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?

Rabbi Adler, Skokie, IL | “Yidden” (Jerusalem Not for Sale, 1986)

Definitely “Yidden.” Although the song was taken from a German rock group, the words are energetic and inspiring. An all-time favorite.

MBD'S TAKE

“This song speaks of the joyous excitement upon the arrival of Mashiach and the ingathering from galus. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov writes that one can bring any song, no matter its source, into kedushah by singing it on Shabbos.”

 (Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 738)