"It’s a truly heilige niggun"

I

t’s almost like an answer to his hit song “Halevai,” (“If only… Mashiach would come”), the title track on Uri Davidi’s debut album two years ago. “Muchanim,” the lead song on his newly released second album, Muchanim, is a fresh way to look at waiting for Geulah: “It’s as if Mashiach is speaking,” he explains of the lyrics, which were written by Miriam Israeli. “Ani ba… ani omed badelet… va’ani sho’el ha’im atem hayom muchanim lekabel oti — I’ve come, I’m standing at the door, and I’m asking ‘Are you ready to receive me?’)” and the people are replying “Anachnu muchanim — we’re ready!” The song is upbeat and catchy, but still makes listeners think: If Mashiach tells us he’s about to show up at our doorstep today, are we truly ready?

Davidi has aimed for a more diverse collection on this second album, with a couple of “heimish-style” songs by Williamsburg composer Hershy Weinberger, alongside both Israeli and yeshivish selections. The first part of the song “Hallelu” (track number three) was composed by Weinberger toward the beginning of the project, but Davidi and producer Yitzy Waldner circulated among composers for months, looking for a fitting high part. Until it just came to them. Waldner was playing keyboard one day, playing the chords for the album’s dramatic, inspiring finale, “We Will Sing Again” when Davidi started singing “Hallelu.” “Suddenly,” says Davidi, “Yitzy segued into something that became the second part of ‘Hallelu.’ Which just goes to show that every song emerges at its own right time.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 764)