Ep. 22: The Voice of a Chossid with Avraham Fried

00:00 Speaker 1 I don't think it'll be an exaggeration to say that's what keeps me going. That is a shlichus up to be gate of Anachas Ruach to the Mashalach, and that's what, uh, what keeps me alive. If it was a personal agenda, I might have petered out already, you know? Okay, been there, you know, reached, reached, reached a certain level and time to retire. But, uh, I think it's safe to say that it's, it's the, the mission, the shlichus. God's my number again. David just, you know, gives me the koach, and people still wanna hear me sing. He named me.

00:38 Speaker 2 If you've been enjoying this podcast, please like and subscribe so that others can enjoy it as well. In addition, if you've benefited in any way from Among Chassidim podcast and would like to give something back, you can do so today at derher.org/donate. I'm Yossi Kamen. Welcome to Among Chassidim by Der Her, an ongoing fabrengen about life as a Chassid, our vibrant connection with the Rebbe, and inspired living shaped by the way he teaches us each and every day. This episode is dedicated leil Nishmas HaRav Sadiya Ben Rav Mardochay Olav Hashalom Dahan and the Refuah Shleima for Chana bas Nechama Dina by Shaul and Sheindi Dahan. Shalom Aleichem, Rav Avraham, how are you?

01:30 Speaker 1 Aleichem Shalom. Baruch Hashem.

01:32 Speaker 2 Okay. Thank you so much for making the time out of your very busy schedule to, to do this.

01:37 Speaker 1 Thank you for the invite. I made it to the Der Her. What, what's left?

01:42 Speaker 2 Okay. I know you're a fan, so, uh, makes sense.

01:44 Speaker 1 Absolutely.

01:46 Speaker 2 Um, so I think that's just a frame about this conversation. Baruch Hashem, I don't think you're new to talking to people and, you know, being out there. But, um, we might focus on things that are not focused on, on other conversations that you have with other people.

02:06 Speaker 1 Oh, okay.

02:06 Speaker 2 So that's, that's my intention.

02:08 Speaker 1 Good. Bring it on.

02:09 Speaker 2 Okay. So generally, um, this... the podcast is called Among Chassidim, and what we're really doing is talking to different Chassidim from all different types and different stripes. In that, I feel that you're very unique in the sense that you're a Chassid, and you're in a position-

02:28 Speaker 1 Yeshayahu.

02:28 Speaker 2 Yeshayahu.

02:28 Speaker 1 A lamdan.

02:29 Speaker 2 Exactly.

02:30 Speaker 1 Yeah. Go on, go on.

02:31 Speaker 2 And, uh, you're, you're, you're in a position that other people are not. So just in order to Lehmanah say that maybe I'll ask you a question that has to do just in chronological order of your life, just that, that might make things simple. How's that?

02:43 Speaker 1 Okay.

02:44 Speaker 2 Okay. Um, so I obviously know that, uh, you, you grew up here.

02:50 Speaker 1 Kfar Chava.

02:51 Speaker 2 Kfar Chava, Crown Heights by the Rebbe. And, um, most people... I mean, I mean, you, you were born... Is it, is it a secret what year you were born?

03:02 Speaker 1 What year?

03:03 Speaker 2 Yeah.

03:03 Speaker 1 Is it important?

03:05 Speaker 2 The, the, the decade. Just tell me the decade.

03:09 Speaker 1 Um, I was born, uh, after the third trip already, uh, should I just give in?

03:17 Speaker 2 Okay. So-

03:18 Speaker 1 Okay

03:18 Speaker 2 ... um, so the Yuds, the Chafs, the Lameds, I mean, this is, uh, this is something like that.

03:24 Speaker 1 Yeah.

03:24 Speaker 2 So th- this is, um... I mean, it's, it's un- I don't know if it's unique, but I don't know how many people here are around that grew up, you know? I think you grew up on President Street, right?

03:33 Speaker 1 Correct. That was second stop.

03:35 Speaker 2 Oh, second stop.

03:36 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

03:37 Speaker 2 Um, so I'll tell you what I know, and you can fill me in.

03:40 Speaker 1 Okay.

03:41 Speaker 2 I do know... The first thing I know about you is that the building that you lived in, 1418-

03:48 Speaker 1 1414

03:48 Speaker 2 ... or 1414 President Street, 1418 is the next one.

03:50 Speaker 1 Correct.

03:51 Speaker 2 Obviously, that's a famous building because, um-

03:55 Speaker 1 The Rebbe's mother

03:56 Speaker 2 ... the Rebbe's mother, Rebbetzin Chana, lived there, and I believe there was some interaction. Maybe, uh, you can tell us-

04:02 Speaker 1 Well, it's, it's-

04:02 Speaker 2 ... tell me about it

04:03 Speaker 1 ... it's well known that we were neighbors with the Rebbe's mother, and we knew exactly when Dev would come every day to see his mother, and I would stand outside and sing, and Dev would do that to me. So that's the whole story. That's it. End of conversation.

04:18 Speaker 2 So you're talking about... So this was like a, a, very often that this would happen?

04:23 Speaker 1 Probably, yeah. Not every day, I don't remember, but, uh, it was, it was often that I had this chutzpah to sing for the Rebbetzin in her house.

04:30 Speaker 2 So what was that?

04:32 Speaker 1 Um, my mother, Hashem, would go visit sometimes. I don't know how that got arranged, but... And, uh, she would say to me, uh, "Sing. Sing, Efis." I guess she, she knew that my family is a singing family because she would hear the zmirs from our, our apartment.

04:50 Speaker 2 So you lived in 1414. She lived in 1418?

04:52 Speaker 1 Correct.

04:53 Speaker 2 So you could hear it from in front?

04:54 Speaker 1 She... Yeah, exactly. When she was outside, she would hear Shabbos, and she very much enjoyed, um, hearing the zmirs. So she knew that we were a singing family, and, uh, she would say to me, "Sing." So I was told... I don't remember exactly because I was four years old. So, um, I would sing from behind the curtain because I was, uh, a little bit shy, and, uh, she very much enjoyed. That was my big chutzpah to sing for the Rebbetzin, Rebbetzin Chana.

05:21 Speaker 2 Do you remember what you sang?

05:24 Speaker 1 Let's see. I think it was Tanya or Adirabbah. I'm not sure. I probably thank you for asking what did I sing. I mean, uh, you know, from Babo Chal, Babo Chaling.

05:33 Speaker 2 There's a few stories with the Rebbetzin, with the Rebbe's mother, with Neganim.

05:37 Speaker 1 Yeah. I know.

05:38 Speaker 2 First of all, um, I don't know if it's public, but there's a, there's a recording of... that people say is her singing Neganim, I think which are, um-

05:46 Speaker 1 Oh

05:46 Speaker 2 ... her father's Neganim, the Meir Schlemer, not ski Neganim, and, uh, others I think as well.

05:53 Speaker 1 Uh-huh.

05:53 Speaker 2 And, um, there's a few stories like, uh, she would ask Chassidim, um, what nigun did the Rebbe teach, you know, in some chasida.

06:02 Speaker 1 Uh-huh.

06:02 Speaker 2 She would ask. She like... I think she interacted with people a lot.

06:05 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

06:06 Speaker 2 Uh, she would say to me-

06:07 Speaker 1 I thought she was a, a venna, a nigunner.

06:09 Speaker 2 Yeah. That, that's what I understood. Yeah.

06:11 Speaker 1 Yeah. Then, of course, it's her bracha that, uh- That accompanies me till this very day. She told Rabbi Weinberg that, uh, Avremele, I'm not... I don't know exact, the exact lotion, but he has a future in being with Sameach Klal Yisrael.

06:27 Speaker 2 Really? Okay. I didn't know that.

06:29 Speaker 1 Now you know.

06:30 Speaker 2 Okay. So-

06:31 Speaker 1 Now you know the whole story.

06:33 Speaker 2 You heard about that, uh, BeShas Maisa or this is later that you-

06:37 Speaker 1 I heard that from the daughter of Reb Mendel Morzov, who was there BeShas Maisa. She was standing and talking... The rebbetzin was standing and talking to Rabbi Weinberg, Yosel Weinberg, and she told him, "Is that, uh, ?" I think, I think she called him Avremele, and, uh, he, he will have a, a future, .

07:04 Speaker 2 Wow. Okay. So it's a bracha from the rebbe's mother.

07:08 Speaker 1 Correct.

07:09 Speaker 2 Um, was there something with, um, with our rebbetzin?

07:13 Speaker 1 All that I know is I was told that in the car, Chesed Habasdam would play f- the cassettes for her in the car, and she very much liked Tataniu.

07:25 Speaker 2 Hmm.

07:26 Speaker 1 Rabbi Chening, obviously, and, uh, the lyrics that I wrote about describing the Ava that , et cetera. And then he s- he told us... He printed it. It's written in a, written in a book that one Eda Rosh Hashana, before she bench the lift, she was singing this nigun, Tataniu.

07:46 Speaker 2 Hmm. And that's one of your... That's on one of the first albums.

07:51 Speaker 1 That was on the third album.

07:53 Speaker 2 Third album. Okay. So be- besides the singing, let's, um... I'm curious to... First of all, I've noticed throughout the years I've been watching videos of the Rebbe-

08:08 Speaker 1 Yeah, that's nice

08:08 Speaker 2 ... that, um, I see you not only by Fabringens, but like sometimes, uh, in the weekday, you know, in especially the later years, the , the , saying all the time. You're, you're part of the people. Am I correct that sometimes you stood like in the front near the Aron Kodesh? Is that, is that something accurate? That I think I remember.

08:26 Speaker 1 Could be. I didn't have a during those, uh-

08:28 Speaker 2 Yeah, those . Yeah, but I, I-

08:29 Speaker 1 , yeah

08:29 Speaker 2 ... I think I saw you more than once in that spot. Uh-

08:32 Speaker 1 I mean, uh, I, I live in Crown Heights, you know? So when there was a or Fabringen, I was there,

08:39 Speaker 2 Right.

08:39 Speaker 1 So what's, what's ? But, uh, yeah.

08:44 Speaker 2 What's ? Um, if every single person in Crown Heights was there by every single thing-

08:50 Speaker 1 Unless they were busy working. I mean, if there was a, you know-

08:53 Speaker 2 Right

08:53 Speaker 1 ... we'd get, we'd get a beeper, and we'd run to 770.

08:55 Speaker 2 Right. And, um, you... When you were, when you were a kid in Crown Heights, you went to, to Aletera? Where, where did you attend-

09:02 Speaker 1 All my life

09:03 Speaker 2 ... the whole time

09:03 Speaker 1 ... Aletera.

09:04 Speaker 2 I understand that your family, um, didn't, um... Like your, your father, like, didn't come from Lubavitch, right? Was it-

09:13 Speaker 1 No. No. My Zayde, both Zaydes were not connected to Chabad in any way. In, in, in the, in the Heim, in the Shtetl. Uh, coming to America, my, uh, my father met the Rashag actually in Tashkent. I don't know how much of a bond they had, but something clicked. When my father came to... My, my parents came to America, the Rashag offered him a job to come work in Tomkhat Mimim on Bedford Avenue, Bedford and Dean, and, uh, he worked there for forty-five years.

09:44 Speaker 2 So-

09:44 Speaker 1 But he kept, he kept his Minchagim, his, his , his Nusach, the Shtreimel, the Bekishe. He was a Luzher, Bobov Hasidim.

09:54 Speaker 2 So you-

09:54 Speaker 1 So I'm, I'm a combination of H- Chabad and Chagas.

09:58 Speaker 2 So my, my question is your, your father... Like he di- he didn't consider... He never officially made a switch, it's just that he's, he's here? Like how, how does that work?

10:06 Speaker 1 He, well, he, he, he was definitely a Hasid, but he didn't change his, uh, , you know? Um, but all his kids he gave to the Rebbe.

10:19 Speaker 2 Right. So how did he-

10:19 Speaker 1 My parents gave to the Rebbe.

10:21 Speaker 2 So how did he decide to send his kids to, to Lubavitcher Mesivta?

10:25 Speaker 1 You'll have to ask him.

10:26 Speaker 2 I'll try.

10:27 Speaker 1 Yeah. I think they tried for a year in other Yeshivas, didn't work out, and then Chabad became the permanent address.

10:38 Speaker 2 So like, so there was no, there was no like transition, just that the kids-

10:42 Speaker 1 Yeah. Pretty much

10:43 Speaker 2 ... took on-

10:44 Speaker 1 Pretty much

10:44 Speaker 2 ... everything.

10:45 Speaker 1 Yeah.

10:46 Speaker 2 And they all went to Aletera? It's important.

10:48 Speaker 1 Um, they all went to Aletera.

10:51 Speaker 2 Even though your father worked in -

10:52 Speaker 1 Yep

10:52 Speaker 2 ... Lubavitcher Yeshiva.

10:53 Speaker 1 They all went to Aletera in the beginning. Yeah. Maybe then it moved over to, to Ocean, Ocean... Where was it? Uh, I'm not sure. But it's all Aletera f- at the beginning for sure, and, um, yeah, they're all Shluchim.

11:11 Speaker 2 Right. So my question for you is, but like, um, being around 770, so something that you and your brothers acquired on your own. Like your, but... Your father wasn't there every Fabringen.

11:23 Speaker 1 No.

11:24 Speaker 2 Yeah.

11:25 Speaker 1 No.

11:25 Speaker 2 So-

11:25 Speaker 1 Yes, this was a self-trained, uh, army

11:28 Speaker 2 ... so how, how old are you when you started doing that?

11:31 Speaker 1 I was, I was already... I was born into it. I had no, no adjusting.

11:37 Speaker 2 So the Friedman brothers were just, uh, that's, that was the place-

11:39 Speaker 1 May- maybe at the beginning they had a little adj... But I didn't... It didn't last too long, so it was a very easy adjustment.

11:46 Speaker 2 Right.

11:47 Speaker 1 Like it wasn't after like 10 years of being there that they moved over. It was like, I think it was maybe a year that they tried in a different Yeshiva, and it didn't work, so that was it. It was a quick, quick adjustment.

11:59 Speaker 2 Did your father have, uh... Your fa- Like, your parents had Yechidus? Were they-

12:04 Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, sure. Absolutely.

12:06 Speaker 2 Do you remember it?

12:08 Speaker 1 With me was my bar mitzvah. That was the one and only Yechidus that I had.

12:11 Speaker 2 What happened then?

12:13 Speaker 1 The rebbe asked me about my , and I got a little fa- fablonjit, and he helped me out. He's very nice to me And, uh, that was, that was the only chiddush I had. But my other brothers and sisters, they had chiddush and everything.

12:27 Speaker 2 Oh. Mm-hmm. So, um, I think what, uh, what I noticed... You know, before we get to the, the music part, let me just think, um, a little more. So, and you were here, you were in New York the whole time in yeshivas?

12:45 Speaker 1 Yeah.

12:45 Speaker 2 Altele, whatever.

12:47 Speaker 1 Yeah, till, till we, till we went, uh, for two years to New Haven. That was already, that was already, uh, shlichus.

12:53 Speaker 2 Your shlichus in New Haven. Mm-hmm.

12:56 Speaker 1 Yeah. Altele all the way through.

12:59 Speaker 2 So, fine. So I, I think that, um, what's I noticed, um, as someone growing up, uh, consuming some of your material-

13:10 Speaker 1 Consuming is a good word. Okay.

13:12 Speaker 2 Yeah.

13:12 Speaker 1 Arainen in a previous.

13:14 Speaker 2 Arainen.

13:14 Speaker 1 Okay. Consuming.

13:15 Speaker 2 Okay.

13:15 Speaker 1 Okay.

13:17 Speaker 2 Is that the wrong word? I don't know.

13:18 Speaker 1 It's a good word.

13:18 Speaker 2 It's a good word. Okay. So what I noticed is, and I, I read this also, what I noticed is that the themes, especially of the early albums for sure, specifically the Mashiach themes, but a lot of them... For example, the one you just mentioned about the Tateniu, that, uh, that the Baal Shem Tov says, "Yeah, there is a Ben Yochid that, that is born to parents," like, Izkor Nusom, right? These, these are things that the Rebbe said hundreds of times. And I feel like in your-- the messaging in your music, especially the English songs, were very much connected to what the Rebbe was speaking.

13:59 Speaker 1 I am very pleased to hear that you got that, that you figured that out because I basically based all my songs on what I heard from the Rebbe. All my songs. I mean, the English or the Yiddish where I had a chance to say what I'm feeling, not a, not a pasuk, uh, basically what I heard from the Rebbe. No Jew was left behind was clearly from the Rebbe. Can anyone yid, you know?

14:19 Speaker 2 Can anyone yid Yiddish

14:20 Speaker 1 Bat Kol and, um-

14:22 Speaker 2 Nana Sagabi Ha'amak, the giant shoulders.

14:25 Speaker 1 That too. That too. Giant shoulders. Goodbye golus. Time is now. Um, Achdus. All these themes were things I heard from the Rebbe. Basically my-- That was my, uh, go-to.

14:37 Speaker 2 So my question is, was that for you like a... Was that an intentional, um, thing? Uh, uh, the, I guess the, I guess the question is-

14:49 Speaker 1 It's very intentional.

14:50 Speaker 2 Yeah. I guess the question, how was it for you? I'm sure it wasn't simple for you. Um, the... It, it wasn't a typical yeshiva bachur, especially in those times, things to do. The, the, the, the singing-

15:05 Speaker 1 Singing

15:05 Speaker 2 ... these, these songs.

15:06 Speaker 1 More clearly. That's why I changed my name.

15:08 Speaker 2 Was that hard for you?

15:08 Speaker 1 It was very hard. It was, it was, uh, uncharted territory.

15:14 Speaker 2 Well, you started off in chartered territory. Weren't you in a choir?

15:17 Speaker 1 Oh, that was... Okay. That was kosher. That was fine. That was, you know? That was with Eli Lipsker, alav hashalom.

15:24 Speaker 2 That's what me and you have in common, that we were both in Eli Lipsker's choir.

15:27 Speaker 1 Oh. You were?

15:28 Speaker 2 I made it.

15:29 Speaker 1 Oh.

15:30 Speaker 2 Probably the-

15:30 Speaker 1 Reingekapt.

15:31 Speaker 2 Yeah. Probably the end of the, uh-

15:32 Speaker 1 Very nice. Oh, look at that. We can say we were in Eli Lipsker's choir.

15:36 Speaker 2 I told, I told to my kids, myself and Avram Fried were in Eli Lipsker's choir.

15:40 Speaker 1 I like that. They say you're a baal, you're a baal menagim. Have a hoshen l'ginan.

15:45 Speaker 2 Something. I hope so. Maybe.

15:46 Speaker 1 Okay, good. Good.

15:47 Speaker 2 When I was in Eli Lipsker's, they were only singing... We were only singing Nigunim.

15:50 Speaker 1 Only Nigunim.

15:51 Speaker 2 You too also? For all these re- albums that he made-

15:54 Speaker 1 It was only Nigunim. My fave, my, my favorite solo-

15:55 Speaker 2 Was that record... It was a solo of you

15:57 Speaker 1 ... my favorite solo, Tamid Lecha Nashim, that was in Minnesota.

16:00 Speaker 2 But there's another solo of you. That's not Eli Lipsker? What, what choir is that?

16:03 Speaker 1 On, on his albums, I had solos.

16:06 Speaker 2 Right. And that's not Nigunim?

16:07 Speaker 1 No. Those, those were his songs.

16:08 Speaker 2 Oh, so he, he made... He composed that song, Eliahu Hanavi?

16:11 Speaker 1 He composed a lot of songs.

16:13 Speaker 2 Really?

16:13 Speaker 1 Those are his songs. I think the two, three albums that he put out, it's his songs. He had a lot of songs. Had some good songs.

16:23 Speaker 2 So that's separate from the choir?

16:25 Speaker 1 That was the choir, was concerts, Chabad concerts. That was all Chabad Nigunim.

16:28 Speaker 2 Right. That's right.

16:29 Speaker 1 His albums were his songs. Two separate things.

16:31 Speaker 2 And you were a soloist on that?

16:33 Speaker 1 I was. Eli discovered me.

16:38 Speaker 2 So I didn't know that he composed those songs.

16:39 Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

16:41 Speaker 2 Um, and then some of the songs we sing are songs that he sang on Chayyeich. Like we sang

16:49 Speaker 1 It's him. Yeah, that's him.

16:51 Speaker 2 Yeah.

16:51 Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah.

16:51 Speaker 2 That's how I, that's how I learned the song.

16:53 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

16:53 Speaker 2 There's a lot of nusachas to that nigun.

16:55 Speaker 1 Yeah.

16:55 Speaker 2 So like I have... I do the Eli Lipsker nusach.

16:58 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm. Happy he's a good makher.

17:01 Speaker 2 You know, you know the story with him, with the Rebbe?

17:03 Speaker 1 What was the Meisels?

17:05 Speaker 2 He, he, he, he, he... You weren't the first one in Lubavitch. Um, the way I heard the story was that he was basically-

17:15 Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah. Remind me. I can't-

17:16 Speaker 2 He wa- he was, he was leaving seder yeshiva. He's from Eretz Yisrael.

17:20 Speaker 1 Right.

17:20 Speaker 2 He came to Sam, Sam to, to learn, right? To kind, uh... That he was leaving seder and going to get music lessons. Like, uh-

17:28 Speaker 1 The Rebbe paid for it.

17:29 Speaker 2 Yeah. Then I think, uh, for, for n- not singing, for, uh-

17:33 Speaker 1 Flute? Accordion?

17:34 Speaker 2 Whichever mu- whichever instrument he was playing. And then Halla found that out, but they wanted to throw him out of yeshiva. And I don't know exactly the context. In those years, the Rebbe had an, uh, yechidas with Halla every, every month. So could be it was then. The Rebbe said to not... In order not to throw him out, the Rebbe asked how is he paying for it. And then the Rebbe... No, it's not, it's not the story?

17:59 Speaker 1 I'm, I'm, I'm love... I'm amazed.

18:00 Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah. Then the Rebbe, then the Rebbe paid for the, for the, for the music lessons. He's another good example-

18:07 Speaker 1 Amazing

18:07 Speaker 2 ... of a guy that... I mean, he's not like, he's not the, uh, Mendel Futerfas, right? Okay. We mentioned him before. Um, I mean, he's, he's Eli Lipsker, right? But what I mean, he, who's making the Nigunim? Who's doing the choir? Who's doing the Chayyeich? Who's playing by every chasuna? Who's playing by every rally?

18:28 Speaker 1 Every rallies.

18:28 Speaker 2 Yeah Did you sing your-- did you sing in front of the Rebbe ever?

18:33 Speaker 1 Only as a little kid coming to visit his mother.

18:36 Speaker 2 Okay.

18:37 Speaker 1 Never, never in the later years, no. Never worked out. But, um...

18:44 Speaker 2 Although I saw a picture of you-

18:45 Speaker 1 It's amazing

18:45 Speaker 2 ... when the, when the, when Rosenberg had the Silver Zemer, the choir.

18:49 Speaker 1 Yeah, the Kesher Blacha.

18:50 Speaker 2 Yeah, you're, you're getting Kesher Blacha that, that time.

18:53 Speaker 1 Oh, yeah.

18:53 Speaker 2 I believe.

18:54 Speaker 1 I went, I went every time to get Kesher Blacha. Um, I have a video actually of me getting the babble.

19:00 Speaker 2 Yeah. The, the whole It's a very freiliche Kesher Blacha. That Kesher Blacha is like a hemsha cholent.

19:09 Speaker 1 Yes, I have a clear video of it.

19:10 Speaker 2 I think that's when the-- I think that's when, uh,

19:17 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

19:17 Speaker 2 I think it was that one.

19:18 Speaker 1 Tzadkas is another.

19:20 Speaker 2 Tzadkas is another guy.

19:22 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

19:22 Speaker 2 Another, another. And that the Rebbe wanted to sing. How the Rebbe asked, the Rebbe asked-

19:29 Speaker 1 And the violin player who the Rebbe told to play the violin.

19:31 Speaker 2 Yeah. What's the name? Um-

19:31 Speaker 1 Look, the, the Rebbe was very-

19:33 Speaker 2 No, the Rebbe asked to sing davka, not

19:36 Speaker 1 Mm.

19:36 Speaker 2 The Rebbe wanted the, the, the Gruzinin Nigunim and the Russian Nigunim, the Chadita. The Rebbe wanted the Gruzinin. And the Rebbe said the

19:46 Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

19:48 Speaker 2 I read somewhere the-

19:49 Speaker 1 The Rebbe had a, such a brilliant approach to things with some... Imagine squashing a... Elipsker added so much, uh, so much Nigun to Chabad. He has a whole series of Nigunim he's played on the piano, and he sang Nigunim.

20:03 Speaker 2 Yeah, he sang the whole Sefer HaNigunim-

20:04 Speaker 1 Yeah

20:04 Speaker 2 ... from the notes.

20:05 Speaker 1 The whole Sefer. He did the whole thing?

20:06 Speaker 2 I think so, yeah. That's what, I mean, that's what it is. It's the whole-

20:08 Speaker 1 No

20:08 Speaker 2 ... he's singing Sefer HaNigunim.

20:09 Speaker 1 What a treasure.

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22:16 Speaker 1 Um, yeah, but as I, you know, got older, there was-- singing was not the very popular thing to do. Melin acquirers one thing, but to be a solo singer was... And, uh, but somehow, some way, I decided to go ahead with it. They gave me this mashova, and, uh, that's why I changed from Friedman to Fried. So nobody should know 'cause I never wanted to be in a scale. I wanted to be a, a tzadik nister.

22:43 Speaker 2 Right.

22:43 Speaker 1 You know? Uh, for a few months, no one knew who this, who's this guy, Fried? Who Until I had to reveal my true identity. And, but the name Baruch Hashem was Matzlia, so I, I stuck with it.

22:58 Speaker 2 One second. But before that, you weren't-- Besides Ali Lipsker, I know of another thing that you did in Lubavitch.

23:04 Speaker 1 Yeah.

23:04 Speaker 2 You're in the

23:05 Speaker 1 That's true.

23:06 Speaker 2 You have a solo.

23:08 Speaker 1 I was in the choir for many years and, and that during those, uh, but I was able to get one solo.

23:12 Speaker 2 Maybe you could tell me a little bit about what it was to record in the

23:16 Speaker 1 You know, I, I don't have that much of a rec-recollection. It was, you know, some adult choir, and we went into a studio, and we sang.

23:23 Speaker 2 Who's doing it then?

23:24 Speaker 1 I don't, I don't remember. What was it, Silvermans? I don't remember who was even conducting. I don't remember.

23:29 Speaker 2 But who, who was the Lubavitcher that was... Was it Mich Palchevsky?

23:31 Speaker 1 It was basically... It was El- Palchevsky was, it was involved, and Eli Lipsker. Th-those were the two, I think, uh, those were the two. But you remind me of a cute story I heard from Velvel Pasternak. He was also-- he was conducting some of the choirs, some of, some of the albums. And, uh, he writes in his book that, um, he was telling Rav Shmuel Zalmanov that on this and this date, we're gonna go into the studio with the Yungaleicht, we're gonna record. "And I'm the conductor. You watch me. When we sing, I show you when we, when we start, when we finish, when we pause, when we breathe." So Shmuel smiled and said, "Rav Velvel, I'm very happy to hear that you're gonna conduct us, but don't take it to heart, but when you're gonna be conducting, I'm not looking at you. Won't be looking at you." He says, "Why not?" He goes, "When we sing, we sing with our eyes closed." This is a Hasidish choir.

24:27 Speaker 2 Yeah.

24:28 Speaker 1 Conductor, conductor.

24:31 Speaker 2 You heard this from him?

24:32 Speaker 1 So he writes it in his book, yeah.

24:33 Speaker 2 Oh, I saw some other writeup.

24:35 Speaker 1 Yeah.

24:35 Speaker 2 He has a book? Okay. I, I saw a write up-

24:37 Speaker 1 I think so

24:37 Speaker 2 ... from, I think it was from him.

24:37 Speaker 1 Interview.

24:38 Speaker 2 There's a whole writeup of, like, I think it's a transcript of a talk that he gave. He describes different things like this.

24:44 Speaker 1 Oh, yeah?

24:45 Speaker 2 I think one of them, like, the first time they recorded, uh, they're about to start. He's like, "Eh, can't start. Someone pulled out a bottle of mashke.

24:55 Speaker 1 Even better. Good. Even better. So you're dealing with real professional choirs.

25:00 Speaker 2 That's right.

25:01 Speaker 1 Conductors, conductor. Um, I could, I could probably venture a guess that as when you hear the recordings, Taka, you hear that they're singing with their eyes closed 'cause, you know, it's not this professional tight and, and, you know, so, so perfect. That's what we had to grow up with, the Yeah. That's what we had. I was able to put out four Chabad albums after that, but that was based on the The concept is- I heard that from, you know, the Bronstein- Bronstein, yeah ... from Nechoyach. You want to hear f- an interesting story? A year or two ago, I was invited to And, uh, the guy from the choir says to me, "People like a, a I said "It's very Yeah ... I said, "What?" Yeah. That was the best compliment I ever got. Yeah. I said, "That's pretty amazing." They introduced me. He said, "You see this guy? He sings it at every Hasidim So it's not a The So- The No. No, he said he want It's like a- They want, they love a I said, "What could be better?" That was very old news. Yeah. That's amazing. Okay. It took time, it took time for these songs to get in, but On the top. In my concerts, I always put in the Chabad medley. Pl- place, place gets up. It's just there's something holy and, and about it. You see Bechasidas, that when people play other Nigunim, whatever other songs, you know, the Hasidishe crowds like to have only Nigunim than others.

27:01 Speaker 1 Don't... Lapel always have a Nigun in there. I mean, you can see it. It's a different vibe. I agree. I had a Mashpia once told me what's the difference between a Hasidishe Nigun or not. Yeah. This is not written anywhere, but, uh- Yeah ... you see it, the That non-Hasidishe Nigunim or Make you, uh, wanna dance with yourself. Hasidishe Nigunim make you wanna dance with other people. That's good. I like that. And you can actually see that. Like, like I've -- Since he told me that, I've watched that. See by like they're singing all the, the modern songs, it's very hard to dance with other people, and then the Hasidishe Nigun like- I like that ... you, you get into a circle, hand on the shoulders or whatever it is. I like that. I once gave a Hakdaha that some music is for your body, that, that, you know, the trust music, and some music you feel that, uh, it's touching your soul. But this is a good, um... That's a, that's a- I have to ask him if he's a- That's a good thing ... if he's a mucker, if there's such a thing. Okay. This is his, uh, soci- sociological- He's the mucker. If it works, then it, it... Well, you know, but they have all this, the best mucker. So maybe I'm jumping around, but I'm- Let's jump ... I'm gonna remember where I was holding. Let's jump. So you did four albums on Nigunei Chabad, right? In my estimation- I hope

28:15 Speaker 1 to do more, yeah. Okay. In my es- in my estimation, because I remember when you came out with them, I feel... I mean, today everyone sings Lubavitch Nigunim- ... in all the I feel that, uh, uh, part of what popularized them in the world was your albums. Is that, is that something that you- I love hearing that. That's best compliment. Okay, good. So, so this ties into what we were holding. So I believe inside with the Nigunei Chabad, inside with the messaging in your singing, once you were doing it, maybe you were uncomfortable starting, but you did it. But I think that, um, you know, a Lubavitch Hasid knows that everything's a shlichus, and a And everything like that, and I really feel like you took that to heart, and that was part of the, the mission. Um, I don't think it'll be an exaggeration to say that's what keeps me going. That is a shlichus. I hope to be And that's what, uh, what keeps me alive. If it was a personal agenda, I might have petered out already, you know? Okay, been there. You know? We just reached, reached a certain level, and time to retire. But, uh, I think it's safe to say that it's, it's the, the mission, the shlichus, because my name again, maybe just, you know, gives me the koach, and people still wanna hear me sing. So how do you today... So, I mean, then you were doing the live messaging from, from the How do you feel

29:55 Speaker 1 like today you're being I, I guess there's two crowds. There's... And in the last few years, you've been very involved with people outside of the-- that are not yet You're also dealing with other I mean the duets, the Israeli duets. That's like how, how is that? What are the two- It's part of it. It's all part of it to, you know, bridge the gap through music with others than myself, uh, which has worked wonderfully Look, whatever we have from the Rebbe is we have it, you know, at the, at Biais HamashiacH. So we have his guidelines, we have his, um, feelings about subjects, how he thinks about things, what his take is, what his... So, uh, we have enough material to, to keep going at, at, at Biais Hamashiach. Mm-hmm. What are the topics today? Same topics. Still, still screaming at Moshiach. Moshiach is still a popular topic, although it's becoming a little more painful about, um- You know, that was taking so long.

31:07 Speaker 3 You're saying when you came out with "The Time is Now"-

31:09 Speaker 1 Yeah, it was very-

31:10 Speaker 3 That was supposed to be-

31:10 Speaker 1 That's it

31:11 Speaker 3 ... the last album.

31:11 Speaker 1 That's it, exactly. No Jew. Why, why "The Time" is not even no Jew? Uh, we're talking already, uh, some 45 years later it came out. It's a long time to scream at Moshiach. But, uh, we'll continue till we bring the house down.

31:28 Speaker 3 Right. No, I'm, I'm saying even f- for myself as a Lubavitcher Hasid, um, in my house, there wasn't only Nechayeh, uh, I have to admit.

31:40 Speaker 1 Zeh shemegaleh.

31:41 Speaker 3 There's actually a story, actually, I don't know if I'm allowed to say stories from people without getting the details right that I asked them first, but I know Rabbi Yisroel Deren, um, who we had on the podcast a few episodes ago.

31:53 Speaker 1 Nice.

31:54 Speaker 3 Um, and I hope I get corrected if I'm saying it wrong, but apparently, uh, Rabbi Chadikoff told him, "The shtiebel zal zein a freylekhere." Or maybe the... Maybe he told-

32:06 Speaker 1 Wow

32:06 Speaker 3 ... his wife. I don't know. I have to find out. Shtiebel zal zein a freylekhe shtiebel, a happy house. So he recommended what, one way to do that is to play music in the house, and he said, "Lav davka Nechayeh."

32:20 Speaker 1 Ooh, really? That's good.

32:22 Speaker 3 So I asked him, uh, I asked, uh, Rabbi Deren's son, Yossi, "What did you... So what, what, what was it?" He says, "Well, we have it for you, Rabbi David."

32:30 Speaker 1 Nice.

32:31 Speaker 3 "That, that's what it, that's what it was."

32:32 Speaker 1 Beautiful. That's beautiful.

32:33 Speaker 3 So I'm saying that as a, as a kid, so I grew up, you know, I was born before Gemat Hamaz, but my formative years were afterwards. So the whole, the way the Rebbe was talking about Mashiach was-

32:48 Speaker 1 Atatah.

32:49 Speaker 3 Yeah, but it's als- it's also f- it was, you know-

32:50 Speaker 1 Atatah

32:51 Speaker 3 ... fresh, fresh in people's minds.

32:52 Speaker 1 Atatah.

32:52 Speaker 3 Part of the way I was exposed to that in my personal experience was through listening to... And that's what I had in the house, all, all those, all those albums that you're talking about.

33:02 Speaker 1 It's funny 'cause when I give-

33:03 Speaker 3 My mother didn't like the musical arrangements on "The Time is Now" album.

33:06 Speaker 1 Oh, yeah?

33:06 Speaker 3 But the, but the, but the-

33:07 Speaker 1 Interesting

33:07 Speaker 3 ... but the, uh-

33:08 Speaker 1 Yeah, we have to interview her. Why she, why she didn't like it?

33:09 Speaker 3 I don't know. Yeah.

33:11 Speaker 1 Um, it's funny 'cause when I give a berakhah to chasan kallah, I'll say to them, "Your house should be filled with, you know, ahavah, ve'ahavah, shalom, ve'reishit, and good music." Very important.

33:22 Speaker 3 Right.

33:22 Speaker 1 So, um, a freylekhe shtiebel is, it's a wonderful, uh, ingredient. The beats being, uh, Modzitscher in the house, that's for sure.

33:32 Speaker 3 Right. And I did see that there were some, um, es yachsus from the Rebbe to, to your actual career. Like I, I, last night-

33:42 Speaker 1 Yeah

33:42 Speaker 3 ... I was, uh, I went on Jem's, uh, website, on the living archive, all the photos, and I saw a picture of you, which I never saw before, handing the Rebbe the album-

33:52 Speaker 1 A cassette. A cassette

33:53 Speaker 3 ... a cassette. The cassette, yeah, the tape, yeah. Do you remember what the Rebbe said then? Because it looks like you're saying something to the Rebbe.

33:59 Speaker 1 I probably have it written down somewhere. I'm actually surprised I, I spoke 'cause I never, I never said a word to the Rebbe. But I guess someone's, someone encouraged me to give the Rebbe the new cassette and say, "This is the new, uh, the new album." What he said about Adrerabba? I don't re- I have to look up. I have, I have a lot of answers from the Rebbe.

34:20 Speaker 3 You do?

34:21 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

34:22 Speaker 3 About what?

34:23 Speaker 1 Different things.

34:24 Speaker 3 What can you share?

34:25 Speaker 1 Like trips, whether it was, uh... We're talking now in Cheshvan.

34:28 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

34:29 Speaker 1 The Rebbe told me once when I had concerts in Cheshvan, I notified the Rebbe, and Rebbe said, "Betach yidaber bekol mokom al devar melekh basadeh."

34:39 Speaker 3 Translates?

34:39 Speaker 1 "Surely you will mention at every concert the idea, the concept of the king is in the field in the month of Elul," as Rebbe says in, in, uh, Likutei Torah.

34:50 Speaker 3 So that bechlal you wrote to the Rebbe, like your itinerary, you're doing this, you're doing that-

34:55 Speaker 1 Every step

34:56 Speaker 3 ... you're coming with the album.

34:57 Speaker 1 Every step of the way.

34:58 Speaker 3 And what, what are the answers?

34:59 Speaker 1 Before and after. I have a lot of different, different, different, uh-

35:03 Speaker 3 Yeah, I should have, I should have asked you to bring, bring them with you

35:05 Speaker 1 ... different answers. So Elul was... Here's, here's an example. So Rebbe gave me a shlichus.

35:11 Speaker 3 Yeah.

35:11 Speaker 1 To mention "Ve'al basadeh" every concert. So I think the last, the last few weeks, Baruch Hashem, in Eretz Yisrael, wherever I've been, in London, in, in Australia, Baruch Hashem, "Ve'al basadeh" was on the, uh, on the program.

35:26 Speaker 3 So I, I assumed that these type of things that you do was something that you took on as a pashut to do. I didn't realize that you actually have hirhurim from the Rebbe-

35:36 Speaker 1 Yes, that's one

35:36 Speaker 3 ... for doing these things.

35:37 Speaker 1 The pushka, the pushka is another hirhur.

35:38 Speaker 3 So what is it?

35:39 Speaker 1 The Rebbe once gave me a dollar and said to me, uh... I told the Rebbe that I had a, a job that night, and the Rebbe said, "This is a dollar faden zingen before you sing for tzedakah, and then another dollar alt nokh a zingen als a teddy lakha Kadosh Baruch Hu a di zingen geven bahatzlacha." Second dollar to give after the concert as a thank you to Hashem for the hatslacha. So for the last 30-plus years, I travel with a pushka. I'm not sure how many years I started doing it on stage. I would do it, you know, off stage before and after. It wasn't the hirhur to do it on stage. But I think someone said to me, "You know what? Why don't you do it in public? Let people see that you're doing, uh, you know, you're connected to Hashem before and after each concert saying thank you, and, uh, with the hirhur of the Rebbe." So now thank you Hashem is very popular. Thanks to the thank you Hashem guys, tovei aleihem bracha. But the Rebbe's chidush was thank you with a mitzvah.

36:31 Speaker 3 Right.

36:32 Speaker 1 It wasn't just saying thank you, Hashem. It was thank you, Hashem, with a, a maaseh gashmi, with giving tzedakah. And, uh, people know that Farid comes to a concert with a yellow pushka. It's like my, uh, you know... The Rebbe gave me this, this unique, uh, privilege approach.

36:50 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

36:51 Speaker 1 So, uh, the Rebbe found a way to take a, a young, a young bocher at the time, I started when I was a bocher, and find ways that keep me connected to him. Whether it was the first hirhur that I got from the Rebbe on the first album was, uh, to print on it not to play on Shabbos and Yom Tov. And that was very important to him. So he, already he found the first, uh, first way to give me a, give me a We know you're not perfect, but come anyway. Hashem wants to see us. The Rebbe wants to see us, and, uh, it's just a beautiful message.

43:23 Speaker 3 So why-

43:23 Speaker 1 Kovi dubis taber kum.

43:25 Speaker 3 Why is this, why is this story chassidishe numin? Why?

43:29 Speaker 1 I guess, I think it touched everybody. I think everybody, you can't help but be touched with such a story because it, it, it's so, it's so, um... What's the right word? It's, um, it's so hopeful. It's so positive. It's so beautiful that don't-- You wanna try to be perfect? Try. But till you get there, don't let that hold you back. Don't let your exterior or your even, even spiritual shortcomings hold you back because deep down you're good.

44:06 Speaker 3 I think that's connected-

44:07 Speaker 1 Deep down you're a good guy.

44:08 Speaker 3 I think it's connected to what you said about the first answer you got from the Rebbe, about, uh-

44:14 Speaker 1 Chabad Shniyamtif

44:15 Speaker 3 ... Chabad Shniyamtif. You're, f- I think you, I think what you said was that there was like a, a kiddur that the Rebbe showed you-

44:24 Speaker 1 Oh, 100%, yeah

44:25 Speaker 3 ... what you're doing. I mean, uh, you, I, uh, between the lines I'm reading that-

44:29 Speaker 1 That was personal, right

44:29 Speaker 3 ... you were, you were questioning about what you're doing.

44:30 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

44:31 Speaker 3 And the Rebbe was saying, uh, "Okay, you're, you're, you're part, you're part of this. We're gonna give you a job," and, uh-

44:38 Speaker 1 Yeah. The he, the hejoys were, were, um, some... I mean, first of all, the connection. The connection that, you know, keeps you connected. But this idea of, of Rebbe always found ev- positive in everything. Those, that was, that was... But for a young guy to-- was going into singing, at that time singing was not so popular. I was still a bachur in yeshiva. Shocking. And, uh, Rebbe found a way to... The Rebbe didn't say, "What? What are you doing? "Sitz in leden. "Mach zich narish." You know? And then for years and years and years and years, before every concert, after concert, albums, what I'm doing, what I'm singing about, what's the, uh, theme, what the, what songs, and, um, Shliach Mitzvah. I have from the Rebbe dollars, Australian dollars, British dollars, Israeli shekels.

45:31 Speaker 3 What do you mean the Rebbe-

45:31 Speaker 1 Shliach Mitzvah. Rebbe would send out Shliach Mitzvah. I would notify the Rebbe that I'm heading out on a trip, and he would send out the currency-

45:38 Speaker 3 Really?

45:39 Speaker 1 ... where I, where I was going.

45:40 Speaker 3 That happened often?

45:41 Speaker 1 I have. I have a pack of, uh... Yeah.

45:45 Speaker 3 Okay. So-

45:46 Speaker 1 Shekels and pounds

45:47 Speaker 3 ... I'm glad we're having this conversation 'cause these are all chidushim, for me at least.

45:50 Speaker 1 Good.

45:50 Speaker 3 I don't know for others.

45:51 Speaker 1 Taftay heden.

45:52 Speaker 3 Yeah.

45:52 Speaker 1 Taftay heden the chidushim.

45:54 Speaker 3 So it's mamash that, to me, that's really a Rebbe's meshtat of literally in every, in all your, in all your nesius. It's like a-

46:03 Speaker 1 Yes, very humbling. Absolutely.

46:07 Speaker 3 So I, I did notice-

46:08 Speaker 1 Aleyn, aleyn kem der gornish tan, so.

46:10 Speaker 3 Yeah.

46:11 Speaker 1 Yeah.

46:11 Speaker 3 I noticed throughout from different, I don't know if we're allowed to say this, but there are other singers also, and I've noticed-

46:18 Speaker 1 That's a chidush, yeah.

46:20 Speaker 3 And I've noticed that there's, it has a place by the Rebbe, this concept of the hashpa that singers have, whether it's the, the siach that the Rebbe gave to Morachem and David or the, the Pimentas. I mean, the Pimentas have a whole, uh, long answer-

46:37 Speaker 1 Answer

46:37 Speaker 3 ... from the Rebbe about music, which is printed in Likutei Sichos. And there's a few, uh, with Mor- uh, with Morachem and David, I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but I, I feel like it's m- sometimes it's a little more begoli because you're, you're coming as a Hasid, and a Hasid doesn't, uh, make any noise in front of the Rebbe. But Morachem and David, you see there's more-

46:57 Speaker 1 Yes

46:57 Speaker 3 ... he's talking, and the Rebbe's answering.

46:59 Speaker 1 Yes, yes, yes.

46:59 Speaker 3 And, and you see that the Rebbe's really miyakir the, the whole thing.

47:04 Speaker 1 I think the Rebbe believes in hashkafah pratice. So if you have a gift, that's clear hashkafah pratice. If you can use it for, you know, to bring even closer, inspire them with your matanah, of course he was for it. Absolutely.

47:20 Speaker 3 Right. Um, so today, um, the... What is this whole thing that... I, I see that you're interacting with other people, other singers that are not Shema Yisrael and Mitzvah, and it looks to me like the way you're doing it is, um, besides just singing with them and collaborating with them, it's, it's also there's a, in, you know, afatza sayadus that, that's being accomplished.

47:54 Speaker 1 No question. This is mostly in Eretz Yisroel, where we have a lot of concerts there, Baruch Hashem. And, um, my, my good friends out there, my, my, my team out there came up with this idea that instead of having another Hasidisha singer at your concerts, what would be the chidush? Let's get some, uh, Israeli singers, and even those who are not even, you know, Shema Yisrael and Mitzvahs. Lehayis haTorah. And, um, the reaction's been amazing. People are telling me what a great kiddush Hashem. And then, of course, the, the last one was with, uh, Aviv Gefen, who was v'chayei, a total... Coming from the other side totally. And, uh, people said, "What a great kiddush Hashem." It's... I think that's the koach of, koach of neginah, that, uh, it, you know, it brings people together. If you sing together, then you could at least have a, a opening to start talking together. And, um, clearly they're inspired. They come, they see the frumer Olam. Uh, it, it's, it's, um... I think it's very inspiring for them. I think it reminds them of, you know, who they really are. And, uh, someplace deep down it gives a kitzl in their neshama. Um, can you just... La-last year, Purim, I met a guy in, in Los Angeles. He said to me, "Your song, Yaakov, I met... I broke off a, uh... Was very much in love with a shiksa, and I broke it off, and I'm married to a Jewish girl because of that song."

49:17 Speaker 3 Really?

49:20 Speaker 1 Klor.

49:21 Speaker 3 Mamash.

49:22 Speaker 1 Klor de Purim.

49:24 Speaker 3 It's amazing.

49:25 Speaker 1 That's, that's

49:26 Speaker 3 Like he heard it, or that song-

49:27 Speaker 1 No, it's okay. He heard it

49:28 Speaker 3 ... it clinked.

49:29 Speaker 1 He heard it and, uh, well, it wasn't easy. We were, we were ready to get married.

49:35 Speaker 3 It, it gezien eisies shteytef in veg.

49:38 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

49:41 Speaker 3 Um, I wanna go backwards to 770, backwards in time.

49:46 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

49:48 Speaker 3 So I think this is gonna be released after Tishrei, but the, the listeners and the viewers are gonna have to forgive me because I'm holding Tishrei.

49:55 Speaker 1 Okay.

49:56 Speaker 3 And, um, Rosh Hashanah, Simchat Torah with the Rebbe. Um, is there something that you wanna share, um, from Tishrei with the Rebbe? Whether it's tzdius, whether it's Simchat Torah, whether it's Becholal or it's a specific, uh, event or something that you wanna share?

50:15 Speaker 1 I, I, I, what can I share with you about Tishrei? Um, I was zechar to be by tkiyas. I was zechar to be by hakafas, the Illah. Um, Simchas Torah Lamed Ches, right? Lamed Ches, right? The Rebbe have the stroke.

50:40 Speaker 3 Heart attack, Lamed Ches.

50:41 Speaker 1 Lamed Ches. The, the heart attack. So my place was up against the Mizrach wall, so I could see the Rebbe from, from the side, right? The Rebbe would stand facing Mizrach, and I would-

50:54 Speaker 3 See Mizrach on the other side of the Aron Kodesh.

50:57 Speaker 1 Yes, I was on top of the Aron Kodesh.

50:58 Speaker 3 Okay, so I was onto something. I told you before. I saw in the videos on top of the Aron Kodesh.

51:02 Speaker 1 Okay. Ah, yeah. That wasn't Simchas Torah.

51:05 Speaker 3 No, but, uh-

51:05 Speaker 1 But, um-

51:06 Speaker 3 I saw something, uh, as, as different the front-

51:08 Speaker 1 If I remember it, if I remember it, I stood at the other side of the Rebbe, on the left side, up on the bleachers on the other side.

51:13 Speaker 3 Y-you-

51:13 Speaker 1 The mid of wall

51:14 Speaker 3 ... Eastern. Oh, the bleachers, the big bleachers.

51:17 Speaker 1 Right.

51:17 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

51:19 Speaker 1 So during Hakafas Lamed Ches, I'm looking at the Rebbe, obviously. I'm looking, and, uh, it was during a break... No, during after one of the had... They were being Chabad, the people for, for Sefer Torah. And, um, I said to the guy behind me, "The Rebbe looks so white. Look at the Rebbe's face. He's, uh, Ɣayz mit devant. He's so pale." That's when the whole thing happened. Rebbe sat down, and the whole balagan broke loose. They started screaming, "Aroys far shu, everybody out of shul. They have to break the windows. The Rebbe needs air. Get out of shul, get out of shul." So I ran out of shul, and I ran around the back of 770. The windows were, were still there, colorful windows. And, um, I think that too, the windows were broken. I peeked out through the window. The Rebbe was walking out of the shul. He was holding his siddur. There was some, some people still in the shul who did not leave the shul, even though they were told to leave. And, uh, the Rebbe, they were singing-

52:21 Speaker 3 They were the

52:22 Speaker 1 They were whatever, and the, and Rebbe was making with his hand, but down here. Didn't raise up his hand. He was, he was making with his hand to this song, even though what he was experiencing what he was experiencing, as we know that it was a severe heart attack. But he was making with his hand down. Couldn't... So that I remember clearly. And then the next day, some, uh, 30, 30 of us decided to have Keness HaOhel.

52:50 Speaker 3 The Ohel.

52:51 Speaker 1 That was something. That was a different one.

52:53 Speaker 3 A different group?

52:54 Speaker 1 Different group.

52:55 Speaker 3 I think it went that night, maybe. Right?

52:57 Speaker 1 Maybe. We went the next day. Next night, we went for Hakafas, Queens. There by Hercho, zol zayn gezunt.

53:03 Speaker 3 I see. So you're talking about Simchas Torah by Shrina Telles-

53:07 Speaker 1 Second, next night

53:07 Speaker 3 ... that day.

53:08 Speaker 1 The next night. That day, yeah.

53:10 Speaker 3 Like Halucha time.

53:11 Speaker 1 Yeah.

53:12 Speaker 3 You walked-

53:12 Speaker 1 Halucha, exactly

53:12 Speaker 3 ... you walked to the Ohel.

53:13 Speaker 1 Yeah. First we walked through by Hercho to do Hakafas. Then we walked from there to the Ohel. I was the only Kohen in the, uh... Today, there's no... It was, it was locked. The gate was locked. It wasn't like today, open, open all the time. So, uh, we all climbed over the gate. I was the last one in, so I climbed into a circle, jumped into a circle. We walked to, to, to the Ohel, and we davened, and we walked back. It was a very long walk.

53:40 Speaker 3 I did it once.

53:41 Speaker 1 The Belt Parkway is endless when you're walking it.

53:44 Speaker 3 I once walked it.

53:45 Speaker 1 Oh, yeah?

53:45 Speaker 3 It took me four hours.

53:46 Speaker 1 Oh, okay. I remember coming, coming to Eastern Parkway. Some of the guys had to stop by every bench. They sat down at every bench 'cause their feet were swollen, and it was... And then as we got closer, we started running to hear what's going on. And then when the first report we got was the Rebbe's feeling better, and the Rebbe said, "Shira, shira v'zimra," something.

54:05 Speaker 3 I think that was after Chavdai Nod then, the shira v'zimra.

54:09 Speaker 1 Suddenly the singing, the singing is giving, uh-

54:12 Speaker 3 Oh, yeah. The Rebbe said the singing-

54:13 Speaker 1 Yeah, the singing, singing is giving, giving koach, the simcha.

54:15 Speaker 3 'Cause there was a farbrengen downstairs.

54:16 Speaker 1 Uh-huh.

54:17 Speaker 3 The Rebbe, usually the Rebbe farbrengens at the end of Yom Tov.

54:20 Speaker 1 Yeah.

54:20 Speaker 3 So the, the, all the-

54:21 Speaker 1 This is in the morning.

54:23 Speaker 3 You're talking about in the morning?

54:23 Speaker 1 This is the morning.

54:24 Speaker 3 Oh, the dancing.

54:24 Speaker 1 As we came back, people dancing in the shul.

54:27 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

54:28 Speaker 1 So I think the Rebbe said that the mus- the singing is giving gezunt, something like that. So we felt better that we got good report after our walk to the Ohel. And, um, I think somebody clocked it after that, like a s- between 20 or 30 miles we walked, something like that. But, uh, so that was a memorable Simchas Torah. What else? I remember one time I was... I decided to be brave and stand in the, in the washing machine or in the dryer right in, right in front of the bimah by tkiyas.

55:02 Speaker 3 Tkiyas.

55:03 Speaker 1 Usually I'm up on bleachers, and I said, "I'm gonna try to stand down there." That was the, you, the smoke coming up from the crowd. You c- first of all, you couldn't put your siddur out like this to say, say anything 'cause, 'cause there's no room. So you're like standing like this, and the steam was coming up. It was like, it was, it was like, uh, being in a, in a dryer. But Baruch Hashem, I survived, and the tkiyas by the Rebbe was, was, um, heavenly, amazing.

55:33 Speaker 3 I understand that even, even there's other shuls in Crown Heights that, that Lubavitchers would daven in, um, whether by the

55:50 Speaker 1 Yes, yes.

55:54 Speaker 3 Yeah.

55:54 Speaker 1 Yeah. What else? Um, I mean, v'kach geshmak brocha. I could mention to you that, uh, it was Simchas Torah Taf Shin Mem Ches Keresh El Bracha. Keragil, I walked by the Rebbe to get Keresh El Bracha. It usually takes a second, you know? And I got my Keresh El Bracha, and I'm ready to move on, and I see some... I thought I saw the Rebbe's hand, something moving in my direction. I look back, and the Rebbe's standing with a bottle. And for a moment, I, I froze. I said, "Rebbe, are you sure this is for me?" I didn't say a word, but took a second. Said, "Rebbe, are you sure this is for me?" Rebbe didn't take it back, and he gave me the bottle. That, too, to this day, gives me tremendous chizuk that, uh-

56:46 Speaker 3 Usually the bo- the Rebbe gives out the bottles

56:47 Speaker 1 ... the bottle went to shluchim.

56:48 Speaker 3 Yeah, to shluchim or other haskanim. Yeah.

56:49 Speaker 1 The bottle went to shluchim.

56:50 Speaker 3 Shluchim.

56:50 Speaker 1 So that was my, my moment of Rebbe said, "I'm a shliach."

56:55 Speaker 3 Hmm.

56:55 Speaker 1 Without saying a word.

56:56 Speaker 3 And you were a bachur then, right?

56:57 Speaker 1 I was a bachur. I remember walking away, and I was like, "What? The Rebbe gave me a bottle." I was, like, blown away.

57:06 Speaker 3 Hmm.

57:07 Speaker 1 Didn't say a word. Didn't say a word. Hatzlacha, neginah, nothing. Not a word. But I took it to mean that it was a shnat hakel-

57:16 Speaker 3 Yeah

57:16 Speaker 1 ... mem chet. So the Rebbe gave me a bottle. Every concert is a hakel. So take it, you know? Ze byeshtan, and I took it to every concert. I gave it out to people, uh-

57:25 Speaker 3 I feel like mem chet is, like, the beginning when you took off, right? Is that accurate?

57:30 Speaker 1 Took off? What do you mean?

57:31 Speaker 3 I'm saying, like, the concerts and, uh, around that time.

57:34 Speaker 1 I started mem alef.

57:35 Speaker 3 Oh, okay. So, um-

57:36 Speaker 1 So, um, it was already a couple years that I was singing. But anything particular happened in mem chet that took off? Anyway, so but that was, that was a moment that, of course, I cherish to this day, the Rebbe giving me a bottle. It's pretty amazing.

57:54 Speaker 3 So, um, so what's the message for, uh, those... I mean, there's many people that are, uh, shluchim and, uh, mashpiyim and the kli chedes and everything like that. But there are those that are not and have a different, um, profession. What's the message that you have based on what you, what you experienced from the Rebbe, you know, and utilizing it for as a shlichas and as a fatso meyanas and as a fatso yadras? Like, what, what is the-

58:32 Speaker 1 I don't... I'm not following your question.

58:33 Speaker 3 So what, what is something that... What is the, this message that the Rebbe was giving you that you-

58:38 Speaker 1 Like the bottle?

58:39 Speaker 3 No, no. In general, to, to utilize-

58:41 Speaker 1 Yeah

58:42 Speaker 3 ... your keshrenus-

58:43 Speaker 1 Yeah

58:44 Speaker 3 ... um, for to, to, to fulfill the, the, the tafkid of, uh-

58:50 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm

58:50 Speaker 3 ... the Rebbe tachtanim.

58:51 Speaker 1 Yeah.

58:52 Speaker 3 What, what, what's your message for other people that are in a similar situation?

58:55 Speaker 1 Everyone has a talent. Everyone has a talent. As we know the famous saying, "If you could teach olive, teach olive." Everyone has a talent, and don't, don't play humble that, "Oh, I'm not so talented. I don't have what to offer." Everyone has a talent. Everyone has a gift that you could use to be mekarev another Yid, whatever that might be. You know what you have, and use it. Use it. Don't, don't squander your gift. Chaval. I happen to have a, a gift, a matanah, that, that's, that's global. So, uh, okay. So, uh, that's why I'm talking to you 'cause I'm a, I'm a global, uh, I'm a global guy. But every, every, every teacher who's not on a global level has, you know, the great zchus to teach and be mekarev and inspire. You know, that- that's... Use your talent. Even though you might not be getting interviewed under their hair on a podcast. But, uh, do what you gotta do. You have, you have the zchus, you have a talent? Use it. Use it. Otherwise, it's just squandering Hashem's .

59:56 Speaker 3 Okay. Um, I had a question that, uh, I guess is more trivial, but, uh, I, I heard it's connected to the Rebbe. Is your, is your song, Refa Einu, is that connected to, to the Rebbe?

1:00:08 Speaker 1 No.

1:00:08 Speaker 3 That's, that's not true?

1:00:09 Speaker 1 No.

1:00:09 Speaker 3 Okay. I need to get that out of the way.

1:00:11 Speaker 1 No. No.

1:00:13 Speaker 3 'Cause I met, uh... I once met Mordechai Mendavid, and I asked him if, uh, everyone says the Rashi, his song about Rashi, is something that they hear from the Rebbe. But he told me also that that's not accurate.

1:00:25 Speaker 1 Yeah. Okay, good. It's good, it's good to verify this stuff-

1:00:27 Speaker 3 Yeah

1:00:27 Speaker 1 ... 'cause they get out there and .

1:00:29 Speaker 3 Yeah. So, no. Okay. And you, and you said, you're saying that there's plans to do more Negunei Chabad?

1:00:34 Speaker 1 BeEzrat Hashem.

1:00:36 Speaker 3 Also, another thing that I, um, another connection with, with Lubavitch and your singing is that, uh, recording of, uh, of the Rebbe's kapital, Ki Gadla, is also done by you.

1:00:49 Speaker 1 Yes. Yeah, but that was way back. That was way back. Yeah, I had the zchus to be part of that for a while, then I decided to retire from that, uh-

1:00:59 Speaker 3 Oh, you did a few of them?

1:01:00 Speaker 1 ... Vaad. No, I was, I was on the Vaad.

1:01:01 Speaker 3 Oh, you, oh, you're part of the Vaad and the Negunim?

1:01:03 Speaker 1 I was on the Vaad of choosing and, uh, uh, it, yeah, it didn't last too long. But I did, I did get to do Ki Gadla, though. Yeah, I remember the whole year we sang that nigun. That was our first nigun of the Farbrengens. The kapital that was chosen.

1:01:16 Speaker 3 Right.

1:01:16 Speaker 1 That was the song for the whole year.

1:01:18 Speaker 3 Until I think in the alf and the beis-

1:01:19 Speaker 1 Some songs were better than others, you know? The Rebbe had to sit, you know, go, go through all.

1:01:23 Speaker 3 Right.

1:01:23 Speaker 1 That was it.

1:01:24 Speaker 3 I think later in the alf and the beis, I think it changed to the Ekshat Sha'ei HaNegulah.

1:01:28 Speaker 1 Yeah. I mean, the early years when Talashevsky, alav hashalom, would take old nigunim and put it to the trip sokim. Those are very popular till today. Those are very popular. Uh, V'cha Hashem chasisi, and Ki Elokim yoshi yati, and the Traneh nesuah, you know? All these-

1:01:44 Speaker 3 Nehdeh behudah

1:01:44 Speaker 1 ... they work. Nehdeh behudah, yeah. They worked. It was a good... He was, he was, he was a good chatzran.

1:01:51 Speaker 3 He's the one that always did it?

1:01:52 Speaker 1 I think so.

1:01:53 Speaker 3 Interesting.

1:01:55 Speaker 1 He was Rebbe's, uh, uh, chazan ba'tefillah. Mehanech, shliach tzibbur.

1:02:01 Speaker 3 He's the one. That's why he's always doing Shehecheyanu, and he's always doing-

1:02:03 Speaker 1 Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Lot of zchus

1:02:07 Speaker 3 I spent some time with him too.

1:02:09 Speaker 1 Oh, yeah?

1:02:09 Speaker 3 He used to drive me to, uh... Drive me. He used to make a minyan at Michol Teitelbaum.

1:02:14 Speaker 1 Right. Very, very close.

1:02:14 Speaker 3 So I was one of the boys that would, uh-

1:02:17 Speaker 1 Ashrecha

1:02:17 Speaker 3 ... that would go every day to the minyan.

1:02:19 Speaker 1 Nice. Nice. Good for you.

1:02:19 Speaker 3 In East Flatbush.

1:02:20 Speaker 1 So did this

1:02:22 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:02:22 Speaker 1 Nice. That, and then, uh, now it's a really popular area, but back then-

1:02:27 Speaker 3 East Flatbush, yeah

1:02:27 Speaker 1 ... East Flatbush. Back then it was, uh, you know, uncharted territory for, uh, for Chabad, right? But Michol was, there was only one-

1:02:34 Speaker 3 He was the only one there

1:02:34 Speaker 1 ... Lubavitch in Flatbush. Exactly.

1:02:35 Speaker 3 It was the shul and the, and the mikvah.

1:02:36 Speaker 1 The only Lubavitch he had there. Yeah.

1:02:38 Speaker 3 And, uh, Rabbi Stavsky would-

1:02:41 Speaker 1 Rabbi Michol. Rabbi Rosenfeld,

1:02:45 Speaker 3 Yeah

1:02:45 Speaker 1 ...

1:02:45 Speaker 3 My principal.

1:02:48 Speaker 1 Rabbi Rosenfeld was not my age. He's quite older than me.

1:02:52 Speaker 3 He taught me but yasel.

1:02:53 Speaker 1 Yeah.

1:02:54 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:02:54 Speaker 1 But I ha- I have memories of elder Hasidim who were nice to me, and elder Hasidim who didn't say a word to me. But those who did made a very warm impression, you know, on, in my heart. Rabbi Rosenfeld was one of them. He would call me from time to time, and he would say, "Avremel, the Chabad nigunim, you're making it famous in the whole world. Keep it up. Keep it up. Keep it up." I have very few, very few pictures in my office of performances or, or people. I don't, I don't, I don't put that in, on the walls or in... I have a few pictures of elder Hasidim who weren't kind to me. One is Rabbi Rosenfeld giving me a big, a big hug and a kush at one of the dinners or something. And then another picture of, uh, the elder Hasid, um, and I forget his name. Remitel, Remitel de Shechet.

1:03:51 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm.

1:03:52 Speaker 1 Who'd daven, used to daven in Chevrei Shas with Rabbi Gurary. After... He, he would come to my concerts. He was in his 90s. He was a big fan. He would come to my concerts.

1:04:02 Speaker 3 He just had a picture of him in the Her. It was-

1:04:04 Speaker 1 Oh, yeah? Oh.

1:04:04 Speaker 3 He wrote an article about, um, uh, Mitchell Kogan.

1:04:08 Speaker 1 Yeah. Ah. Okay.

1:04:09 Speaker 3 So in there we had a-

1:04:10 Speaker 1 Nice Remitel, Remitel

1:04:10 Speaker 3 ... we had a picture of Remitel in, in Russia before he came here.

1:04:13 Speaker 1 Nice. So the picture of him kissing my hand after a concert. Those are two, two Hasidim I have in my offi- that are hanging in my office. And Mendel Futterfas was nice to me. He would say, "Tanya, Tanya."

1:04:26 Speaker 3 Yeah.

1:04:26 Speaker 1 It means, it means for a young bocher to have elder Hasid say, "I listen to your music." Precious. Priceless. Then those who didn't, didn't acknowledge or say a word to me, but, uh, those who did-

1:04:43 Speaker 3 From what I-

1:04:43 Speaker 1 ... very nice

1:04:44 Speaker 3 ... from what I've heard of Mendel Futterfas, sounds, uh, sounds right.

1:04:48 Speaker 1 Oh.

1:04:50 Speaker 3 I think he had a-

1:04:50 Speaker 1 He was very, very, uh... Tanya, Tanya. Um, yeah, so these are people who made an impression, even though they were much older. You mentioned all the

1:05:00 Speaker 3 Yeah

1:05:00 Speaker 1 ... so Rabbi Rosenfeld at Michol. It's nice to be acknowledged by an elder statesman.

1:05:06 Speaker 3 Yeah. Who are your, who are the teachers then in Alter Rebbe?

1:05:09 Speaker 1 My teachers was Rabbi Eliyahu Reitblat, Rabbi Reitzes.

1:05:12 Speaker 3 This is now, this should be-

1:05:13 Speaker 1 Rabbi Engel

1:05:14 Speaker 3 ... this is the beginning. Oh, Rabbi Engel too.

1:05:15 Speaker 1 Yeah, no, Eng- oh, but much, much later.

1:05:18 Speaker 3 I'm a little younger than you.

1:05:19 Speaker 1 Mm.

1:05:19 Speaker 3 A few years.

1:05:20 Speaker 1 Rabbi Engel, yeah, because he taught for many, many years, then he moved to Pittsburgh, right? He moved.

1:05:24 Speaker 3 Uh, he's, I don't think he's alive.

1:05:25 Speaker 1 No, I, I understand, but he-

1:05:26 Speaker 3 Oh, afterwards. Yeah, maybe. Yeah

1:05:29 Speaker 1 ... after. Um, Rabbi, Rabbi Wishetsky, Rabbi, uh... Well, yeah, all, all the, uh... Rabbi Yisroel Friedman was already in the zal. Pinny Gorf, Pinches, Pinny Gorf. Then, um, and then a zal, um, Rabbi Majesky came along, Rabbi Siman Majesky. Right from the younger-

1:05:51 Speaker 3 He's a younger mashpia

1:05:52 Speaker 1 ... he's a younger mashpia, started, started, uh... Rabbi Galitsky. Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, the, uh-

1:05:58 Speaker 3 Yeah

1:06:00 Speaker 1 ... the cream of the crop.

1:06:01 Speaker 3 Yeah. All right. So

1:06:03 Speaker 1 Yeah

1:06:03 Speaker 3 ... Ashrecha. I hope so

1:06:09 Speaker 1 From, uh, from this conversation.

1:06:10 Speaker 3 I hope, hope inspire.

1:06:13 Speaker 1 That's the best inspiration.

1:06:14 Speaker 3 I, I, I, you know that, I don't know, one of the camps this summer, uh, I think Anisro Detroit made a camp song about it as well.

1:06:22 Speaker 1 Oh, yeah?

1:06:22 Speaker 3 So it's entering, uh, multiple-

1:06:24 Speaker 1 Good, good, good

1:06:25 Speaker 3 ... forms of a nigun.

1:06:26 Speaker 1 Good.

1:06:27 Speaker 3 This time, and it's, uh, you have something to do with that.

1:06:29 Speaker 1 I hope so. I hope so.

1:06:32 Speaker 3 All right. Yeah. Ashrecha, and I guess we can say, since you're a shliach

1:06:36 Speaker 1 Amen.

1:06:41 Speaker 3 They should be able to do it for a very long time. And, uh, I, for one, I was at an event, uh, one of the

1:06:51 Speaker 1 Yeah

1:06:51 Speaker 3 ...

1:06:59 Speaker 1 Yeshe kayach. Yeshe kayach. But, um, the bracha to keep singing for many, many more year, but, but the, uh, the subject should, the, the attitude should change. That should be part of your bracha. Instead of singing about Ad Mosai, we should be singing about finally

1:07:34 Speaker 3 Mm-hmm

1:07:34 Speaker 1 ... The, the Alef. Okay.

1:07:37 Speaker 3 In galus, hurt men.

1:07:38 Speaker 1 Ah.

1:07:39 Speaker 3 Geulah is Amen. Amen. Ashrecha.

1:07:51 Speaker 1 L'chaim.

1:07:51 Speaker 3 L'chaim.