Back in 1973, a young man named Mordechai Werdyger slipped on to the Jewish music scene with a little-known album called Original Chassidic Melodies. While that early album never took off, listeners sat up when they heard Mordechai Ben David’s next album, Hineni, the following year. The magic of his new-old musical style and the sheer power of his voice soon won a place right at the heart of the frum soundtrack.

For over four decades, we’ve sung and danced, swayed and prayed, to hundreds of iconic MBD songs, the ones he wrote himself and those collaborations he made famous. And now we’ve asked our readers:

Which one of Mordechai Ben David’s songs has touched your life?

Meir Simcha Neiman, Lakewood, NJ | “Ribono Shel Olam” (HASC II – A Time for Music, 1989)

One of my favorite MBD recordings is “Ribono Shel Olam,” composed by Mona Rosenblum, which he sang at the second HASC concert. The song has been sung by many artists, but no one can emulate the way MBD does it. It encapsulates his chazzanus, hartz, and liveliness all in one. Every Shabbos before leining, we skip over the “Ribono Shel Olam” prayer that asks Hashem to fulfill all of our wishes and the ultimate wish of doing His will. On Yom Tov, as the congregation reads through these words quickly and quietly, I want to get up and sing “kedei she’nizkeh l’chayim tovim….”

MBD'S TAKE

“It’s one of the greatest songs ever written in Jewish music. Composed by my dear colleague Mona Rosenblum, it expresses and interprets the words of this beautiful prayer to perfection. A true all-time classic.”

 (Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 738)