Transcript
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Hi, this is Rabbi Alonaski, and welcome
to the Rabbi Alonaski show.
Whether you're watching with our friends
over at Torah Anytime, wherever you
watch or listen to your podcast, as
always, we are delighted to have you
along.
And we have a sponsor for this episode.
Uh and I am continuing to mention that
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uh that uh special program that we have.
In any event, this one is sponsored by
our good friends, Yoel and Ahuva
Schmell, as a zchus for Klal Yisrael and
hakaras hatov to Hashem.
And uh we love you, and thank you so
much, and uh this should be a zchus not
just for Klal Yisrael, but for you and
your whole extended mishpacha.
And uh as you know, because of the
matzav, meaning uh of course the
terrible situation we're in, a number of
gedolei Torah have said that what we
need to do during this time is mechazek
ourselves in
uh
in our Shabbos.
And that's been our series. We've been
talking about Shabbos, and uh in fact,
our uh producer, Yisrael,
uh who by the way, mazel tov, just had a
little baby girl, mazel tov, Chana
Meira.
Shh. Rattled that one off. Pretty good.
I can't remember my own grandson.
Anyway,
uh he should be zocheh to Torah, bent
Torah, u'masim tovim. So, he says to me,
"I didn't know you had so much to say
about Shabbos." And I said, "Apparently,
I have a lot to say about everything."
And if having a podcast has taught me
anything, it's that I can talk for 200
hours without any preparation. But
anyway, we just did a two-part series on
zemiros, where I basically tried to give
a shot in the zemiros so that the words
will be a little bit more meaningful to
everybody. And uh if you haven't uh seen
those, go back now and watch them. They
are available wherever you watch your
podcast. But that's only half of it.
Half of it is of course the words, the
other half of it is the niggun. And
that's why sometimes you could just sing
a niggun. Uh sometimes they'll just do a
niggun even without any words. But the
zemiros with the niggun tends to be uh
very uh powerful. So, as it happens, we
are now in the sixth year of the Rabbi
Alonaski show. I have during those years
have only ever had two repeat guests.
My son, Yaakov, who just keeps coming
back on.
He's a fan favorite of my wife. And uh
and uh we uh
uh and of course,
uh my other son, Moshe Yehuda, and his
Woodbury boys have been on twice. That's
because
uh you know,
part of the deceptiveness of this video
is that since I am so photogenic,
and I am so uh relaxed, people think
it's really easy to sit here and look at
a camera and talk, and it's not. And so,
the first time they were on, they
realized they were a little too stiff,
so they practiced and came back and
really killed it the second time. So,
maybe we'll have them on a third time,
we'll see. But uh now, this is besides
family members, this is the first repeat
guest we've ever had, the one and only
Ari Goldwag.
THANK YOU.
THE music sensation, who is mamash
ayin hamisgaber both in Torah and in
music. Uh
I uh
I don't know if everybody knows this,
but for a while he had a uh
a show uh
on uh
on uh Kol Chai. No, just a show.
On Kol Play. Kol Play.
It was called Gold Play. Gold Play.
Doesn't get much
one point, he made an offer. He says,
"Just I'll make up Whatever you want,
I'll make up a song about it."
And that that's not easy to do, because
I have not made up uh
really any songs that I know of on
purpose. So, sometimes I do, and then
someone says to me, "Yeah, yeah, that's
that's another another song." I I forgot
that I had heard it someplace. So,
um but actually uh my children uh make
up songs, but I I that's not my gift. In
fact, I'll tell you uh um
an interesting music story. Uh you know
Shmuel Kunda? Over the phone?
Yes.
So,
Familiar. when I used to write a chinuch
column in the Hamodia, um I did a little
review on children's tapes. And uh I was
uh I I I viewed them with a critical
eye, but I was very impressed with his,
you know,
uh When Zaidy Was Young series and
certain other ones, and I I, you know,
Now, I'm writing a column in the
Hamodia. I'm not I wasn't anybody
uh particular. He calls me up to thank
me.
He says, "You're the first person who
ever acknowledged what I do."
Oh, sure. He says, "I sent it to my
mother."
I can't believe it. Yeah. And he said to
me, "My early tapes, I took takeoffs on
existing songs. And then I realized I
had to make up my own songs, but I
didn't know how. So, I davened that
Hakadosh Baruch Hu should give me the
ability to make up songs. And for the
Zaidy Was Young series and some of the
other ones, he made up his own songs.
And he says, "Hakadosh Baruch Hu just
gave me the koach."
So, Rabbi Alonaski, there's hope. You
could daven. Maybe you could I do, and
every now and then
start making up songs.
You know, I I made up this song. Uh in
fact, uh cuz you know,
I'll tell you what in a second why I
wanted you to do this, but uh you know,
I made up this song. I don't know if
you've heard it.
Shalom
aleichem
malachei
Uh that sounds that sounds familiar. I
think it
Now, I'm thinking you might have taken
it from somewhere.
Oh my gosh, I can't imagine why. But
anyway, um yeah, so we'll see. It It
would If I also could make up songs,
considering how unbelievably talented I
already am, it just wouldn't be fair to
the world, I think. So, you know,
everybody
not feel comfortable.
I would not feel comfortable to be on
your show. So, I'll tell you why. So,
after I did a two-part on zemiros, I
said, "Now, I want to bring in somebody
who can actually sing and understand
music and make the niggunim meaningful
for people." And immediately, I thought
of you, and I'll tell you why, because
you were on in the first year of the
podcast.
And um
I called you up, and you hadn't really
heard about the podcast, but your kids
told you to go on, you told me.
Which was good enough for me. And uh
and we sang a bunch of uh Ari Goldwag
hits. And at the end, you said to me,
"You never asked me for my kariban."
And I and I filed that away. For five
years, this has been rattling around
inside of my head. So, when I said I
need someone to do zemiros, I said, "Ari
Goldwag, here's a chance for him to do
the the kariban that we missed the last
time." So, this is
late.
This is my first non-family repeat guest
on the Rabbi Alonaski show.
It's a great honor. Thank you so much.
And
uh and uh we're
uh we have an opportunity
that Hashem brought us together at the
chasunah. Yeah.
So, we could sit together, shmooze, and
And I will tell you, obviously, this was
min Hashamayim.
told I had told
Min Hashamayim.
I told Yisrael um
weeks ago that I was going I wanted to
ask you to come on. And then I met you
at the chasunah. And so, I said, "Oh,
this is great. Can you come on to the
podcast?" And you said yes immediately.
And uh I was so deeply touched and moved
that I almost didn't finish my boreka.
Wow.
Anyway,
Wow. Rabbi. Almost almost
I didn't know my words were so touching.
If I would have known, I would have been
like Aaron Hakodesh and come out with
tupim and macholos. So, what's zemiros
like in the Goldwag house?
How was it when you were growing up? Did
you sing zemiros growing up?
Yeah. We did sing zemiros growing up.
Your dad, the famous sock man. Yes.
Murray the sock man.
My father, baruch Hashem, my father and
my mother both sing well. Really. And my
father has a gift that when I do
harmony, he doesn't get thrown off. Wow.
So, that's that's really good. We did
sing. Uh we sang classic tunes. Yeah.
Um But you were already writing songs as
a kid? Yes. That's correct. I was. I
actually did have Menucha V'Simcha that
I wrote when I was probably about 13 or
14.
Um but we didn't sing those songs
at my table.
Uh we sang whatever, the regular stuff.
Uh the regular
I don't even remember what we sang, but
we sang the you know,
And now, when you were home? Yeah, in my
You did
traditional ones? Yes. So, I mean, I
went to yeshiva for high school in 10th
grade.
And then we got the more yeshivish tunes
like Baruch Kel
Elyon, which we'll get to.
And the Mizmor L'Dovid, we have to do
three of them, so you have to Mizmor
L'Dovid, we've been singing Shenker, and
then you have to know Mizmor L'Dovid,
which is Reb Shmuel Brazil, Hashem Ro'i
Lo Va'Yisar,
and another one which is from Modzhitz,
and Which is a
Mizmor L'Dovid.
I don't know where that's from. I don't
know where that's from. We never sang
that one.
Isn't it the Bekes Mizmor L'Dovid?
Not I'm aware of, but they have they had
a curry bone.
And the
Yeah.
That's the famous one. They had a few
years before that.
They had another one. They had the
No.
That's the same one. Now, my son
Moshiach was with me by
um
uh
Landau, Rabbi Landau. A rav
the rebbe Landau. I don't know if you
know Landau in Flatbush. Okay. Yeah, as
in Landau's shul. That's right. That's
right. One of my favorite stories. I was
here in Israel. I was speaking around.
Anyway, he calls me and says, "Hi, this
is Landau." You know, so said, "Uh
shalom aleichem. You know, you're from
Landau's?"
I said, "Okay." "You know, Landau's shul
in Flatbush?" I I said, "No, I'm not
familiar with it." He goes, "What do you
mean? It's it's the biggest shul in
Flatbush." I said, "No, I never heard of
it." He goes, "Oh." Anyway, "We have a
speaker series during the winter. We get
in the biggest speakers. You never heard
of Landau's?"
I said, "No, I'm a Long Island kid, you
know, I live in Far Rockaway. I I you
know, I didn't really know Brooklyn."
"Oh." "Anyway, during the winter we have
a we have friend we have You never heard
of Landau's?"
Anyway, so finally Project Inspire did a
Shabbos in Flatbush and they and they
sent me to I I Friday night I ate by
Landau.
And um
and
uh
my son Moshiach who happened to be in
America then, he was with me.
And um
uh
And you know, Dveikus is of course was
Abie Rotenberg, husband of Lady with
and um
Label Sharfman. Label Sharfman who was
not there. Right. And Well, it switched
between
um
Yeah, the oldest Shwekey Bell. Well, the
old Rebbe Shwekey Bell, but before that
it was I think his name was Yitzy
Weinberger, if I'm not mistaken. The
original Deep Voice Yeah. was
So, that was not Rebbe. That was Right.
So, Rebbe who I've had this discussion
Yes.
And also Eli Kranzler and Yossi
Sonnenblick. Yeah. So, he was he was
eating there Friday night with us.
And me and him sang that curry bone,
which is haunting.
It's a haunting curry bone. It's And
who's the composer?
I think if I'm not mistaken, Boruch
Manzelovsky.
Was it?
Wow. I think.
So, um so he uh
I do his
uh
uh Keil Adon when I have when I this
Shabbos when I have yahrzeit, so I do
his Keil Adon.
Nobody knows it. I don't know. Anyway,
nobody knows it. I'm the only one in the
world who knows it. But he used to sing
it in yeshiva. I was in yeshiva with him
a couple of times. Okay. But uh
it it's haunting. It's a haunting
melody. Anyway, so me and me and Rebbe
were singing it. And Moshiach was like,
you know, singing along, you know. And I
said, "Do you understand this is Dveikus
who's who's sitting here right now who's
singing this song, you know?" So.
But anyway, let's uh so um
so let's start at the beginning, right?
Okay. Shalom Aleichem.
Aleichem Shalom.
We're already up to uh what do you call
it? The
um Kiddush Levana. Right.
Right.
So, uh which Shalom Aleichem? So, I did
it before the classic Shalom Aleichem.
You don't know where that comes from.
It's an old song. It's I think
not composed by someone from
Really? It's a I think it was composed
by somebody conservative and cuz I heard
a story that when
when Rabbi Shmuel Brazil
The advantage of that Shalom Aleichem
you can do also you can do each one
three times.
Right. It goes easier with three times.
The other one you have to always keep
your head straight.
Or do a high part twice even though it
doesn't work.
I'm on the third time and I'm doing the
first part, so I missed something.
So, when Rabbi Brazil composed his
Shalom Aleichem, I don't remember who it
was. I don't know. It's a legend. I
don't know. We have to ask Rabbi Brazil,
maybe bring him on the show.
Um but a
kosher person said to him, "Mr. Kayak,
we finally have a from from version of
this song."
But whatever. Does my son still sing
this? My son
From the time I was a kid, I never heard
another Shalom Aleichem besides that
one. Yeah. You know, so where are the
Shalom Aleichems from 100 years ago?
This is one of them. Shalom Aleichem.
It's for sure 100 years old.
The benching by the way that we do,
Boruch Hashem, is also 100 years old.
Yeah.
Or more.
We're singing a lot of old songs.
That's why people think that my curry
bone is 100 years old. Right. Well,
certain ones become timeless and others
disappear. Just vanish right away. They
were like they were on the scene and
then they vanish. But uh
uh there was a Shalom Aleichem
my friend Shimon first did when I was
out in Los Angeles as a bochur. And I I
would eat by him Friday night,
especially on those late summer ones,
you know. And you're like already
dropping, you know, if you make late
Shabbos, you know.
And it was you know,
it just moves along a little faster.
That's not the one, but who sings that?
That's uh Mendy Werdyger.
Mendy Werdyger has it on his album
Chaverim.
Yeah.
Shalom Aleichem.
It's rather similar to Shalom Aleichem.
Shalom Aleichem.
Shalom Aleichem. Okay. No.
Gosh. See, I don't have a head for for
music. That's why if I I forget it, I
could I could sit there for
for days and I could forget
idea. Make up a new Shalom Aleichem and
it will be that one.
Uh
Shalom it it was like it's like almost
tuneless. It just like goes back
and forth.
that when Rabbi Brazil made up his song,
it came in Friday night. He was in a
rush. He's like, "Shalom Aleichem.
Yea yea yea.
Shalom Aleichem."
We have to we have to confirm all these
stories or else So, is there any other
Shalom Aleichems that that people
actually sing? So, I There's been a lot
that's been written. Like you brought
the Dveikus one. Right.
You have to repeat that that joke.
People We're the only ones who are
laughing cuz
It was I I spoke in Rabbi Sharfman's
seminary
What was the topic? Uh I'm about
platonic relationships. It's the first
one of my shiurim that went platinum.
So, uh today they talk about it going
viral. But back then, you know,
something that was a hit went platinum.
And uh I I spoke on this topic in the
Sharfman seminary and I was teaching in
World of David.
It was probably like 2000 or 2001.
years ago, 34 years ago. 34 years.
I'm trying to think cuz when did Dveikus
5 It was Dveikus 5, which came out I
think late mid mid-90s, you think?
Yeah, it had to be late '90s. But I uh I
came back and uh
and the next next morning I was giving a
shiur and they say, "Hey, Rebbe, I heard
you spoke about platonic relationships
last night." So, how do you know? He
goes, "I got a copy of the tape."
By the end of the week, every yeshiva
and seminary had a copy of the tape. But
but I started off since I was in Rabbi
Sharfman's seminary by making fun of
him. And uh Naturally. He He afterwards,
you know, he he called me up to offer an
explanation cuz he was evidently I hit a
sore spot there.
You know. Cuz when they sing the first
song on the album of Dveikus 5 was
I said, "This is how we know we're
getting old." That's what I said, you
know. So, he says to me, "It's all
digital today. We could have taken that
out. We left it on on purpose cuz we
thought it made a nice, you know, uh It
sounded natural. It was it was a
cappella. It was
He thought he thought it gave it a nice
uh sound to it, you know. And here I am
making fun of him. So,
uh chas v'shalom, you know, cuz he is
not only a uh beautiful voice and
tremendous musical talent, he is a
mechanech par excellence. Also, just a
wonderful wonderful person.
So, uh I throw all that in.
Wait, so to your question of Shalom
Aleichems, are there any other major
Shalom Aleichems that are being sung?
I don't know, but I can tell you I wrote
I composed a melody for Shalom Aleichem,
which Benny Friedman sang.
Shalom Aleichem.
So, I don't know if people ended up
singing it at the Shabbos tables, but it
was it was it had its kufa being
popular. It's funny. I I don't know I
don't know which tunes become
you know.
Aishes Chayil. Well, I'll say to that
point,
Yeah.
every song I always say this, every song
has its mazel.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
And there are songs that have a mazel
that wow, they're huge for a few years.
Like Racheim, anybody remember Racheim?
So, it has it had its mazel.
me, Racheim, it's because it's really
only one part.
Right, it just keeps going. It's just
like a
sentence. But that's why you know that
song.
Malchuscha. Malchuscha. It's the same
tune, just
Right.
But I'll tell you something. I'll tell
you something.
I'll tell you something. There's
the most annoying songs to sing. But
I'll tell you something, um
just from my experience, like when you
make a song where the low part and the
high part are kind of similar,
uh it like gets stuck in people's heads
more. Really? So, cuz it's like
and then it starts to grate on you, but
it's stuck. It's too late.
And sometimes that that works. Sometimes
that works really
was hot. Sure.
It did not survive the test of time. You
know? Right, so I think
the one of the secrets is to write a a
Shabbos zemer. Yeah. Well, yeah, but
Well, I mean, it's it's hard
we've seen with Shalom Aleichem, look
how many Shalom Aleichems there are and
how many of them have actually stood the
test of time.
of time. That's the question.
Yeah. Aishes Chayil. So, everybody knows
Aishes
composed It sounds like it's very old.
It's uh '60s, 1960s, '50s, maybe.
They sing
I don't know.
I knew you were going to
You got the problem with the trees. I
know, but it it doesn't take a lot of
energy to sing it.
It just sounded like
So, it's good on a on a Shabbos. That's
the one that we do. I
Ishayem first sang it. And and when it's
when I'm really tired, that's my go-to
Shalom Aleichem.
Okay, so that's the Aishes Chayil.
So, so with Aishes Chayil, there's not
I'm not aware of any other tunes, but
I'll tell you what happened.
Well, I I don't know. That's That's
I don't know it.
It was in the song.
I think that
was before I was born. It had to be like
'75.
Yeah. That predated my existence.
And there's another Aishes Chayil. Well,
see what happens is like Shwekey puts
out
Oh, so they messed up the song. No,
that's not going to exactly be for
Friday night. That's for like a chasanah
when you want to get everyone at the
end. So, that's what I was going to say.
Like Shwekey has his
But
um
But it's for It's like a wedding song.
It's not like It's not a song that you
can sing at your Shabbos table.
Mhm.
Well, that's a maila also. If you never
heard anyone say it. If it's easy to
sing, if it's easy to khap, it's like
when I 30 No,
when when was it? I I composed the song
Carribean
in 1998.
Okay? So, the song has only been around
for It's only existed for 26 20 Where
are we? 25 years. Okay, it's not 100
years old.
This is the famous Carribean that we
missed the listen.
But But that is that is like that the
Vegas Carribean, it's haunting.
It It gets inside of you.
It gets in your guts. You can't You
can't forget it.
it's so it's very simple. Like I
remember when I sang it in when I was at
a bar And it has a couple of like little
kvetches in there that and that people
who aren't good singers can play along
with.
So,
those are the things that people who
can't sing can sing.
That to me is like the best cuz
sometimes you have these really
complicated kind of harmonies and stuff
that you really need to be
So, it's a maila.
It's It's a maila to be for a song to be
simple and catchy. When I sang this song
for the first time, 23 years ago, I was
walking around the mirror and I was
making my rounds to friends and rebbeim
and I I was singing this song to
everybody and they were like, "Wow, it's
so beautiful." And I remember someone
saying,
"I know this song."
I know this song already. And it was
original.
But it was just so as I hope It gets in
your guts. I didn't steal it from
anywhere, but it's but it's so simple
that you get it right away. A Shabbos
zemer that gets into your kishkes is
something that's really unbelievable.
But
my kids,
they didn't call the Ari Goldwag
Carribean. They called it the Yeshiva
Carribean.
This is what they sang in the yeshivas.
My you know, my sons would you know,
come from yeshiva with this. "Oh, this
is the Yeshiva Carribean."
So, I mean, it's been it's been
becoming מקובל among among the בני
ישיבות. That's something special. Yeah.
You know. And I'll also say that it's
interesting cuz
in the state in America and in Europe,
the song caught on very strong. Did not
catch on as strong in Israel,
interestingly, except in the yeshivas
where there are Americans in the
yeshiva, you generally speaking.
Um cuz then the American guys teach it
to the Israelis and they're like, "Oh,
wow, this is pretty nice. Where is it
from?"
Um but I actually had a a story that
just happened to me. I told you before.
Uh on on Friday, I was at a yeshiva of a
family who the father, Elisha Lonstein,
uh was he fell in Gaza.
And
terrible story. Six kids. Oldest is 12.
Um his wife is really strong.
May I make things people.
And uh so, I came there to
his wife asked me to come in to sing for
the kids. The kids
know my music very well.
And um
I sat with them and I was singing I sang
a few songs and I I said, "Do you guys
know this song Carribean?" And I started
singing them Carribean.
And the the son, Eitan, was 12. He's
like, "I know that song, but I don't I
didn't know that you composed the song."
He's like, "Yeshivat Yochanan sings this
song."
So, and then I I actually had heard it
before, but I went back to check and and
they had It's a There's a version an
Israeli version of it singing
It's very It has like, you know, a few
hundred thousand streams or whatever
views on YouTube. So, I uh
Yes, it's kind of nice. So, the Israelis
made me know they'll pick it up, too.
So, uh before we go back to Carribean,
uh just kiddush.
Kiddush.
I grew up with that kiddush. So, did I.
Where did that come from? That's Israel
West Hempstead.
It sounds like a It sounds like a
chazzonus piece from somewhere. I have
no idea. Yeah. I wish I was a musical
historian, but I'm not. But Yeah. But I
sing that fast that no one tries to sing
along with me. Yeah.
I
only have sec. On special Shabbos when
it's all basically family, I I go out
and get a bottle of Kedem kiddush wine.
Cuz I can't get Manischewitz heavy
Malaga. So, I
sit over there with the kiddush wine.
the time. When I was growing up, it was
Manischewitz heavy Malaga. Extra heavy
Malaga.
And uh my dad would sing that. And so,
uh so, I'll sing it and I drag it out,
you know. Wait, but on Yom Tov, it's not
the right tune for Yom Tov. No, it's
not.
What do you do on Friday night when it's
Yom Tov? Do you sing zemiros or not?
Yeah.
I do.
Do you?
Not if it's the Seder.
You could do it, but
but we don't cuz we're sort of like
pressed for time, but uh but on Yom Tov,
sure. Otherwise How many We're already
after Shabbos. So I split time again to
do it. How many
uh uh
can you sing? You know what I mean? And
then after a while it just starts to
grate on you, you know? And uh
especially at the end of like Sukkos.
And you're just like, no, no. It's like
Asher Bara at the end of Sheva Brachos
like you just had enough.
But uh so that's the Kiddush, right?
Okay.
Okay, Kiddush, yes. Um
uh Okay, Kiddush, yes.
Yeah, okay. Uh we're going in order. Kol
Mekadesh vi Yes. Now, I only know one
niggun. Kol Mekadesh vi Right? That's
the only one I know. Now, my wife's
It's a Chassidishe niggun. It is?
Composed by Suki Berry's father-in-law.
Really?
so. I saw that in an in an article.
They were singing Kol Mekadesh vi or
No, so my wife's uncle who is Chazan
Klein, who was uh
Oh, Shalom. He was in Toronto for many
years. And um uh he put out a tape on
zemiros, which I can't find. But I
remember when he says Kol Mekadesh,
there's only one. I start singing, he
goes, "No, Kol Mekadesh has a nusach."
Nusach? That's what he said. There's a
There's a standard tune. And I know that
um whenever I say something like this,
I'm going to get a bunch of comments
from people who will tell me where it is
and how to find it, etc. So I'm throwing
it out there, but he says there's a
nusach to Kol Mekadesh that like I said,
I wanted to listen to the tape, and of
course I misplaced it, and uh and I I
want to be able to hear it. So uh but he
says, "No, there's a traditional Kol
Mekadesh that everyone sings."
Okay. But I don't know what it is. Well,
we'll have it in the links in the
description.
Menucha Vesimcha. So let's let's uh
let's There's a lot of those. Let's deal
with the elephant in the room. There's a
lot of those.
Carlebach.
You sing Carlebach?
Like generally? You ask me like a
general question?
Yes. I I do. Cuz there are those people
who uh about Carlebach. I'm sorry to say
I'm not that familiar. Uh I don't even
know what the question is from.
Um Baruch David Simon
told me he met somebody
who was the who was the person in this
story that there were these yeshiva guys
in some pizza place. You know the story?
Yes. And Carlebach comes over, and he
says, "Oh, my holy brothers." And they
said, "You're not my brother. You You're
You're not You're
You're not a Yid. You don't keep Torah.
You don't keep mitzvos. You hug women.
You do this."
So he says, "If I do teshuvah will you
will you let me sit with you?"
They said, "Yeah." And he sits down in
the corner like this.
You know, for I don't know how long it
was. And he says, "Okay, I'll never do
it again."
And they eat together, and then the next
day he was on a plane
Yes. That's the story, yes. So he says I
He gave me the number of the kid, who of
course I never called cuz I misplaced
it.
It's right next to the tape.
It's right next to the tape. Oh my god.
Anyway, so um
uh my mother used to say to me, "You'd
lose your head if it wasn't attached."
Anyway. So um so
You know what the problem with that tune
is?
What? It doesn't end.
That's all the Carlebach song.
That was a It just keeps going. I don't
KNOW HOW TO END IT. That's another guy
in Yes, that's
that's This is like a lesson in like
goingness in in creating songs.
If you create a song that doesn't end so
then once again you get it they're stuck
with you. They're stuck with your song.
It can't stop.
I'll tell you an interesting thing that
uh when I was a kid, I was born 1959, so
we used to have what were called 45 RPM
records. I heard of those.
Right? And you put them on and We didn't
have that. And you'd listen to them, and
when they ended, they faded out.
Okay. Like Jewish songs always had an
ending.
Yeah? But they would just slowly fade
out. And they said the reason is because
then you feel like you didn't finish the
song, and you put it on again.
So I feel like a Carlebach niggun is the
same way. It just It just keeps going.
Yeah, and I have a friend uh fellow
composer who I've used some of his songs
in my albums, who always said to me,
"Better to make your song short, and
they have to go back and hear it again
if they want to than to make it long,
and they have they're going to skip it."
Mhm. So
there you are. So Menucha Vesimcha That
is of course the Menucha Vesimcha.
Where is that tune from? I have no idea.
The The problem with that song is
I have to really enjoy that song.
It puts you right to sleep.
Especially on a short Friday when you're
like tired. Well, it's cuz you already
had the soup. You had the matzah balls.
if you sing this when they serve the
soup
No, even before they'll serve the soup
and you'll tumble over and drown.
It just so It's just like a It's just
It's It has sort of a a lullaby quality
to it.
And you could just start it, and you see
everyone go
And then there's Miami Then there's
Miami Boys Choir Menucha Vesimcha.
Yom Shabbos
Were you there when they did that one?
Well, I'll tell you a little story about
the song. I came into the choir in 1988.
Okay?
And they had just put They had put out a
whole bunch of albums in the early '80s,
V'seya'anu B'simcha and Kol Yisrael
B'yachad, and Shabbos B'Yerushalayim.
And
walking through the streets, I feel my
face. So they had put out one of the
albums had this Menucha Vesimcha on it,
and we had to learn the harmony.
And I must say
I was recalcitrant in my duties as a
choir boy. Great word. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hard to work into a conversation. That's
really good, right?
I don't want everyone to know what I
actually just said. That's why I said it
that
So So I didn't learn the harmony, and he
saw me going
He's like, "Did you Did you Did you
learn that?" I'm like, "No." And he
started crying. I was 9 years old.
Really?
Yeah. Those were Those were I I never I
never came to a practice without having
learned the harmony after that. It was
like
It's also a very beautiful tune.
Yeah, so that's really pretty. That's
the one that we do on Friday night
usually.
When I'm tired
and I do my fast tunes
No, that's that's Carlebach. I'm saying
that's fast. That's about That doesn't
end. That's why I came to that one. No,
I do the other perek. Like um
Uh I don't know if it's a perek. Uh we
call it the carnival one.
Okay, I'll do it.
Okay, I'll do
We have to have Shemei
So it goes very fast. I don't know that
one. We need to You don't know it? No,
we need to have a Friday night together.
Oh my gosh. You know what was the last
time that we had a Friday night
together? Remember the first Friday
night we had together? Do you remember
the first time?
I I called up We had just moved in to
Agassi number 54.
And I opened up the phone book, and I
found Rabbi Arlansky's name, and I said,
"Hi, Rabbi Rabbi Arlansky, this is I'm a
new on the block. I was wondering if you
had guests. My name is Ari Goldwag."
Do you remember the story? Uh I don't
remember you uh
going to those lengths of
Oh, yeah, we were desperate. It was I
just remember you'd come, and I would
always hack you about Jewish music.
You were like, "You want to say D'vei
Torah." And I was like, "Yeah, BUT WHAT
ABOUT SHWEKEY?"
OKAY.
RECALL THAT. I DO recall that. Is there
So Is there any other Menucha? I don't
know I'm not I'm trying to think. Oh, I
have a Menucha Vesimcha. Do you? Which
is on my album Am Echad
which I happen to know that Nachum Segal
likes very much and plays.
Um it goes
I'm skipping to the bottom part.
Shemei
Shamayim
Eretz
V'yamim
Kol
Tzva'av
Umarom
Y'varechu
El Adonai
And I saw someone did a mashup between
this song and my song. And Ethan Ethan
Katz's
um Ethan Katz has a song.
And these two songs like they they're
like a space for each other.
Well, the the low part is is um I'm
losing it. It's uh
No, the high part is again and the low
part is
um
So, the his low part matches like sits
like
they're it's not they're not the songs
are not actually similar, but the the
melody they they're like harmonies of
each other.
So, anyway. My Adidus. My Adidus.
There's the classic.
Is that the one you had in mind?
Yes.
Now, the problem with that is first of
all, my Adidus
takes forever to learn.
And there's also like a missing bar or
something so everyone messes it up.
Yeah.
So, it just takes too long.
Now, when I was in Yeshiva in Kaptzai,
they had a My Adidus that they said goes
back to Slabodka.
That's what they said when I was there
and they said that the My Adidus is sang
in Musar Yeshivas.
Right? They sang
You'll hear the tune and you'll
understand.
You know they sang in the Vartic? You
know they sang in the Vartic? Stick
Musar. You know they sang in the Vartic?
So, uh Baruch Chait recorded this on one
of his Kol Salonika's. Okay.
Now, here's the hard part.
They have to stick a lot of words in.
So, luckily the slow part is slow enough
that you can save up your breath for
when you have to stick 25 words into it.
And the whole Yeshiva the whole Yeshiva
would sing this together? Yeah, yeah,
yeah.
Yeah. Well, again. And everyone fit the
words in the same exact way or everyone
was doing it their own You were so busy
concentrating on making sure you got it
right that you couldn't listen to them.
Yeah, and it's something that you can
slow slow it down a little bit for
people.
But there's no fun in that. Cuz once you
get it down Although we're not moving on
yet. So, I I also have a song with
you you you brought together Or is there
another My Adidus? I composed the song
for My Adidus which Benny Friedman
actually sings and on my a cappella
albums we spoke about a cappella once.
Yes. So, we actually do a duet and my
son Moshe Dovid is also in that song.
It's beautiful.
So, there's actually It's beautiful.
Yeah, Baruch Hashem. Thank you. So,
there's actually a
one?
So, Benny sing sang it originally.
There's a there's film of me and Benny
doing a concert together in Baltimore
where we go through My Korban and this
My Adidus and Shalom Aleichem.
And um if you want to learn you can
go there or just listen over and over to
what I just sang.
I think it's the the alter the second is
definitely the more better option.
Okay. The My Yofis I don't know anything
about it. Me either, right? That's what
I said. There's something there's also
something missing from this bench.
You're missing um
uh
Yom Shabbos Kodesh.
No, it's at the end.
And this? I'll get you there, don't
worry.
Well, wow, this one has a lot. I told
you, that's why I took this bench. This
is This is from my son's wedding. Okay.
All right. I don't know are These are
the most mirrors that I've heard. My
Yofis Tzum Man Ach Ani.
Yom Shabbos Kodesh?
Nope. Nope, me either. Okay. Korban.
Okay, we we we know that. I think we
beat beat this one.
Well, did we do the Dveikus one?
You're doing it again.
Speaking of long.
I guess so at the end of the meal you're
allowed to do the Shluff the Shluff.
I I find that is a haunting melody.
That's right. It's very haunting. And I
will never forget I was at an Shabbos
Friday night meal in the JLE in London.
And they sat me with a group of young
people and they put every like a Rabbi
at each table etc. The idea being that
the people would talk to them. Instead,
they were much more interested in doing
it themselves and I was sitting there by
myself, you know, counting my fillings
with my tongue.
Well, what kind of stuff did you talk to
them?
And
and
one point I closed my eyes and I sang
this song quietly to myself cuz to me
Zimirot says
has a lot of power. Uh even this day
when I became Shomer Shabbos my parents
were not Shomer Shabbos. They would go
to work. And I would eat by myself and
sing Zimirot to myself. So, they have a
very special meaning for me. Anyway, so
I sing this quietly to myself and I open
my eyes everyone's staring at me.
And I was like um sorry, did I you know,
did I
Yeah, so they said that was beautiful.
That was haunting. I never heard
anything like that.
So, that made an impression on me of
of that tune. Well, there's a few
actually there's a few other ones I
won't mention.
What's the classic? Korban.
That's when you're in the you know, your
old mode, you know.
That's like a My father used to sing
that one. That was the old one. You
don't know where that comes from.
No way. That's an old one. It's an
oldie. It's at least as old as mine.
Then there's the Pirchei what? Go ahead,
but I'm tired and I do that fast and
good.
That's how the meal began. That's his
tune.
Is it? That's in Miami? Well, it's it's
Toronto Pirchei, but that's his tune.
Yeah, it's it's you're right. It's it's
you're right.
Keep things going. So, there's there's
an there's a Reggish Korban.
Uh Rabbi Brazil. No. I Korban
And there's an old MBD Korban.
How's it going? I got to pull it out. Um
I'm thinking of this one.
That's also Dveikus. That Maybe that's
the Bachman's Alski one.
Uh
love the giver
this simcha
just
That's all the same.
That's the biggest fight.
I
call you all
I love they all my
I
love
you my God.
Melech Malchei Yisrael
Melech Malchei Yisrael I've tried this
in my Shabbos table a few times, but
people nobody knows it so No, forget
about whether they know it or not. They
it's it's It's a little complicated.
It's a little complicated.
It's hard to sing. Only we we we forgot
the classic album. K'var
Ribon
Olam La la la la la la la la la la la la
la V'chol Ha'olam
La la la la la la la la
I love you my
I love
you my
Melech
Malchei Yisrael
Ay ay ay ay ay
Are there Chassidish K'var Ribons?
I'm sure there are.
I have to get a Chassid on.
Cuz I don't You know, it's like I was
making fun once
all the Litvish tunes, right? I I was I
was
making fun once of the um
how annoying the Harachaman Yakam Lanu
was cuz that was in the fall, I guess.
You know? Harachaman Yakam Lanu that's
K'var Ribon Yakam Lanu And so guys David
Anavales Harachaman Yakam Lanu and so
guys David Anavales Harachaman Yakam
Yakam is like Malchus you know? And you
know so
That's why it's still around.
of my one of my
Chassidish
Rubilovsky crazies he says to me, "What
are you talking about?" He says There's
a whole bunch of Chassidish in Yiddish.
And he sent me a recording of one and I
I didn't even know. So this whole world
is a mystery to me, you know? Even
though uh
even though my my grandfather comes from
Vengrov and
somebody told me the whole town was Ger.
So Kintz einer Ger Chassid could be.
Okay, I'm Chortkov. My my
my I think both my grandparents my
father's parents were both Chassidish
Chortkov. I don't know. My wife's family
is Chassidish from all sides. They're
everybody's
friend of mine said, "Of course of
course it's obviously Chassidish blood
if you're making up songs."
So uh yeah, so uh so I don't know the
other but what are the K'var Ribons are
there? There's the uh well there's the
NBD one new. It goes um
K'var Ribon Olam V'chol Ha'olam
I love you my I love you my
Melech Malchei Yisrael
I love That was from this one Shabbos.
You know?
It's on uh I don't want to think
I'd rather pray
1970s
I even though it's before my time I know
I know I know it. Wow.
Yeah, that was a good K'var Ribon. Yeah,
it's good.
But you don't hear people singing it.
I sing it sometimes.
Come to my house see that's why you
should come to my house. Why don't you
come to your house?
Tzama Nafshi
L'Elokim
Tzama Nafshi
Right, that's the classic.
And then uh Shmuel Brazil has Tzama
Nafshi
L'Elokim
The night same same kind of
The night night
He has a whole album of Shabbos songs. I
think it's Regesh Volume 7. 10.
What is it? Two? Well He has two Shabbos
albums. That's right. That's right.
So that's the classic. Tzama Nafshi then
there's uh
um we call it the Russian one here.
Tzama Nafshi L'Elokim
L'Elokim
Tzama Nafshi
Hashem
Chassinu Ay ay ay
Hey! Tzama Nafshi L'Elokim
L'Elokim Hey! Tzama Nafshi
L'Elokim Hey!
This
one is like you have to do a Kazatzka to
it. I love this song.
Who made up this song Rabbi? I don't
know where it came from. You made it up.
I didn't make up nothing. I can't.
But then we had what we called the Irish
one. Now I know I was singing this back
in the 1980s. So I don't know where it
came from. We used to call it the Irish
one.
Tzama Nafshi L'Elokim
L'Elokim
Tzama Nafshi
L'Elokim
Tzama Nafshi
L'Elokim This sounds very Irish.
Sounds very
Hashem
Tzama Nafshi
L'Elokim Hey hey!
L'Elokim
whether it's Russian or Irish. This is
like a feels like a drinking song. You
should have a mug in your hand, you
know? So when I'm when I'm like when I
do that uh L'Elokim and I do the K'var
Ribon I do that Tzama Nafshi. You like
to have a like Do the theme. Do the
theme. Do the theme. Do the theme. Do
the theme. Do the theme. Do the theme.
If I'm if I'm doing like you know K'var
Ribon Olam you know and
So then I'll do the Tzama Nafshi. I'll
stick with the classics.
Theme yeah. Theme.
Tzama Nafshi Tzama Tzama Nafshi L'Elokim
O Tzama
Tzama Nafshi L'Elokim
L'Elokim
O Tzama
Is this a classic? I think so.
I don't we never sang it when I was in
shul.
Is there any others? Well that's the
That's all that I know. Okay. Now I only
know one Yom Zeh L'Yisrael. Yom Zeh
L'Yisrael My kids my kids go crazy when
I sing this one. They they go crazy.
No, cuz I never do it with that much
enthusiasm.
Yom Zeh L'Yisrael When you do this Tzama
Nafshi is like right before benching.
You know what I'm saying? That's why
it's like
I go in order.
You do the order of this one?
Yeah. So you sing Tzama Nafshi
long before benching. Yeah. Oh my. Yom
Zeh L'Yisrael Ay Rav Simcha
Ay Rav Simcha Shabbos Menucha
Yom Zeh L'Yisrael Ay Rav Simcha
Shabbos
Shabbos Menucha
I just said
we do it first. I understand. That's why
when
I get to the first line and
my crowd is in open rebellion.
This song doesn't have a high part. It's
the same day.
No, this is the high part. Yom Zeh
L'Yisrael
You're doing a little faster so now it's
the high part.
So that's the divine
If anyone's still awake from that first
one they'll be
with these words as well.
Tzvi Sabikudim B'maamad Har Sinai it's
on one of my a cappella albums.
Uh I actually
did it There's a
young man
in uh young man
in in the UK named Eitan Freilich who
sang this song.
He uh sang the song but we did it
together also on a cappella. Tzvi
Sabikudim B'maamad Har Sinai
Shabbos U'moadim L'simcha B'chol Shanah
L'aroch L'fanav Ma'aseh S'aruchah
Shabbos Shabbos Menucha
O Yom Zeh L'Yisrael
O Yom L'simcha O Yom
Rav Simcha Shabbos Menucha
Yom Zeh L'Yisrael O Yom L'simcha
It's very pretty. Do you know anyone who
does it?
I do it. You do it for real? Yeah.
Good. Yeah.
All right. I don't know anybody else.
Actually, no, it's not true. I met
somebody on the street. I usually on
Shabbos I go for a little shpitzir on
Shabbos afternoon.
And randomly people come over to me and
say all kinds of things. But this family
came over to me and said, "Oh, we love
all your songs and we sing your Yim Same
Yisrael." Like, "You do?"
Cool. Okay.
Okay, you asked who does it every
I don't do it. I don't really know it so
well.
I know the tune, but I don't know
anybody actually singing it.
This is Chassidish, that's why you don't
know it.
All right, so
are there any famous Chassidisha singers
out there who would like to be on the
Rabbi Orlansky Show and
do some Chassidish niggunim to help us
Chassidisha impaired people
our our
our vistas.
horizons and vistas.
Good. Sorry. Okay.
We're up to the day.
It's the Rabbi Orlansky Show.
Torah and Simcha, ready to go. It's the
Rabbi Orlansky Show.
Knowledge and wisdom will help you grow.
Lots of fun in every episode,
and we don't have to rhyme. No, we
don't.
It's the Rabbi Orlansky Show.
on rabbiorlansky.com
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the Rabbi Orlansky Show.
Torah and Simcha, ready to go. It's the
Rabbi Orlansky Show.
Till next time, till we meet again. It's
the Rabbi Orlansky Show.
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Show.