to wind up singing the or not I do not know and the person was calling me trying to convince me to take this job to bring the kids and was talking about what they do and it's developed like a big care of event but very and when I got off the phone my feeling was you know what if I wind up doing this and I want to make a song for this event specifically that has this sort of you know as something that these people a message for the event with 20 000 people I mean we'll see whether we wind up doing it will be like something that they'll be able to identify with within English it will be in English and certain type of things so I am thinking a little bit about making something that could sort of but it would be something that the firm world could also yeah of course that has greater message I'm thinking about that I do have a certain idea in mind I think an important idea I'd admit the song yet but in my mind I hear it I didn't have time to sit down and make it I did sing it once a little bit to myself but I didn't record it but I I think I know but I think yes this muck them for that but I got to be careful with that that it still has to have the authenticity right ask them the authenticity and the spirituality you got to be careful if you start to compose for that world right but I I can't lose some of its flavor right got to be careful and get that that balance right uh there are some amazing Jewish music stars on the scene today who are Miami alumni and you must take great pride in that I can only imagine they learned a lot of their stage presence from you in fact I think you and I once had a conversation um I think this was an Xavier conversation where you said to me when I was comparing one performer to another you said yeah obviously he's better on stage he did 200 weddings before he was ever on stage the other guy never did weddings and you and of course that was a big lesson to me about what experience is all about ten thousand hours etc etc do you get the same type of nagas from composers who are Miami alumni um I tell you beyond I don't know that many composers a lot of singers right but I'm saying the composing World there are a couple out there [Music] um I think when I think the answer to that question if you don't mind I will sort of make a house suffer add-on to regard to the singers or the composers who are Miami if they are going in a proper way and the type of singing or the type of songs is a spiritual or a terroristic away a proper way not in a suggestive way but a proper way then I'm proud of it if it's not going to be that then I feel like you know they went off they have the skills if it fits the Miami rubric you're happy about it I'm happy there are composers out there that I think you'd agree I followed that yes there are there are a few right that compose and a few right so I'm I'm I'm I love that and I love to keep a connection with them and they keep connection with me so but when they're going off in their life I call uh selling their souls a little bit for what they think the world wants and it's going away from the icker of what Miami is but what I've meant to do and to bring it these 45 years to the the fun world and now more if they stay within that I'm very proud of it nice um people are curious about family members uh there are people in the world of Jewish music entertainment Etc um who have children that you know can do can do and often do similar things um it's it's well known to this point that you know you have some children that are certainly dabbling if not completely in this Arena what do you think well they've got all the town from their mother by the way those who know your wife would agree with you you know I don't know where the talent comes from you know I probably my genetic thing is a little a little bit but I like to say that that you know from my side it's all for my father I like to give my father the credit who was very familiar with the world of entertainment and presentation right my father had a tremendous feeling of History right my father was right before Covenant before covert which everything is a blessing right it was going to happen but the bottom line is that um I give him tremendous uh credit but but and uh his understanding of music and what makes the hit so long and understand your performance I mean he gave over to me tremendous and understanding of life and um so I I feel that the kids were yorish sort of from both sides you know even my wife's father of Baron Russia Shiva he was a rashiven much for you all but he was a very worldly person talented person he's saying he loved music like I just felt that they got this normal Yeshiva contemporary combination it came from both sides and my kids today have okay they're doing their own blend they're doing their own way yeser and my daughter rohummy and now she got married recently so now her husband calls her Hammer but later I'm still coming but the point is they all are doing recordings and stuff they put out songs and my daughter now is a choir of her own High School choir called regish and Eliezer puts out songs they just recently put out very very nice song so I couldn't even playing on jam and the am yeah really okay that's good and then and then has his yti that he does so they're all doing their thing um and I I believe that uh you know it's in there in there and they just bring it out in their way finally we mentioned earlier uh that as much as your Brooklyn boy you now find yourself in the Lakewood area Jackson with Jackson yeah I know the difference right everyone's very sensitive right Jackson so with that in mind is it possible that there'll be a lot more choir members from this area of New Jersey that's a great point but the question is where's the choir rehearsal going to take place if the choir rehearsal takes place in Brooklyn like it's been and the boys come from the arabican first New York New Jersey they come from Long Island so that's what still goes on still goes on or the the choir rehearsal is going to be somewhere in New Jersey here and then the Brooklyn Boys Olga and that whole world's gonna have to come out to Jersey so that you have an hour and 20 minutes hour and a half issue here so um I don't think that the Lakewood world when I say Lakewood I mean Lakewood times we have the Jacksons is yet developed like the Brooklyn Long Island New Jersey other side of the world is when I say developed I mean you know people living here a lot of years but the rush of people that have come here now is really in the last five to ten years right you know now it's unbelievable with the housing and everything so I'm not sure I've auditioned kids here and I found you feed them but it just seems to me like it might be a little early for me to find myself over here 30 boys that you know when a boy comes to try on to audition I always say that that where did he get this coccus from is it comes from whatever his parents or whatever parents have a certain their experiences of life and their depth and that's in their genetic kids genetics and it's not just the kid it's the whole thing grandparents and a lot of times the other kids will say you know oh my grandfather was a cousin this is and over here it just feels early just feels a little early I don't yet sense that um I don't sense that development yet interesting and um my feeling is that it will be Mr Shaman time it might be very very soon I did start doing some auditions here and I did find some great kids and some kids are traveling into Brooklyn which is quite and they've asked me to drive them in oh it's that fun they're driving back you know so I became like a ride but which is okay you know to some degree even though you know you're a meal when you moved here to Jackson New Jersey and you started to gather up some of the old material did you find any videos that you want to share with the public I certainly did in fact getting that all together and getting all that stuff together I have an example of something back from 1998 from the simple song that album never came out in video we did something called the simplator and the song on the album called Tila sashem and we never been seen before and it's amazing to see it was done really with only one or two cameras we call it from The Vault I love it let's take a look at that one [Music] foreign [Music] thank you foreign [Music] tell me [Music] you're off Melba gun I can't thank you enough for doing this uh I hope you're satisfied that you had an opportunity to really in an in-depth manner explain to everybody what's the last few months have been like it was one of the only times in my life that I could say that it was what I expected but exceeded expectations appreciate that very no it was uh my gut was to do this interview with you and uh it was not always a correct but by a lot more was it correct because um you know it's just as all the reasons I said in the beginning those were all there and I'm happy that you asked to come together over here and that I could share with the with the world um my feelings on this on the whole situation and I want to thank you a lot for that and thank you and continued and we have we have no reason not to expect even bigger and better things from Europe we got in the Miami Boys Choir thank you very much okay thanks uh a big thank you to all of you for tuning in kosher halftime show 2023 brought to you by the rothenburg law firm at injurylawyer.com a big thank you to the rothenbergs a big thank you to all of our sponsors and a big thank you to all of you for tuning in thanks for listening to the Malcolm single Network foreign [Music] [Applause]