Join us on a musical journey through the last 20 years and their hit songs

During the last two decades, Jewish music has blossomed and evolved. Iconic songs burst into popularity, kindled hype and sometimes hope, replaying on our mental soundtracks along with the high notes and challenging chords of our lives.

Join us on a musical journey through the last 20 years and their hit songs, and replay the soundtrack of these decades

2004

“Ben Bag Bag”

“Ben Bag Bag” heralded a new sound for Jewish music, with the alliterative and repetitive words a great match for the beat — and the meaning of the words generating genuine enthusiasm. In 2004, this song was as current as it gets. Shwekey’s voice hit it out of the ballpark with exceptional warmth on his Yedid album, and the credit for the tune goes to one of the Jewish world’s most prolific and versatile composers

— Pinky Weber.

2005

“L’maancha”

Eitan Katz’s first song became arguably his most famous, although it wasn’t an instantaneous hit. The popularity took time to build up, and gathered momentum after the famous “Live in Jerusalem” performance of 2014. The words, “The soul is Yours and the body is Your work, have mercy on Your labor,” are an emotional highlight of the Selichos, and Katz’s tune, composed in Elul 2003 when he was a bochur in Yeshiva Gedolah of Greater Washington in Silver Spring, captures that mood of longing for closeness and compassion every Jew feels as the new year approaches. Gentle guitar chords convey the soul’s awakening and the yearning felt during Elul’s precious window of spiritual opportunity.

2006

“Vezakeini” / “LeGabay”

Believe it or not, Baruch Levine almost didn’t make the decision that catapulted his musical career to the big leagues. Levine had long sold his compositions to other artists, but in 2006, he felt ready to pick up the mic. He had a long list of song possibilities for the album, and the last song was Vezakeini. “It sounds like I’m making this up, but I still have that paper with crossing off and question marks on it,” he says. “Vezakeini is not a musically brilliant song, and it took only ten minutes to write, so we weren’t sure that it deserved a spot.” Thankfully, he ultimately decided to include it, and it struck a chord in the hearts of a generation, voicing the universal prayer of Jewish parents facing today’s challenges.

A more playful song that emerged in 2006 was “Digi Digi Da Dum… LeGabay,” introducing eponymous new singer Dovid Gabay, and becoming his signature hit. Yitzy Bald, the composer, had Gabay in mind as he played keyboard at a vort and a few new bars of music came to his mind, becoming a composition and set to words from the Gemara “Legabay,” describing the zerizus of the Kohein Gadol. Uilleann bagpipes, the traditional national pipes of Ireland, made their one and only appearance in Jewish music on the original intro to this song.

2007

“Kodesh” / “Ma Ma Ma”

Another near miss: Shloime Gertner almost didn’t include it on his debut album Nissim until Yossi Green told him he absolutely had to release it. As soon as it hit the airwaves, Shloime Gertner’s “Kodesh hi Lachem… Malka, oy yoy Malka…” touched hearts and spread fast. Was it the wistfulness in his voice, the Shabbosdig quality of the melody — or the story of his precious special daughter behind the song?

The same year brought the dynamic “Ma Ma Ma… Ma Tovu Ohalecha Yaakov…” from Yaakov Shwekey, a fun and exciting delivery of ancient words that hooked the young and young at heart.