TTT :: Be a Mentch

Yerachmiel Begun 
and the miami boys choir

Two extra points if you can place the source of this picture. Use the commenting feature to comment.

TTT :: Dundai Hey! • Miami Boys Choir

We Need You • Miami Boys Choir

On this, the last day of the Chassidic calendar, Chassidim study the last portion of the last section of Sefer HaTanya, in which the Alter Rebbe pleads with us to value the davening connection. He used these words:

הוכח תוכיח את עמיתך, אפילו מאה פעמים

[It is written,] “You shall surely reprove your comrade” — “even one hundred times,”add our Sages, taking up the hint offered by the repetitive form of the Hebrew verb.

ולזאת לא אוכל להתאפק ולהחריש מלזעוק עוד, בקול ענות חלושה

Therefore, writes the Alter Rebbe, I cannot contain myself and cannot refrain from crying out yet again, in a voice betraying [pained] weakness.

במטותא מינייכו ברחמין נפישין

I plead with you out of deep compassion,

חוסו נא על נפשותיכם, והשמרו והזהרו מאד מאד על התורה ועל העבודה שבלב, זו תפלה בכוונה

have pity on your souls. Take care, be extremely vigilant, concerning the study of Torah and the service of the heart, which is prayer4 with proper intent.

להתחיל כולם יחד כאחד, מלה במלה, ולא זה בכה וזה בכה, וזה דומם וזה משיח שיחה בטלה, ה׳ ישמרנו

All should begin [the prayers] in unison, as one, word by word, not one person here and another elsewhere, one mute and the other idly chatting, may G‑d protect us.
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In very different words:



We need you and your tefilla. Each and every Yid can bring the Geula.

גוט יום טוב!

Monday Matchup :: Bisiyata Dishmaya/Boruch Hashem • MBC/MBD

In one way, we approach each day and every decision with the conviction that Hashem will assist us in doing well. In the second, we reflect on all that we've done, seen and felt and thank G-d it was the way it is. Now which song do you prefer?

Miami Boys Choir


Mordechai Ben David

Ono Melech • Miami Boys Choir

To me, the greatness of this post is that I nailed the recording (Bisiyata diShmaya) on the first try.



On Monday we didn't matchup, because I simply spaced out on the day of the week. I had a matchup in mind, but it slipped. Okay. So it isn't Monday and this isn't a matchup, but here's another Ono Melech (MBD, Efshar Letaken).



Tough call. They're two very different compositions, each emphasizing its own mood and vision. In the end, I like the MBC melody, the MBD arrangements and both overall. You?

TTT • When the 1600s Call

The terribility of this song comes in a few distinctive flavors. Let us treat it like a wine: A little preachy on the nose, with an undertone of clueless. On first taste, you'll note a quick rush of defensiveness.

In serious: Yerachmiel Begun (and the Miami Boys Choir) are an obviously talented composer. His subject matter and messaging, however, are so deeply at odds with my hopes for the future Jewish experience (and for the future of Jewish dancing) as to make me really, really wish he would stop.



Anyway, that's my opinion.

Apologies for skipping yesterday's Monday Matchup. The track I was after was not delivered until this morning. But it was delivered this morning, so thanks Ber & Company.

Hashiveinu • Miami Boys Choir

This post is not about Hashiveinu. It's not about Shabbos Yerushalayim, the recording it appears on. It is not even about Miami Boys Choir. This post is all about Yerachmiel Begun. Because everything is, in the end, about Yerachmiel Begun.



Miraculously, he is not on this track. Enjoy!