#65: Behind the Bima - Avraham Fried

From Boca Raton, Florida, Rabbis Ephraim Goldberg, Philip Moskowitz, and Josh Brody are taking you behind the Bema. The BRS Rabbis schmooze about contemporary issues and talk to special guests who give a behind-the-scenes look at how they got to where they are and what keeps them going. Welcome to Behind the Bema. Good evening, 9:00 p.m. Wednesday night. We are a little out of practice, but nevertheless, we are here to take you behind the Bema. We are here to take you behind the Bema. Gentlemen Rabbis, dear friends, countrymen, it is so exciting to be back together again. Let's begin as we always do with gratitude and thanking our sponsor for this evening's episode. Our dear friend Julie Erlich, the event planner and designer of FC Events and Productions. She's a class act, a real talent, and she's helped the shul in enormous ways. We have several of event planners in the shul that we're blessed to work with. Most recently on the High Holidays, she helped us secure the tents that we had and more. And the Julie can help take care of all your needs. So, you can call her 786-395-1904. If you're making a simcha in Florida, if you live here, if you're making a destination event in Florida, be in touch with Julie Erlich of FC Events and Production. 786-395-1904. Thank you so much to the Erlichs for their support. Rabbis, how are you this fine evening? What could be bad? We're back. It's Behind the Bema. Yuntifs over. It's been a nice hiatus, but it's also nice to get back. This has been such a part of our weekly ritual and tradition, so I've missed it dearly. And it's nice to be back together hanging out with good friends and uh Rabbi Moskowitz has been keeping really busy. He's been flying and he's been doing things and making a difference in the world. He has been. No question about it. We have the posters hanging to prove it. Not all of our listeners know where Rabbi Brody is is baiting me to go, but um our shul very proudly ran a a mission to New Orleans last week in partnership with the OU and the NCSY and an organization called Nechama, and it was really spectacular. I know you were saying it somewhat facetiously, but uh it was really an amazing experience. someone wasn't there. But uh it was uh I don't even know what facetiously means, but I know what we're talking about. All right, Google it. Someone Google it for Rabbi Brody. But uh it was uh it was really fantastic experience. 15 guys went to New Orleans for some relief efforts. We gutted homes. We met people who never met Jews before in their lives. They couldn't believe that we had taken time out of our schedules, out of our work, out of our family to fly to New Orleans and to help complete strangers. And it was a really special experience. It was a special bonding experience. Developed a very meaningful camaraderie. And it was a massive Kiddush Hashem. It was something that our community has an enormous amount to be proud of. I'm I'm sorry and I regret I wasn't able to go. Obviously, I was supposed to to be there as well together with you guys. We had a uh too many shivas locally and and Baruch Hashem a bris and several other factors, but uh we can be very proud of Rabbi Moscow. We're all proud of you and grateful to you for leading that group, and the feedback has been extraordinary. And it is it's not even the first, but it is the renewed first of what will be many because people connect to their Judaism in so many ways. Some through Torah learning, through some through davening, but that service learning, the notion of being of service to others, which is really with the progeny of Avram in this week's parsha, it's what it means. The legacy of Avram is monotheism, but the legacy of Avram is to try to improve the world, repair the world, is to make a difference in the world. And Judaism was never intended just for the Jews. Judaism was meant to impact the whole universe, and to do that we've got to to show up and to be there. So, kol hakavod to you. It's great. What's next on tap for us in that way? What's next on tap for us? First of all, we are we are entering into the season. Now, for those who don't live in Boca and understand what the season means, it means usually from around November until March, we get this influx of people from New York, many of our snowbirds come back, many visitors throughout the year, and it's really where there's the highest concentration of programming at BRS, and for those who are coming, visiting, if you're planning trips, there's not going to be a dull moment this entire year at BRS. We've got something for everyone, an eclectic, diverse set of programming, and it's going to be fantastic. keep going. I got I got a special visitor. Hold on. Can I just tell you something what was incredible about the trip? I mean, I don't know how much how long we're going to have here, but people don't understand that, you know, some of the the houses that you were working on, right next door to one of the houses, there was a house that was built on stilts, on concrete stilts, right? 6 ft off the 6 ft off the ground. All of a sudden, you say with 6 ft off the ground, probably no flooding, you don't realize the roofs are all being pulled off. The roofs are all off. The roofs are all off. We do have a special guest, a big Bat Mitzvah. Big Bat Mitzvah celebration. Celebration to Mima. We'll get a special guest for We we need the breaking news intro. This is part of the Minag of Behind the Bima. When our children are She just ran over from the house, so she's You can hear that. But, um when our children have Simchas, one of the privileges is a lot of responsibility or a lot of challenges sometimes to be a child of a rabbi. So, we try to give a lot of opportunities also, and this one's with a Simcha. Really proud of Timima Sheindel Goldberg, born on Chol Hamoed Sukkos, and we're celebrating big, big milestone tomorrow night. Some call it a Bas Mitzvah, a Bat Mitzvah. If you notice in the Goldberg invitation, we put it in Hebrew, Base Tof Mem Tsadi Vov Hey, so you could read it however you want. But, whatever it is, she is of age, and we're super, super proud of you, Timima. What do you want to say tonight to the Behind the Bima audience? Nothing? Nothing? Nothing? She had to spot there, right? it. You came on, nothing? I mean, how are you commemorating? How are you celebrating your Bat Mitzvah? Tell everyone you you put together a video, you have a unique talent that people What's going to be happening? I made a music video. Before that, did you learn with anyone? I learned with you. Learned with your father. And what's the topic? What did you learn about? This is like the Bat Mitzvah meeting, by the way. We're just doing it in front of the world. Just show you how we do this. You learned about? Shira. Learned about Shira. Tamima loves singing. She, I think, was born in the middle of bursting out of song and has not stopped singing for the last 12 years. So, we learned about a really fascinating topic, which is the role of music and singing in Judaism and in Torah. And we brought you to appreciate that, the role of music. Can I learn with you about that? And she has a beautiful dvar Torah she's going to be giving tomorrow night about that. And she has, I guess it's not a special surprise now because you could tell everybody the women of the community want to be invited. And what will they be seeing tomorrow night? What did we produce special? Um a music video. A music video. Tamima is singing. Not an original composition, a beautiful song from Shoshanat Yaakov Junior. Um but she has a magnificent voice, always has had. And not only is she singing it, but we produced a music video of her singing it. And her dvar Torah will lead and introduce what are the words of that of that video. So, we're really excited about that. Right? That's amazing. It's like Bat Mitzvah mother and father who are Name a Jewish hero. Someone It could be in Tanakh, it could be modern Israeli history. One person you look up to. You say, "That's who That's who's a role model for me." And it doesn't have to be me or Rabbi Moscowitz. It could be someone else. Um probably Rebbetzin Machlis. Rebbetzin Machlis. It was her yahrzeit last week. Why Rebbetzin Machlis? Because I feel like she really helped people even though she didn't really need to, but she helped people. And even if she didn't really have enough room in her house, she still like let like 100 people in. All the time. Tamima read the Rebbetzin Machlis biography and was really really moved by it. Talked about it for a long time afterwards and also read the read the Rebbetzin Kanievsky biography and those two women became her role models in certain ways, particularly the chesed part of it, right? Yeah. Cuz they did really special things. They cared about people, helped people and that really spoke to you? Mhm. So that that's what you you want to do. You're going to be able to do that. What are you doing for your party with your friends? You're doing a chesed as part of that, too. Um yeah, we're having a lot of Yachad kids come over and we're dancing and hanging out with them. So some of the Yachad girls will be joining for the bat mitzvah and uh your friends will will welcome them and dance with them and have one party everybody integrated together, make them feel comfortable and that is a beautiful thing in the image of Rebbetzin Machlis, Rebbetzin Kanievsky, so we're so super proud of you. Any last things you want to tell the Behind the Bima world? I I have another question for To me, to me, to me, go bidat.org. I'm just joking. Tamima, let me Tamima, our listeners Woah, woah, woah, where you going? Caroline at dot org. Our listeners always love learning about We Go Behind the Bima, so it's not just what people see, but it's behind what they see. Tell What's one thing that our listeners or viewers might not know about what it's like to grow up in the Goldberg home that you would like them to know. All right, do this carefully. Um I can't wait. What's one thing? Well, there's a lot of kids, so you once you get to your bat mitzvah or wedding, it's it's it's very special to get a lot of attention. Wow. There we go. You heard You heard it here first. Some therapist Some therapist has had a field day with that one, but There you always get a lot of attention. You're my favorite, just like every one of your siblings. You are my absolute favorite. So and so are they, but we are so super, super proud of Tamima. We love you very much. Mwah. All right, mazel tov, sweetie. Up, give me that airpod back. All right. Fantastic. you. Thank you. Thank you, everyone for uh that, allowing that. That's great. What are you talking about? So, back to the big program. We got a big program, but I was asking you, what's the next service learning? What's the next opportunity to go and to volunteer and to I'll tell you, you know, for me, and I've been speaking to the OU about this, I know Moishe Bane is is very big into this as well. For me, I think one of the most meaningful parts of the service learning experience was not just for the guys who came with us, but really there were a few fathers who came with their teenage sons. And I think they benefited the most, and I think there's an incredible market specifically for that niche group of father-sons, mother-daughters. It's very rare that a father and a son are together, they're able to roll up their sleeves together, get dirty together, bond together, laugh together, share memories and experiences together, learn together, grow together. Let me ask you a question about that, because this is a this is a great example. When when I I speak to young rabbis, and sometimes they seek advice from me, from you, from the older rabbis in the pulpit, a little bit more experienced, a little bit more gray hair, and they want to know exactly the point that you just made, which was you know, sometimes you give a drasha about marriage, but what about the sensitivity to the people there who are not married? You give a drasha about parenting, and there are people who don't yet have children. You organize a mother-daughter, father-son fishing trip, service learning, learning in shul. I know that some of the OU programs have have have pivoted to be called like dor l'dor, intergenerational. Maybe there's not a father in the picture for whatever reason, it's a grandparent, it's an uncle, it's a neighbor. So, you know, there is this as rabbis, we're constantly trying to maintain the sensitivity to not try to add to the pain or the hurt of people who don't want to be alone or who want to have children or grandchildren. On the other hand, there's a reality that Judaism has a lot to say about about marriage and about parenting, and that is as you just described, it's a real way to connect with people, to do it on the parent-child level, whether it's learning, service learning, fun trips, and the So, it's a challenge. People don't always appreciate that we're trying to thread that needle between being sensitive, but also we don't want to neglect addressing the different relationships that really matter. No, for sure. And of course, that's why we have trips that are open to that are more open. We have trips that are more towards a niche market. And again, I think that sensitivity needs to be there also with the recognition of the beauty of something that can come out of targeting a more niche market. And again, that's the tightrope that you and I are always walking of trying to be as sensitive as possible, but also making sure that we're finding those niche markets where there is that added if you will, where there is that added benefit and that and that parents will be able to benefit from. For sure. Let's pivot to music because we are having one of the biggest Jewish superstars, a music superstars on tonight, Avraham Fried. Avraham Fried, MBD, Mordechai Ben David have to still be considered kind of the fathers, the grandfathers of Jewish music, among others. Um and they're still at it. Their staying power is really I think what's in some ways the most impressive. Not only the staying power of their voices, but the relevancy of their songs, of their appeal. And Avraham Fried is a really just a special, special Jewish, special, special person. Really excited to be speak to him tonight and to bring him on. So, let's talk about Jewish music before we do. First of all, one of the new features of Behind the Bima now that we're back is um whether on YouTube or you're listening to the podcast, we are going to put in the notes when the interview begins. So, I'm sure you want to listen to everything from the beginning to the end, but the people who want to scroll right to the interview, we're going to provide that. But we're also going to have several contests. Over the break, we weren't doing nothing. Our team, because we're busy as full-time rabbis tending to our local flock and teaching Torah, our team was busy with some swag. We've got this incredible um car magnet. Stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy, Behind the Bima. So, we're going to share that with people. We've got these incredible cups. Uh let's see, Behind the Bima with also our tagline and the Behind the Bima on it. And we also have some really amazing Look look at these hats. Adidas Behind the Bima. Stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy. We got Nike behind the Bema. Those who are listening you got to go to YouTube and check these out. Right. This is high Guys, this is high-end stuff. We went all in. just giving this away. No, no, but this is this is not the behind the Bema is on the front of the hat like the hat you get at a golf tournament. I won't quote who even though he probably wouldn't care, but a major leader of a Jewish organization I you know, you go to all these Jewish golf tournaments and Jewish events and you have endless polo shirts with logos on them that you're not really ever going to wear. They don't normally invest in the most quality clothing. You're trying to make money for the organization understandable. So, a major rabbi, head of a Jewish organization once said to me, "Those shirts are fantastic." I said, "What do you mean? You you have them?" He goes, "Yeah, they're perfect for tearing keriah on at the Kotel." So, so we didn't go with that shirt or the hat with the logo on the front that you'll never wear. We went with like great mainstream hats that you'd be excited to wear and our our logo there right, you know, right on the side and right in the back that message. You're playing tennis, golf, you're trying to blend in at Disney cuz you're that you're that Jewish dad in your polo and khakis and you think no one knows that you're from. So, you're wearing this hat. So, but the people behind you online are going to stay happy, stay They're going to read stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy. They're going to be very excited. So, we're giving this away. I get in big trouble with this because my mom walked out of her her home the other you know, the other day and she sees her neighbor has one of these on their car. She says, "How come I don't get one?" Where did Where did she get it from? And I don't even get it. I said, "Mom Check, we got we got the Brody mom reference tonight. Well, tell her There you go, exactly. But you know what? I will get you one. Rabbi Brody, she could she could compete in our contest right now and maybe she'll get one. So, we want to engage our live audience. We know that many, many people listen afterwards, but we want to incentivize you to listen live and join us. We want to engage you and thank you to those who've already weighed in on comments on YouTube. So, here's the question for tonight and the first one to give the right answer will get behind the Bema swag delivered right to their home. Are you ready? The question for tonight is what is my wife's favorite Avraham Fried song? Now my wife is very much into Jewish music. As you know, she has the Apple Jewish music playlist. She shared the link and many people listen to it. It's what plays over the speakers at BRS when you come here throughout the day. She's very into music. She's musical herself, and she has a favorite Avraham Fried song. I'll give you this hint. It is not one of the most well-known more popular ones. So if you're going to guess Yishama Olam or Asher Olam, I'm going to spare you right now. It is not that. So start weighing in on the comments. We're going to bring the great Avraham Fried on momentarily, but uh throughout the interview and throughout the conversation tonight, the first one to get Now you'll say, "Well, maybe Goldberg like doesn't want to give away the swag, so he's going to make it up. People are going to weigh in." I texted her answer to Rabbi Brody and Rabbi Moscow, so they've already seen it. They've seen her answer. It's not going to change. Even if the first person gets it right the first time, it's not going to change, so go on YouTube have 40 years of Jewish music, 40 years of concerts, CDs. The odds of someone guessing this I'm telling you we should increase the the price cuz I would be very impressed if someone gets the answer. Well, maybe we'll give two pieces of swag if somebody gets the answer. So before we bring on the great Avraham Fried, what do you guys think today of the of the state of Jewish music? Jewish music evolves and changes. Um it's a question we'll try to bait Avraham Fried himself into with it, but um you know, what do you think of the state of Jewish music today? It it's evolved a lot from um many years ago through the Carlebach phase, through more recently it has a lot of I would say influence from other for genres of music, the disco or or high-tech or um kind of those beats that have entered it. What what do you guys think? I'll tell you I I mean as a musician, yeah, I I I love this. This is a conversation I could have all night. You know, music changes genres I would within a genre could could change every 10 or 15 years. And I think we're at that point right now in the United States, especially with Jewish music greatest, where you're going to start to see a shift. I don't know where it's going, but it's about to change. It has to change. We just at that point where it's the same I don't want to say same old, but it's the same old thing and it's There are good songs that are being put out and there's just songs that sound a lot like every other song that's being put out. So I think there's going to be a shift and I can't wait to see what's next. Well, when you say that, do you think it's a positive thing? Because you know, I was at a wedding in a I won't say which, but a city in southern New Jersey whose CEO might have just announced his retirement last night and it was a fantastic beautiful wedding. I loved it. It's not a statement about him, it's a statement about the weddings that I've made recently as well, which is when the band starts to kick up that music and they're trying to get everybody excited on that dance floor. If you close your eyes and you don't look around, you don't know where you are and they haven't started the words yet, it's just that tempo and that rhythm and that beat, you could be in any arena, club I I'm disco. I'd outdate myself if I use the term disco, although we did have the disco rabbi in behind the bema. So, you know, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Is that Are we staying relevant and are we giving a positive alternative to what the kids otherwise would be listening to or is that a is that a negative influence and energy that know. I think I think that when it again, when it comes to music, you can't anticipate where music will go. That's the beautiful thing about music and you can look at this again in secular pop music, you look at it in Jewish music or really in any any genre of music. The next phase of Jewish or Jewish music or any music is a place you can't even imagine will be and you'll say I Wow, that's so awesome. That's so special. I Where is that been? And then everyone's going to kind of drift into that world. I'll give an example. I'll give an example by the way. Ishai Ribo Exactly, it's happened in Israel. It just hasn't happened here. Right. Ishai Ribo's changed he's like a modern day paytan. His music speaks right to your soul and to your heart and nobody saw that coming necessarily beforehand. And Ishai Ribo is the one person whose music plays in Geula and Tel Aviv. Non-religious, religious, it plays every segment of Israeli society, of the Jewish world, and you're right, nobody saw that coming this. And there are many others like him now in Israel, but they're not here. So, imagine what something could look like in America. You can't imagine it, but when you when it hits you, it's going to be like, "Wow, where was that?" All right. Well, we have one guess so far, LaFun of. That is incorrect, that is not my wife's favorite Avraham Fried song. So, go to your comments on YouTube. We see there are a lot of you who are watching live right now who are participating, and let's see who gets it right. You're going to get some swag, but in the meantime, while you're commenting, let us bring to you one of the great godfathers of Jewish music, somebody who is not only enormous talent with his voice, but also gives his full heart to everything that he does, and really just amazingly, amazingly special person. It's an honor, and it's a privilege to be able to welcome on the great Avraham Fried. What an incredible What an incredible privilege and pleasure it is to be welcomed by one of, if not the greatest Jewish music superstar of our time, of all time, Avraham Fried. Avraham Fried. What a blessing it is to be together again, to be with you. Thank you so much for joining us today. Shalom aleichem, toda raba, beautiful. Nice to be with you and such a such introduction. What can I say? What can I say? We really the show right here. End the show right there, and that's it. We should I don't want to insult any member of your family because the truth is we've had other members of your family on. Your sister Faye was a long-time member of our shul and close with all of us, and your brother Rivman has been in to our community many times, and Benny's been in behind the bema with us and done concerts in our community, and now Yoni Katz, the great Yoni Katz, is a member here of BRS. So, with no insult to all the rest of the extraordinary talent within your greater family, it really is an honor to have you, and thank you for being with us. So, let's let's go back to your family. Let's start with your family because I don't think it's a secret, people know your connection, your affiliation, obviously with Chabad, with Lubavitch, your shlichus within the world of Jewish music beginning by being sent by the Rebbe, but your family was not always associated with Chabad or only with Chabad. Correct me if I'm wrong, but tell us a little bit more about your family's connection with Bluzhev, the Bluzhev Rebbe, with Sanz. I heard a rumor about Bobov, also connections with music. So, tell us a little bit about the family background with those multiple chasidus, how you ended up specifically in connection with Chabad. So, we go back to a little shtetl called Kremenets. That my other nephews, the Eighth Day group, Right. Right. has a song about Kremenets. And my father, aleiha shalom, the zaida, um were born in Kremenets. Kremenets was a little resort area, like a beautiful Ailat, a beautiful getaway near Krakow. And many, many rebbe's and and gute Yidden would come to chill in Kremenets. In Kremenets, the Bobover Rebbe, Ben Zion Halberstam, came to my was the first Rebbe of Bobov, and he started a yeshiva in Kremenets. So, my zaida and my father and the family were very close with the Bobover Rebbe, the first one, who composed Kad Bain Ov Olam Ve'Ayam, and many other great compositions. So, that was their first introduction with with chasidus was with the Bobover Rebbe and the Bobover yeshiva. I remember hearing from my father that they would take turns, my father and his brother, my uncle, when the Rebbe would sleep, they would have like um some kind of fans, handheld fans, that they would blow on the Rebbe so the mosquitoes shouldn't uh shouldn't uh interfere with his sleeping. So, um that was the first connection with Bobov. And also, my zaida met many, many special Yidden who would come visit and uh take vacation in Kremenets. And when he came to America, he kept up the uh friendship with the Bobover Rebbe and the Bluzhever Rebbe. I remember driving my Zayde to Slichos at night to go hear Slichos at from the Bluzhever Rebbe. So, my uh my roots is um not Chabad Chassidus. Bobover, Bluzhever, and other Rebbes that my Zayde befriended. Um Hashgacha Protis, somewhere along the way, um my parents met Chabad Chassidim in Tashkent for the first time. And that's where my mother met my father. They got married in Tashkent. No connection with Chabad at all, but some Chabad Chassidim took them in. My Zayde got a job working with a a machine that made sacks. And by by the Bobover Chassid, and when he came to America, somehow, someway, all the children were sent to Chabad mosdos. While my father kept his Bobover levush and his nusach and his shtreimel, and we sang zemiros that no one else sang in Crown Heights cuz Chabad doesn't sing, you know, Kol Mekadesh and Mayim Yedidim and Menucha Vesimcha. We did. And we had a lot of people standing outside the window listening to how we would sing zemiros cuz we were very musical family. So, that's basically in a nutshell how we ended up the children in Chabad, but my father kept his um kept to his nusach and to his minhagim. Are there um aspects, are there minhagim, are there are there values or vision of Bluzhev or of Sanz or of Bobov that continue to inform and inspire you today? Well, my father's zemiros clearly is the uh top one in that list. Um to this day, his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are singing this zemiros that he taught us all around the world. This zemiros rings around the world. Yes, we don't wear shtreimelach. We don't wear We didn't take that that minhag. But this minhag is a beautiful gift that my father gave us. The beautiful gift of zemiros that and um it's being passed on from dor to dor. And um like I said it this these songs ring every Friday night, Shabbos day, Yom Tov. Special zemiros that my father taught us. So that's that's still alive and well. Beautiful. I want to follow up and then we'll invite the other rabbis to to chime in as well. But so tell us about your your entre into Jewish music and the encouragement of the Rebbe Zatzal. Um obviously those who've been big fans of yours for a long time and I I have since since my youth. I'm still in my youth, but since my youth um know that we see you as taking on Jewish music is a type of a shlichus that you're using the stage, the platform, the microphone to inspire Yidden to to bring Jews and to draw them close. And while for other Jewish music or music in general stars, it's a platform for parnassa, for for livelihood alone, or it's a way to increase or advance their name and their and their honor, for you at least it seems and and those who are close to you and know you certainly attest to this, it's really a personal shlichus. Only taking on a song which you feel in your kishkes, which will bring you and others closer to Hashem. Using it, the chesed that you do to connect with people, to volunteer in hospitals and sick people, and to bring joy to people's face. Um I know people who've worked very closely with you. I was talking to Simcha Leiner earlier today. When he was on Behind the Bima, he mentioned how you very much started his career. You encouraged him when you heard him as a young child and you continue to inspire him today. And he told me he said it Avraham Fried is the exact same offstage as he is on stage. He's that same simchas hachaim, that joyful life, that smile, that enthusiasm. So you bring a very different approach or attitude. But rumor has it you weren't eager. You knew you had this talent, but you were not eager to take it in a very public way and it took the encouragement of the Rebbe and others. So, take take us backstage a little a little behind the Bima. Tell us a little bit about that story. So, it really all started when I was about 4 years old. And we were neighbors, right next door to the Rebbe's mother, Rebbetzin Chana. And there were times that my mother would go visit and take me along, and she would say, "Avremel, zing a pes, sing something." And I was a shy little boy. I would go behind the curtain and sing, I guess, some Chabad songs. This was This is before Tanya and other Rebbe. So, I would Imagine I sang some Chabad songs. And she once told an elder chassid how much she loves listening to Avremel sing, and that one day, without doubt, I don't don't know exactly the quote, but something to the effect that Klal Yisrael would yet enjoy his singing. And that's it. The rest is history. I guess the Rebbe, knowing that I caused some I brought some nachas to his mother, I took the time to answer me. I was a bochur at the time. I was putting out my first CD, which was entitled first CD, my first album. Mhm. Uh which was called No Jew Will Be Left Behind. Now, where did I get that idea from? I didn't make it up. I heard that from the Rebbe many, many times by farbrengens, "Es ken a ein Yid kenish bleiben in golus." Has to be a Geulah Shleima. If one Yid is missing, it's an incomplete puzzle. And the whole Klal Yisrael suffers. Every Jew has to be accounted for. And back in the day, talking now Rabbi 40 years ago, Jewish music was a lot of depressing. A lot of songs was about still the Holocaust and the suffering and the pain and the blood and the Um and I was hearing these beautiful positive messages from the Rebbe, and I said, "You know what? Maybe we should put this to song." Take the Rebbe's messages and put it into a So, No Jew was my first foray into taking a line that I heard from the Rebbe and putting it to a song. We went to Yossi Green with Shea Mendlowitz. And um one thing one thing still guides me to this day. And that is the Rebbe's positivity. I get many many songs, but they're all uh still about we're not worthy, we're in pain, we're suffering, we're whatever. It doesn't that doesn't talk to me. Positive positive positive. V'echa amcha Yisrael let's talk about the positive things of Klal Yisrael, what a Yid is, what a neshama is, what a nigun is. And uh this what guides me to this very day. I will turn down many songs if the message is negative and depressing, it's not for me, not for me. I'm here to uplift, to inspire, and with Siyata d'Shmaya I hope to uh accomplish more of that b'ezrat Hashem. So you you might have the largest shlichus there is in the world because the largest audience ever all of these years in fulfilling that as part of a mission. Rabbi Goldberg, I must tell you that it it's it's very humbling. It's very humbling to have this zchus. And all those in the music business are in this unique family of having a koach to inspire. Yes, we entertain, I don't like the word entertain, but the goal is to inspire, to uplift, to give chizuk, especially what we're going through nowadays. I think that singers have now become rebbe's in their own right because today a young teenager, a boy or a girl, their life can be changed by one line that they hear from a singer. And it's it's proven I know I have the emails forwarded and the letters and the texts. So it's a great achrayus, it's very humbling, and I I thank Hashem for it every every day. Beautiful. Um I want to go behind the bimah in a different regard with you, and that is um take us behind the scenes of what it's like to be a Jewish singer. Again, you've been on the stage for so many years. Obviously, there've been so many changes along the way, but we see the final product. We see Avraham Fried get up on stage, belt his voice out. It's a God-given talent. It comes so naturally to you. And yet, and yet other people point out that it's really your hard work. I have this quote here from a radio host, Menachem Toker, who said that it's not just your voice and it's not just your charisma, but it's your hard work. He said hard work. He said, quote, "Avraham Fried is the least lazy person in the industry. The constant practicing, learning to dance, voice lessons, his story is a story of tenacity and hard work." So, can you take us behind the scenes a little bit? Again, we see it so effortless and flawless. What happens behind the scenes prior to a concert when you get on the stage? Define that hard work. What exactly goes in to 40 years of being at the top of the game, really at the forefront of Jewish music? Wow, what a what a quote. Dancing? As in what? Um Going into a studio, also recording an album, is is a lot of work. First of all, it's choosing the right material, getting the right arranger to give it the right feel. And then sometimes a song can take me four or five or six hours till I finally just get the feel of it and then start liking what I'm what I'm doing. Because um there's so much into a song. It's besides giving out your voice, you're giving out what you're feeling at the time. So, if it's a sad song or it's a longing song, you have to be in the mood of longing. I remember Tanya and I was doing Tanya, about this beautiful story but Hashem asking for a bracha from a from a coin godol, rachmanus. And I wasn't getting into it and I said, "Bring me a Gemara. I want to see the the lines from the Gemara." That didn't help. So, I said, "Close the lights." I could trying to set mood. Cuz you're singing into four walls. You know, it's not You don't have the crowd to give you that that feeling. So, it takes hours just to get into the right feel. I remember singing happy songs. I keep telling the engineer, "No, I'm not smiling enough. I'm not I have People have to hear me smile besides the singing. So we'll do we'll do 10 more takes just to get the smile going. Um and same thing with a concert in front of a live audience. Um it's it's getting to connect with the song before you go out there. What are you saying? What are the words? You have to feel it. You feel it. Sometimes you don't. Sometimes you don't, but that's why you got to dig down deep and connect on a deeper level with the lyric, with the message, with what you're saying. And forget about the audience. Forget it. By the way, that was one of the beautiful things about doing virtual concerts, that without the audience you have to really bring it out on your own. You didn't have the audience to help you do that. So you really have to connect with the message, with the lyric and what is what are you saying? What are you singing about? And uh that was that was an interesting challenge. So it's basically just connecting uh feeling what you're saying and living at the moment, really focused on what do you want the audience to hear at that moment? Do you have a favorite song? Do you have a song that when you got up when you when you were recording the in the studio or you get up at a concert, it's something that speaks to you, it feels like you connect with the most? I have many many It's hard to pick one. I do remember there were times in the studio where I was dancing around the microphone cuz it was just such a moment of ecstasy. I remember certain songs where I cried. And the engineer started crying. We cried together. Cuz the message was very powerful. Um I once told somebody that going into a studio or holding a microphone the whole route could be one of two experiences. Either to get nished, you know, nothing happens which is pretty depressing, pretty sad. Or you're holding a microphone at a concert, you're in the studio and like I said, and you're connecting on your level of Yechida, you know, the most deepest part of you is connecting with the song, you you fly. It's It's It's a out-of-body experience. It's just It's an an incredible holy moment. Doesn't happen too often, but it has happened where you're just so into the song and your your headphones are right there and you're the music and the words and the melody It's just an incredible experience. By the way, you mentioned behind the Bima Rabbi, um allow me to tell you a short Maybe you know the story. Behind the Bima, so the Hasid a a Hasid and a Rabbi come for a problem, but they come for a um audition to a shul. And after Motzei Shabbos, the Rabbi gives the president gives the Hasid $500 and he gives the Rabbi, the would-be Rabbi, $1,000. So the Hasid says, Rabbi, I don't understand, Mr. President. I davened Kabbalat Shabbos, I davened Shacharis, I davened Musaf, I layned by Mincha. The Rabbi spoke 20 minutes. He gets a grand, I get $500? So the president says, You're right. But at least if you're bad, you're facing the wall. If the Rabbi is bad, he's facing the audience. Facing the audience is a much more difficult challenge. That's great. That's funny. By the way, that maybe that maybe was the the um opposition because concerts in the beginning might have been a little frowned upon because when you daven, you're facing the wall. You're talking to Hashem, you're facing the wall. Suddenly, you're facing the audience while you're singing. That's pretty arrogant. Facing an audience. When you talk to God, you talk facing the wall. You know what? Thank God we've passed that that stage. You You spoke about not having a favorite song. Do you have a favorite venue? Is there a favorite place that you perform that stands out that you is on your calendar, you look forward to? I like every shul. Great audience. Great great audience. As a matter of fact, uh just in back of my house a shul a few days ago, what a what simcha. The place was just thundering with simcha. Just Just think They come to sing. They come to let out all their built-up anxiety. Music to them is very special and that's very special in Eretz Yisrael. I noticed on recordings you have a very good Hebrew. When you address the audience in Eretz Yisrael, you speak to them in Hebrew and your Hebrew is very is really is is not a beginner Hebrew. Where Where did you pick up such a fluency in Hebrew? Well, I'm in Eretz Yisrael, you know, once a month. Um very very busy there. That this Yachad the Shmaya there is is incredible. I picked up over the years I picked it up. Although I I must tell you that I've been some embarrassing mistakes that I've made over the years using the wrong word. That's great. Using the wrong word here and there and the place had a laugh. I said, "Why are you laughing? I didn't make Did I make a joke?" Using the wrong word. Don't worry. That's how I learned. Yeah. Wow. So for those For my Amiraatzim making mistakes, they forgave me. I'm there every month also. Hasn't worked. I haven't gotten any better at Hebrew, but But you shouldn't But you But you know, talking about favorite songs, you know, every single week we in in the winter we have a program here called Vishinantam L'vanacha. It's where we, you know, parents come learn with their with their children and at the end we have this real mega raffle. Want to get the kids all excited. Play Yerushalayim Arosha'olem. We've been playing it for the last 20 years and you can see when you go into the, you know, Yerushalayim and just it back and forth. The kids are just like rocking. They're loving it. It's a great Surely I would have mentioned it to you. It's probably my most requested song. So that That's actually That's actually my question then. So you've been in the industry now for so many decades. It's an It's an incredible career. And I'm sure there's a there there's a pressure to innovate, right? To come up with new things. How do you How do you deal with that pressure? How do you deal with the new styles that are going to come up all the time? And also you have that fan base which is always going to request the classics, and maybe they're not so interested in hearing the newer things. How do you have How do you balance off that? I'm actually now very involved hoping to wrap up my next CD. Um I'm holding it up. Some Some new people are expecting me to come out with something fresh and and new. Um yet with you know, with a message with a with a So, I'm I'm still looking. I'm like two or three songs short. The rest I have Baruch Hashem. And um I'm almost there, but I won't put it out until I know that I have that zinger with you the right message. A beautiful khiddush, you know, and um So, that that's taking time. I don't look for new styles. I think whatever works, stick with it. You know, and um But you got to find the right My main topic, of course, is Moshiach, and I'm finding it very difficult to keep finding khiddushim about Moshiach. What haven't we said about Moshiach? Yet, you know, it's like Another Shabbos song. Another Moshiach song. But somehow I can I came up with Bring the House Down. That was a khiddush. A khiddush. The khiddush Bring the House Down. I love that, by the way. Yeah, great. Great. By the way, I must point out something. We just read recently Parshas Noach. And something occurred to me during Krias HaTorah. Today, we all talk about baalei teshuvah. And music has that koach. It changes people's lives. Make Is it a meheira teshuvah? Completely makes them about teshuvah. I was thinking to myself, why at the end of the parsha does Noach get a little shicker? Why does he Why does he start drinking? What happened? And it occurred to me Noach was sitting at the Shabbos table with his family. He's looking around and he says, "Oh my God. What a embarrassing, disastrous I didn't make one baal teshuvah. Not one outsider is sitting by my Shabbos table. At 120 years. I told people bubble is coming to not one about Shiva that I make. So they have got a little depressed and I started drinking. What do you think is that always got a house in the woods is that No, why not? I don't know. No, that's the that's the age-old debate on Noah. Is he the hero or the zero, the villain or the Not one. Not one. Not one. Maybe you could say that that just shows you how corrupt his his generation was. But even still one. Not one about Shiva it must have been very depressing. And then another another mutual friend of ours Ari Stern says he gets a weekly dvar Torah from you. So I don't know how I could sign up for that list to get that weekly Nice. How do you know Ari Stern? Ari is in Boca. He's a big member of our shul BRS. He goes neighbor. Nice. I didn't know. Nice. Baruch Hashem. We we love we love having him. We love having him. So we talked about favorite song, venue. Is there a moment in time when you think about the people you've performed for? Maybe not the public performances. I know that you value in some ways those private ones as we said before at a hospital bed or visiting a sick person or a simcha. Particularly during Corona we had some unusual stories. Over over your illustrious career please God should continue with strength for many years to come. Is there a particular moment, a particular exchange, a particular person that you were able to bring simcha to or comfort to that stands out in your mind? Yes, Baruch Hashem. Plenty plenty plenty of stories that actually just now when I landed in Eretz Yisrael a few days ago I went to do the bedikah, the the PCR test. So the guy behind the this this blue you know robe and his this mask and then his this plastic mask he says Artzi atta? The guy with that that I am looking. That I am looking. And he put on the computer one of my songs in the airport while I was Oh, that's great. I was like I need to sell the test. I'll do you You'll be gentle, yes? He said, "I'll be as gentle as possible." And then he came to the concert. Turns out that he's from a firm family. He came with his brother. He was wearing a yarmulke. He wasn't wearing a yarmulke. He says, "But your songs that I remember hearing as a child that still keeps me connected to Yiddishkeit." So, so many stories like that. But the number one story of all time that happened with me was some years ago in Eretz Yisrael where I was in I was asked to come sing for a young man who just fell into a coma 12 days earlier. And he's a big fan. And I went and I sang for him. And then we met 6 months later. Baruch Hashem, he's alive and well. And his family is growing. And he tells me that um when he was in the coma, he didn't hear a thing. But when I sang, he says, "Me and my friends, we were up there in a room filled with a lot of light. And your song let my neshama back down into my guf." Wow. Your singing pulled me back down into the Olam Hazeh. So, um that of course is the most incredible story that happened to me all these years. That's tremendous. If I If I could maybe first So, that's actually what I want to talk about for a second is is the power of a song. We live in such a rational world where people are often times driven by the head, by the intellectual, by the rational. Um people are afraid to close their eyes and to sing in a shul a shul this. Um can you explain to people who may not have tapped into that the power of a niggun, the power of a song? What goes What experience can a person go through when they really get themselves into a song that's different from what you experience when you, you know, cop a Gemara intellectually? Song is different and we know that from Chassidus and we know that from Chabad. Explain to our listeners from your perspective what it means to really get into a song to lose yourself By the way, I think that it's it's it should be an important part of our avodah that we take time to teach our young boys and girls um early niggunim be even during uh during yeshiva hours to have a half hour of niggun. I know it's popular in Israel where that our yeshiva plays guitar, someone plays guitar, and the bochurim sing. It gives them an outlet and it lets them connect and love a little bit. Actually, I had a a vikuach with a great orator. And I asked him, "So tell me, tachlis, what's really the difference between you and I? A great singer can make you dance if it's a happy song. Can make you cry if it's a sad song. A great speaker can do the same. You make people cry, you make them laugh. What's really the difference between a singer and a great speaker? But we know that niggun always has the the koach a ma'alah over speaking. But what is it? Show me a tachlis'dika difference. And he couldn't point it out. I said, "I'll tell you the difference. Only a song can get you to dance. Can't dance to a speech. I love that. Only a song lifts you up off the ground and gets you going up higher to connect to Hashem. And why is that? So um I'm not really an expert on exactly knowing the mechanism of niggun, how it works. But we know that the Alter Rebbe said that speech is the pen of the heart. And melody is the pen of the soul. So if you sing a song, I remember one saying from a rebbe who said you have to sing a song 60 times to connect to a to a song. So it's not just, you know, A B and then move on to a next song. Doesn't accomplish anything. If you really want to connect to an nigun, like you said, you put away all distractions, you focus on what the nigun is saying, you focus on what it's doing to your neshama, and that'll that'll lift you up. That'll lift you up. And if it's a you know, a a song of longing with the right words where you're longing to be closer to Hashem, you'll feel it. But you got to give it the focus, you got to give it the time to let it sink in. And that's why in one one of the sfarim I saw it says that nigun in a way is like a ein sof kind of thing, like numbers, like it's endless. A nigun, when you finish it, it pulls you right back to the beginning. Again and again and again. So if you let it sink in and you connect with it, no question your soul will feel it, it'll express itself, and you will feel higher, you feel holier, and closer to Hashem. So many so many of your songs do that for us. I'll say personally a song that um several years ago really touched me deeply is Kah Echsof of the Zemer of R' Aharon Karliner. And we've introduced it to our shul shul shul shul shul shul shul shul shul shul shul shul shul shul shul shul shul shul shul shul shul In our home, Friday afternoon, if you're ever in Crown Heights and you come into our home, you will probably hear to give it the Shabbos uh aura in the house Erev Shabbos, my wife, my kids, we will put on Kah Echsof. Mhm. That is a song that brings our home into a Shabbos'd mood and makes us cry every time. What a heilige heilige nigun. Tremendous. As far as I'm concerned, again, I have um certain songs for different different occasions. It depends. You know, there's a song that I wrote the lyrics to to an old Chabad nigun called the Tateinu. Um based on the saying of the Baal Shem Tov that Hashem loves every Yid as if it's one and only child. That to me speaks volumes. And I wrote a song about it. Atah Tateh, bist du. God agitra'ayan. Avinu Avinu, Avinu Avinu, Avinu Avinu, Avinu Avinu. Yidden and Yochid is crying out to you, Tateh, we miss you. It's time to get together at the table again. You know, how long can a father and son be separated? So, that does it for me. And many many others, of course, you have Tanya, which is again a song about trying to arouse the Evercher's rachmanus, the Evercher's rachamim. And you have happy songs like Chazak and Yerushalayim Yerushalayim. So, it depends. The neshama has many many colors that it that speaks to it, many shades. And uh it's hard to pick just one particular song. You know, the I think Mishpacha magazine recently uh had it, if I'm not if I'm not uh making a mistake, that Adir Adir Hu was only added to the siddur by Artscroll or others after your song made it famous. That there are There are state- There are statements that only after they were made famous by you, by a singer, people weren't even for you know, the Heiliger Reb Melech of Lizhensk and Reb Melech the Adir Adir Hu, those words are so powerful, but first it was So, my wife had a similar thing. She Somebody on Friday uh a family member had an emergency, and she texted she wrote to them, "Shabbos Yimlich U'refuah Sh- U'refuah Krovah Lavo." And she said, "Tell Avraham Fried I only know those words. I can only give that expression properly from his song. That's how I know the words to give that bracha on Erev Shabbos from the song." So, so those words have made it part of our our practice, part of our liturgy, part of our siddur, uh which is amazing. Going back to Going back to Jewish music. That's thanks to Yossi Green, cuz that was his song, his his chiddush, as was Tanya. Right. So, so Jewish music. Jewish music is always evolving, it's always changing. I'm sure from the beginning of your career till where you are now, you've seen different trends, you've seen different styles, you've seen different stars, superstars who've come in. What are some current trends right now that you think are are wonderful? Are there some new styles or singers or introductions into the world of Jewish music which you think are very positive? Are there things that concern you that have entered into Jewish music and that you think are important for us to encourage our children to kind of go back to basics a little from? Let's talk Let's talk positive. I am very elated and happy that lately the trend has become where singers are giving the audience an opening to talk to Hashem face to face. Now, we say "Modeh Ani" cuz it says in the siddur. So, we say "Modeh Ani". But Joey Newcomb came out with a song called "Thank You, Hashem". Suddenly, Hashem is approachable. He's available. Thank you, Hashem. Not because it says in the siddur, cuz I feel like saying "Thank you, Hashem" right now. And then the song that I did, "Abba Abba Abba Melech Ha'Olam". He's talking to Abba cuz he's your Abba. Not because it says so in the siddur. Cuz when you want to say Abba, you feel connected. And many, many other songs like that that are very uh personal, very intimate with Hashem. And I think that is incredible. That we feel that closeness that we can talk to Hashem not only because it says so in the siddur, but in our own language and our own feelings. And I think that it's that's sweeping the the the music right now. I think that's that's very positive and and uh and wonderful. Do you ever get worried about your voice when you're up on stage and you're performing? Um do you ever have a an off day? Do you ever have a All the time. By the way, I don't know if you are familiar with the story that happened with me uh 6 7 years ago in Lod in Eretz Yisrael. I was an hour and a half into the concert with Eder ve'er with being in Yom Kippur and my big song was on the song of big big piece and I went off stage for a moment to put on my towels cuz that was my big prop for the night and I came back out and I was supposed to sing on the song Nothing came out. I just choked. I couldn't get a clear note out for the rest of the night and I said, "Rabotai, Mayor Adler, it's your show. You sing. I'll just start the song and that's it." And they were wonderful. They were amazing. I wrote them I wrote them a letter afterwards thank you. You saved I could have been buried out of of shame with shame you saved it. Anyhow, months later I did a a concert for years later I did a concert for High Lifeline recently during COVID. It was a big stage at a park. The families were all in their cars. So instead of clapping after a song they honked the horn. That's how I knew they were having a good time. They were honking the horns. And I went for a moment to the side stage to say hello to people on this side and that side I realized there were fans blowing smoke to get that look on the stage the smoke look. I took a little bit of an inhale of that smoke and for a moment it choked I said, "Oh my god. That's what happened in Lud. While putting on my towels I was too close to that fan that was blowing this heavy smoke. That that choked my vocal cords. So that's what happened. But without without the fans you never know. You come out on stage you Um I don't get paid for the concert. I get paid for vocalizing and getting ready weeks before. That's really where the where the money is because you can vocalize and you can prepare and you can go for voice lessons and you can exercise at the gym. That's what you need to do to be in shape. But you come out and sometimes the sound is not as as you were hoping. The crowd is a little far off and not giving you the energy that you need. So there's so many things that you need to go right that to heal them is always said we're going on our stage. Another couple of hill him is another couple of hill him. Everything should fall into place. So, it's it's nerve-racking. Once it start and it goes, you fly. You fly. That's an important point that even at this stage of your career, the great Avraham Fried still gets nervous before going on stage, before doing a chuppah. People assume that, you know, great speakers, great singers, great performers, ah, once they've arrived, once they're professional, you know, it's easy going for them. What are they What are they get paid so much for? But there's even there's a nervousness. There's a lot that needs to go in. There's a lot that could go wrong. And there's a lot that you channel into a tfilah to Hashem. Absolutely. Once you lose the uh the excitement, the feeling of It's not fear. It's It's a healthy nervousness, then it's time to retire. At that point. Yeah, for sure. For sure. What's um Go ahead, go ahead, Rabbi Goldberg. I was going to ask Rabbi Goldberg are you still feeling that nervousness or you before you get up I feel nervous every single time I feel nervous every time I speak. You know, there's a story I think Rabbi Emanuel Feldman has tells that of shul about some great uh performer in the secular world. I forgot if it was a conductor or an opera who had a yahrzeit and came to shul to daven. And he led mincha and someone asked him if he were nervous about mincha. Said I was very nervous about mincha. And asked him if he's still nervous before he performs. And he says the day I'm no longer nervous is the day I should hang it up. It's those nerves, it's those butterflies which create, you know, the the they propel you to the performance. And if you lack it, if you don't have that energy, then you're finished. Actually, it's a it's something that we know in Yiddishkeit. It's called eimas tzibur. The fear of the of the crowd. It's a It's a concept in Torah. Right. Which means that you're you're out of respect to the crowd, you're hoping to be your best. So, it's a Right. It's out of respect to the crowd. Once you lose that energy from the crowd and you've lost respect for the crowd, that means you got to retire. So, to to pivot to a little bit of a different direction, you're a very public personality. You just told us the story that the equivalent of the TSA agent in Israel recognized you and and uh screamed out your name and put on your music. I imagine not only in Crown Heights, around the Jewish world and where you travel, you're you're very publicly recognized. And you can't be a public person without not only having the people who sing your accolades and praise, not only having your fans, but there are always detractors. There's always negativity. How have you all these years been such a public person and and how do you silence the detractors? How do you make sure to rise above it? How do you ignore that email or that comment online? How do you make sure it doesn't ever bring you down to stay so positive, so public, so committed to the good, and to never be set off course by any of the negativity? That's the key. You ignore it. That's the secret right there. Perfect. Don't don't just don't give them the time of day. Just do what you're doing. If you feel like you're what you're doing is right, you have the support of your family, have the support of your your community, and you do what's right, then you ignore those who just try to make you know, uh trouble along the way. Um I had recently a story with Aviv Geffen. You might have heard that uh very popular Israeli singer. Not very much respected in the firm crowd because he was very anti years ago and said some very nasty things about from Eden etc. etc. And the idea came up to do a duet with him. And uh I had some opposition. But uh we asked around and uh some wise people said go for it. And uh we did it. And I'm happy to say that very often I will get comments from people saying, "What a kiddush Hashem that you're bringing um you know, using music to connect people who are clearly uh on different sides of the uh of the of the of the coin. And music has that have bring together. What a kiddush Hashem. So when I hear kiddush Hashem, that works for me. You mentioned wise people. Do you have Who are your musical rebbeim? In other words, people who you turn to when you have questions personally, professionally, um who are your mentors? Who are the people that you turn to? Firstly, my wife. That's number one. Number two is my children, because they keep me on the straight narrow. Um and then of course my my wise older brothers that I ask. If it's a halachic shaila, I have my rabbonim here in the community that I would ask a shaila, but uh if it's a shaila of you know, heart or mind or soul or approach, um my family and my my siblings are my uh guiding lights. Is it hard for your for your nuclear family that you are so well known when you go out in public that they have to share you with uh the rest of the world who might come over? Do you Do you mind when someone comes over to just say I love your music or what it's done for me? Do you wish that they would just uh give you space? So, it depends. If I'm ready to take a bite from the lox and and the guy says, "Can I take a selfie with you?" Depends on the timing. Depends on the timing. You know, I have I I can't complain. I say woe to the day that they stop asking me for my you know, for a selfie or for my autograph. As long as they're asking me that I'm doing something right. So, I I am I'm thrilled to make a a young man smile, to take a picture with somebody, to sign an autograph. No problem with that. My My family, I'm sure it was difficult for them, but they know that I'm like you said, I I'm I'm doing a very important job, important role, so they forgive me for it. But, I'm sure it's difficult. Just wondering, is there a song that you wish you wrote or performed or a song that someone else wrote that you enjoy performing? Oh. Yes, there have been songs that I myself have been asked to sing and I said, "I don't feel it." And they went out to be huge hits. But I I I do believe that every song has an address. It's not just by by accident that a certain singer gets a certain song. That I got Tanya, I think was was very special. Um Abba, recently, I almost didn't didn't have it. But luckily I got it. And what a hit Abba turned out to be. So I feel that um every song has its address. It ends up where it's supposed to end up. And if I didn't get it, I'm happy that the one who got it got it because that's where it was meant to be. Mhm. How do you balance? Obviously, anyone listening is is amazed by your humility, by your shlichus, by your awareness of everything coming from Hashem. And yet, on the other hand, it's very easy to lose that to the stardom and to the fame and to you know, all the accolades that you've received over the years. How do you keep yourself grounded to remind yourself that it's all from all from Hakadosh Baruchu, that it's a gift, that it's a responsibility, and never to allow it to get to your own personal ego? So there are certain psukim in davening that when I get there, I take a moment and I focus. And I remind myself that it's not about me. It's not me. We're simply a shliach with a God-given talent. And I remind myself every day of this fact that the whole world is so blatantly simple. Whatever you have is a gift from God. How can you go wrong with that? Like you said, Olam Hazeh has a way of distracting you and making things look like what what they're really not. So I remind myself every day that you're only a shliach. And you you're job is to make Hashem proud and make the Rebbe proud. And uh stay true to who you are. Once it starts getting to your head, it's only trouble. It's only trouble. So keep keep singing. Remember that that niggun is like like the Bashemtov says, in heaven there are many many gates and every gate has a has a key. The master key is nigina. It opens up all the gates. So, I'm humbled by this opportunity. Looking back like I said, I sang for the Rebbe when I was 4 years old and then Hashem just led me on this path. And I just hope to be able to to keep um putting beautiful gems in the in the crown of up in shamayim. And if you didn't come to me and say "My life is better because of you. I had some chizuk from one of your songs. I had my life changed because of your songs." How how much how much more special can I get? I mean, it's just incredible. Incredible stuff. What a perfect perfect place to leave it and we thank you for your time. That's it. Wait wait we can That's part one. We're coming back next week with part two. Exactly. I don't know about in the world of singing, but in the world of public speaking they say always leave them wanting a little bit more. So, we're going to please God It was true. we'll bring you back. We'll bring you back and we'll have at least part two if not many more from there. But we're super grateful for your time, for your wisdom, for your positivity, for your joy and we want to thank you. I've been listening to your songs since I look like I'm older than you, but since I'm a little boy and they've always moved me and my family and deeply deeply grateful for you you've changed our lives. You've given us the the music of our souls in different occasions and our simchas and our shabbos tables. So, please Hashem should bless you. Should continue to have good health and strength. Should continue to be inspired. Should continue to spread the light and positivity. And I'm here to Hashem you'll you'll sing and dance us to Yerushalayim with the arrival of Mashiach. Amen. Rabbis, thank you thank you so much and to all of you a bracha from Hakoyen. Rachamim all that you do to bring light and hope and inspiration to wherever you can affect and touch. Thank you very, very much. The great Avraham Fried, ladies and gentlemen, never disappoints. Super talent and a huge heart and that was a really fantastic conversation. He's so open and willing to share and let us in and let us go behind the Bima. And he's humble and he's genuine and he's real and he is the same publicly and privately and he's a really, really special person. Many of you have suggested some of those songs. Trying to guess you have it go over gravity and you know One winner, one winner. Well, we're not going to announce the winner till the end. We want you to keep submitting names. So, we've got a bunch of names that have been suggested. Avraham Fried, the legend, has so many songs in Hebrew, in English, in Yiddish. Put in the comments on YouTube, those listening live, and you could win. Unbelievable. You could win. Look at this. On the Bima. One of a kind. One of a kind behind the Bima. It's It's amazing. It's a collector's item. People All your friends will be like I know. I got the gray one. We've got all of mine for We've got We've got the few We've got a bunch of them. We've got all of them. He's amazing. Takeaways from the interview, gentlemen. Hour's getting late. What were you most moved by? What comment, what insight, what thought of the legend Avraham Fried? I was moved by him, as you said, his genuine nature. I was moved by his shlichus, the notion that you could do anything in the world. Doesn't matter what you're doing, but it could be as a shlichus from Hashem. It could be in singing, it could be in teaching, it could be in as a doctor, it could be as a Whatever you're doing, you're on a shlichus from Hashem. I found that very powerful and for me it really it reminded me of the power of song and the role that song plays to open up our hearts, to open up our nishamas. Um, you know, we always talk about you can connect to Hashem through your head and through your heart, but song allows your nishama to open up and for me it was a beautiful reminder about that. Rabbi Broyde, you're a fellow musician. What what did you Fellow musician. I love the way I mean, I'm just looking at the screen it says Jewish music superstar and you would think of any superstars the person that's if finally achieved such great levels of fame and he says you know every day in my davening I'm just trying to figure out how do I stay humble. I know I'm the best and I know I'm number one but I love that. I think that's great. That's what he's saying. I know that's what he means and you know what at the end of the day no but I'm just the fact that he's working on himself like that. You don't hear the average superstar saying I'm working on myself to be humble. I think that's fantastic. Also I'll just add in one more his simcha was palpable and and contagious and I loved it. Donny Oppenheimer good friend of behind the bema says such a nice personality charming self-deprecating funny light very self-aware. He's all those things. My favorite moment in the interview is when he did not take my bait. You guys did. Right before we brought him on we had that conversation about are there negative trends in Jewish music anything we should be worried about No I didn't want to say anything but Brody took the bait for the record. Right away he said I I'm let me say positive. He's a real chosid of the rebbe that notion that language matters positive speech matters. Let other people come with the criticism and the arrows. Our job is to focus on the positive the positive energy the positive attitude. Someone suggested Acheinu Acheinu is not it. So what is it? What is it? Can we have multiple winners tonight? Can we have one winner? Is there do we have a winner? Do we have a winner? Keep suggesting favorite album free tickets. I want to know is the winner someone in Rabbi Moscowitz's family who has access to his email? There's a winner on the chat. Hold on there's a winner on the Oh no we're not we're not mention we're not mentioning I'm not mentioning hold on. I'm I'm asking can there be multiple winners? Can there be multiple winners? Can there be multiple winners? Yeah but if you said it's just on the chat then maybe some people are going to go look at the chat and just copy everyone else's answers. No I want to go behind the bema Rabbi Gober because the quote that I had read about Avraham Fried I like that I like that profile. We can't see. Come come a little closer. Can't see. Singers it's not it's obviously understandable that singers are going to practice their songs and that they're going to warm up their voice before they get up there to sing. Walk us through Rabbi Ephraim Goldberg, premier speaker in the world. Do you have pre-speech rituals? Now, it's like when you're walking to shul on Shabbos morning, are you stretching out your vocal chords? Do you practice speeches in advance? What is your pre-game ritual for giving a Honestly, I don't know the answers. I'm actually Can I Can I tell you what I think it is? Well, I'm just saying No, cuz I'm saying there is that there is that you don't No one sees it, but like right before you get up and give the drasha, there's a little eye contact where we you clear your throat, then I clear my throat, and then you clear your throat again. There's a lot of Lakatan. Ellie Last and a good friend of mine behind the bema, Boca, says Ellie Lakatan. We've got the chazak A chazak suggestion. A lot of suggestions are coming in. What is Rabbi Paysach Goldberg's favorite Avraham Fried song? You don't hear me in my office going la la la la la la la la. I was always wondering. I'll tell you I'll tell you this and this is 100% true and genuine and honest. I have a little conversation with Ribono shel Olam and I say, "Hashem, just let the words flow. Let me be your mouthpiece. Let me inspire others. Let it be something that lands and resonates." And that's it. And my whole thing is to just ask Hashem for help. Um this is a conversation for another time. We can continue next week. We have a great guest next week with this conversation, but I'm a big believer not for sheer I give and not for the average I spoke at a bris Yitzchak at a bris mila this morning. You know, those are off the cuff and easy, but the drasha, the sermon, I write it out. I don't read it, but I write it out because that forces me to have organize my beginning, my middle, my end, to find the words so I'm not searching or looking for them in that moment. And those papers are up there, but I'm not reading it. But that enables me to not have those jitters. By knowing the papers are there and the pressure's not there. Okay, wait, after that I wanted to tell the story, then the Then, I wanted to give the second answer. Then, I I'm like on rare weeks where I've not written it out and you saw something on Friday night. You're still working on it. You're not davening Shabbos morning. You're trying to juggle the balls in the air and not drop one. You're trying to make sure you don't leave anything out. You're trying to make sure you find the right words to capture. But, when you've written out the drasha, you sleep like a baby. You you are able to enjoy your Shabbos meals. You're able to enjoy Shabbos morning davening right up until the drasha because there it is. It's on the paper that if you get nervous, you'll be able to read it. So, my only pre-speech ritual, I definitely get butterflies. I'm nervous each and every single time I speak. Here's another trivia question. Maybe we'll save it for next week. Which speaking venue am I most nervous about? Which gives me the greatest butterflies? Oh, I know the answer to that for myself. the answer. Don't answer. But, is it Shabbos Shuva? Shabbos Hagadol? Is it a regular shiur? Is it drasha Shabbos morning? Shabbos morning davening. Is it a chuppah? Is it a Which venue that I speak at makes me I don't know I don't I got the answer. I do I know for myself. I don't know for you, but I know for myself I have them and I'm guessing at least one of them is the one you're thinking of. Okay. Does it rhyme with chuppah? Yes, the answer is absolutely Speaking under a chuppah is is still for me the most nervous. you what I find very hard. I find shalom zachars hard also. I I I just Really? I love shalom zachars. No, I know. That's your like wheelhouse cuz you It's just It's a It's a hard slot. I find it a hard slot sometimes. Obviously I love shalom zachars. People are a little bit uh a little bit in a state of joy and excitement and happiness. You might have imbibed one or two of those as well. And then, you you haven't To me, it's like the least formal slot. You're joking. You're calling someone out. You're telling There's no expectation. No, so I'll tell you part of it is though is that I I have to go after you. So, there's the speech, right? You give the like 15-minute speech. And then, I got to go after that when you and I both know no one wants to be listening to a speech anymore, and you've already said everything there is nice to say about the family. So, it it's a hard slot summer. I'm on vacation, I'm out of town, and you're the first speaker. But again, oftentimes it's like, oh, we we feel bad that Moscow just here also, we got to let him speak, too. And when you know no one wants to hear you, it's a hard slot to say. Interesting. Interesting. I'll tell you another one. The fact checker just texted us privately, and it's true. When we've had Reb Schechter for Shabbos, he's giving the drasha, but he's at the minyan giving the drasha, and you're kind of like over your shoulder is a godol baTorah who knows kol haTorah kulah. The only thing that like makes me have any comfort is the thought that hopefully he's just shas in his head and not even listening. I hope. I hope. But he's such a mensch, he makes it look like What? What's that? What was that? Yeah, exactly. it look like he's he's always listening, so I was once doing this with you. The Shabbos of your 10-year anniversary, we had Pesach Rebbi Pesach Rebbi Schechter there, and I spoke on Shabbos morning. That was the most intimidating I've ever been. That's nerve-wracking. Every word. One suggestion is is it smichas chover the most intimidating? Isn't the shtiebel minyan the most intimidating? Yerushalayim or Yerushalayim, is that the song? And Rabbanit Goldberg, is it her song? It's my favorite. Moments from now, we're about to wind down. Find the Let me ask you one of the questions. This was on the agenda for tonight. I wanted to ask before we officially leave the holiday season, even though we're deep into Marheshvan now. Of all of the holiday season, from Rosh Chodesh Elul, selichos night, Rosh Hashanah, Seder Simchas Torah, Yom Kippur, Neilah, first days of Sukkos, Shabbos Chol HaMoed, Hoshana Rabbah, last days of Sukkos, Simchas Torah, which is your favorite day? Simchas Torah. I love that shacharis. I love that morning, that whole day. It's It gets started a little slow, you know, 8:00 a.m., and then it just ramps up. It's just like Shacharis Simchas Torah. Yeah, it's shacharis, mussaf, the whole thing. I have a question. Neilah. Not even a question. Interesting. Interesting. I have a different answer. You ready for this? Out of that whole period, my favorite day Mariv Mariv Mariv Mariv No, no. My favorite day That's true, by the way. Hoshana Rabbah. I'm a Hoshana Rabbah Jew. It's Hoshana Rabbah is totally totally under appreciated. Under appreciated. Hoshana Rabbah, first of all, we have a Nates minyan Hoshana Rabbah you and I go to Rabbi Moscowitz. Rabbi Brody We're not sure. We don't know which minyan you go to. But we go to the Hoshana Rabbah minyan. one? The other one. No, you're running the satellite, you know. Rina Moscowitz, it's his birthday. Rina Moscowitz, it's his birthday. Rabbi Brody's running our brand new satellite we should talk about. The the expanded new Breaking news. It's a focal point. It is a breaking news. But Hoshana Rabbah, we have that minyan and I feel like that's the only time I get to that. There's no drasha, there's no speech. We sit there among regular people. We're not in the front of the room facing everybody. That is Hoshana Rabbah with the Yom Hamdrasha in tune. And with that kittel and with that Nates minyan I I live for that Hoshana that, but I'm going to challenge that cuz you and I both know there's something very special about Ne'ilah. There's there's something magical about speaking before Ne'ilah. There's something magical about looking out into the into the audience and seeing people who all the entirety of Yom Kippur, some have been getting into easier, some have been struggling a little bit more. And when everyone's eyes are closed and they're screaming and they're singing and they're all in it together, there's something magical about that experience. It's true. I love Ne'ilah. Ne'ilah's very powerful. But I'll just say that Ne'ilah as much as I'm personally uplifted, inspired, blown away, transformed, but there's also a level of having to be a professional Jew. You have to have the right story. You give the pump up speech. You're facing everybody. You're looking around the room. You're nervous. Nobody talk, please. And this Who's getting the psicha? What's happening? That Hoshana Rabbah, I just get to be a Yid. And then afterwards, sit in the succah, have kreplach. And Hoshana Rabbah is an underestimated day. Okay, what is Rebetzin Goldberg's favorite Avraham Fried song? Can we get a drum roll? We have a winner. And the winner is it says Y Cats given the other comment with Shtiebleman I'm going to guess it's Yoni Cats. And Yoni Cats, you are the proud winner of some behind the Bima swag. You are correct. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's favorite Avraham Fried's hit song is Forever One. Now, if you've never heard it, go to YouTube right now. Go Google Forever One. Fantastic song. Not Forever Younger by Brody, Forever One. It is a great song. Avraham Fried Forever One. It is a beautiful song. It's her favorite song. The English song. For extra bonus, what's my favorite Avraham Fried song? Tanya? No. Have you ever heard Yismechu Elohim? Yismechu Elohim K'vodo U- Beautiful song. I love that. Yismechu Elohim. So, Yoni Cats, I don't know if that's you. If that is you, text me that that is in fact you are Y Cats and that you are the proud winner of the behind the Bima swag tonight. I can't wait for Yoni to show up at the Shtiebleman in the shabbos with his behind the Bima hat. I'm excited. you have to wear 100%? No question about it. Maybe we should make um With the benchers. Behind the Bima kapotas for the shul. We'll put a behind the Bima logo on the kapota. It's primal. I saw someone different swag for each minyan at BRS. Did you see Did you see the the kapota being advertised that your gun can easily come out of? You didn't see that? that. I saw that. There's a little video of someone who designed the kapota that you The fast the fast checkers sent that to us. Yeah, so there's there's the kapota with the gun and but the kapota is also the kapota for Behind the Bima. Behind the Bima. All right, gentlemen, it's great to be back. Who's Professor Ruth Wisse. Ooh. Kishka and kugel teach with Harvard. Harvard University today. Yiddish professor. A fascinating individual. Fascinating life story. Just wrote her autobiography. And I'm very, very excited to have the great Professor Ruth Wisse on next week. 2 weeks from now, we're going back to Chabad, with Rabbi YY Jacobson. But, somebody said to me that we should bring up tonight, we disproportionately have guests connected to Chabad. Why is that? Is that a function of us? Is that a function of It's so true, by the way. Are you laughing about that? Is that a function A lot. of that? What is it a function of? An interesting conversation to continue next week. But, until next week, for this week, don't forget, stay happy, stay healthy, stay hydrated, and stay hydrated. We'll see you next week.