"Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate the talent it takes to write lyrics and combine them with a tune that really brings out the meaning of the song"

Eleven years ago, Jewish music aficionado YITZCHOK LEVINE was looking for music radio options to listen to that suited his “traditional ben Torah taste,” so he used his background in IT and web development to create his own music streaming website. He’s still the joint CEO of the popular Jewish Music Stream, which he says, after all these years, “is still about classic kosher music.”

MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE JEWISH ALBUM

Hard to pinpoint just one album, but all the Dveykus albums and their overtures — especially Dveykus 4, and the somewhat lesser-known Dveykus 5 (which made me go back and listen to the first three Dveykus albums, released before I was born) — always bring me back to my appreciation of the older style of simpler, but in my humble opinion, more powerful, hartzig, authentic Jewish music.

Yaakov Shwekey’s earlier albums (Shomati, Shwekey 2, Yedid) are still favorites, and I would pick Baruch Levine’s debut Vezakeini as one of the best albums out there, with his subsequent albums (especially Chosson HaTorah) not far behind.

MY FAVORITE CHANUKAH SONG FOR AFTER LIGHTING THE MENORAH

The classic “Al Hanisim” (from the 1977 Amudai Shaish 2, actually composed by Dov Frimer and initially recorded two years earlier on the Shivat Tzion album) is generally first, and then comes the vintage “Yevanim” that Rav Shmuel Brazil composed around 50 years ago (first recorded on an old pre-Regesh album called Shmelkie’s Niggunim).

MY FAVORITE SONG FOR A CHANUKAH PARTY OR KUMZITZ

Baruch Levine’s “Chasoif” (originally recorded on Shwekey’s Shomati album) is a beautiful song that never gets old. Goes over so well by every Chanukah event, or really any occasion, including for parts of davening in shul.

A SONG THAT GIVES ME CHIZUK IN CHALLENGING SITUATIONS

I was going through a difficult period not long after the Shir 2 album came out, and I would listen to the beautiful “Ad Ana” — written by Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz and magnificently sung by Baruch Levine — on repeat. It goes through the four ad ana’s in kapitel 13 in Tehillim and culminates with “Va’ani bechasdecha botachti” — that with whatever we’re going through, we still trust in Hashem’s kindness, await His yeshua, and give thanks for all He has done for us. That really strengthened me at the time, and I still go back often and listen to it, even after I’m baruch Hashem long past that period.

A SONG THAT TAKES ME BACK TO MY YESHIVAH DAYS

There was a decent amount of material coming out when I was in yeshivah, not as much as there is today, but the songs stuck around longer (probably because they were meant to last), though we were always trying to keep up with what was coming out, and play the latest hit songs at every mesibah. Most of Yaakov Shwekey’s early albums came out when I was in mesivta, and I still remember how long “Shomati,” “Hamelameid,” “Ki Hatov,” “Ben Bag Bag,” “Ma Ma Ma,” and others lasted.

A SONG THAT REMINDS ME OF MY GRANDPARENTS

My maternal grandfather (may he have a refuah sheleimah), grew up in a yekkishe family who left Germany on the night of Kristallnacht. He sang many heirloom Shabbos songs, and I still enjoy the nostalgia and memories those songs bring when sung with my family. He also used to sing the classic “Vehayah Bayom Hahu” (the one MBD sang on his V’chol Ma’aminim album), especially on Yom Tov and when the family was together.

A SONG I COULD NEVER CONNECT TO, BUT LATER FOUND THAT IT GREW ON ME

The Journeys albums. Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate the talent it takes to write lyrics and combine them with a tune that really brings out the meaning of the song.

AN INSTRUMENT I WISHED I PLAYED

Well, I baruch Hashem play keyboard pretty decently, and had the siyata d’Shmaya to write a few songs, but I always wished I played better, that I could really play piano well, and that I had more knowledge and understanding of music theory. And I still would love to learn how to play guitar one day, and would have loved to try to learn saxophone.

MY FAVORITE SHABBOS ZEMIROS

I enjoy singing family zemiros that have been passed down, but I always connect to the beautiful songs written by Burry Menzelefsky a”h. Among his compositions are “Yedid Nefesh” on Dveykus 2, “Kah Ribon” on Dveykus 5, "Hiney Kel Yeshuasi "and "Hallelu" from the little-remembered Achva album with Abie Rotenberg and Moshe Yess, “Shuvi Nafshi” on Toronto Boys Choir, and some other classics. I grew up listening to Rav Shmuel Brazil’s heartfelt compositions on Regesh, and he has two beautiful Shabbos albums (Volumes 3 and 7). And Ari Goldwag deserves credit for writing a beautiful Kah Ribon that has become a part of so many Shabbos tables, although people think it’s been around so much longer, and don’t know where it’s from.

A SONG THAT TAKES ME BACK TO MY CHILDHOOD

Abie’s “Hamalach” from Dveykus 4, his “Haben Yakir Li” from Dveykus 3, and “Lev Tahor” from Dveykus 1 — these are the songs we grew up singing, yet they still never get old.

MY FAVORITE ENGLISH SONG

I was blown away by “Vezakeni,” recently released by Bonei Olam (composed by Miriam Israeli and R' Baruch Levine, with lyrics by Miriam Israeli), and can I listen to it on repeat for hours. It expresses the depth of our appreciation for being zocheh to children, how much we have to daven for siyata d’Shmaya with raising them, and the perspective of those who are still yearning to be zocheh to those brachos of their own.

Then there are Abie's classics: "Memories" from Journeys 2 puts the Holocaust and all that happened during that time into perspective, and it’s hard to listen to without being overtaken by emotion, and “Yerushalayim” from Journeys 3 focuses on the beauty, splendor, and grace that makes Yerushalayim so special. And who can be indifferent to “Conversation in the Womb,” “Neshomele,” “Teardrop,” and the Marvelous Middos Machine Ahavas Yisrael song?

A SONG THAT’S TOO COMPLICATED FOR ME TO SING, BUT I LOVE HEARING ANYWAY

There are several Yossi Green songs that can get pretty complicated, but are beautiful when sung correctly by the right people, like “Ki Hamitzvah,” “Tanya,” “Omnom,” and “Kanei,” to name a few. And R’ Baruch Levine’s “Vehevai Yodea” (Chosson Hatorah) is an extremely underrated and beautiful song, but it has a high range and isn’t easy to sing.

A SONG I CONSIDER UNDERRATED

I wish R' Baruch Levine would put out a “Baruch Levine Classics” album with those songs he compsed that were released together with other singers, especially the many sung by Yehuda!. I absolutely love his “Ani Maamin” on the Kol Yisrael Chaverim (Yehuda and Friends) album, as well as his “Yehi Ratzon” and "Ain HKB"H" on Yehuda’s Oh Yerushalayim album, and his “Meheira” on Aish 1.

WORDS THAT GET ME EVERY TIME, NO MATTER THE TUNE

“Acheinu Kol Beis Yisrael” (Abie’s classic on Lev V’Nefesh 1) comes to mind first, and always reminds me of how special it is to be part of Klal Yisrael, how beautiful it is that so many diverse people are all part of one beautiful nation who serves Hashem, and how we daven for them all.Then there is "Im Eshkocheich." So many tunes, but each is special in its own way, all fo them brining out how much we yearn for Yerushalayim and the Beis Hamikdash to be rebuilt, and how special it will be im yirtzeh Hashem when Mashiach comes soon to bring us back home.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 838)