YITZY BALD, veteran songwriter and head of the New York Boys Choir, has been a prolific composer of Jewish music hits since he was a bochur. His very first composition to go public was the upbeat “Yerav Na,” which was released in 1989 as a single, produced by Avi Fishoff (later producer of the Shevach and Solid Gold albums). “Yerav Na” was so popular that Yitzy estimates it was sung on no less than 15 subsequent albums —and it became one of SHLOIME DACH’s trademark hits after it was released on his One Day at a Time album (1996).

“Every year, I buy the Jewish sheet music book produced by Avremi G for all the wedding bands, and ‘Yerav Na’ is still in there. I’m a bit surprised that it’s still playing, but I’ve been told that there’s a special ‘Yerav’ line dance that the guys like doing at weddings. Amazing that a song I composed sitting on my bed in Eretz Yisrael, sick in my dorm room at Yeshivas Mercaz HaTorah in Talpiyot, has been around for almost 30 years!”