The Miami Boys Choir child soloists relive the music and the memories

When Yerachmiel Begun took a bunch of his original compositions and put out his first Miami Boys Choir album in 1977, who would have thought the genre would still be so popular four decades and 34 albums later? Yet what impact did it have on those early young soloists whose few short years of stardom — until their voices changed and they could no longer fit into those sequined vests and bowties — are but distant memories in their adult lives?

The Panel

Shloime Dachs
Miami years: 1979–1982

I have my own bands — The Shloime Dachs Orchestra & Singers and the Core Plus Band — and after releasing six solo albums and appearing on over thirty others, it’s truly humbling to still sing at weddings and be mesameach Klal Yisrael. It’s a gift from Hashem I never take for granted.

Michoel Pruzansky
Miami years: 1984 and 1985

Miami Boys Choir was my introduction to the world of Jewish music, and I’m blessed to still be part of it today. With five solo albums released since 2003, the privilege of enhancing weddings is an ongoing joy.

Rabbi Nachman Seltzer
Miami years: 1990 and 1991

Being in MBC made me dream of leading my own choir. For 15 years and five albums, I ran the Shira Chadasha Boys Choir, which also accompanied many stars on their solo albums. Right now I’m not that active in the music field, as I closed my choir a couple of years ago to focus on my writing career.

Yitzchok Rosenthal
Miami years: 1990 and 1991

Because I was in the MBC for only a short period and never became a soloist, I was only able to get a taste of being involved in Jewish music, which made me feel as if I had unfinished business. I loved Yerachmiel Begun’s style and his music spoke to me. That short time in Miami gave me the drive to compose my own songs and start my own groups — Shalsheles and Shalsheles Junior, which have produced many albums to date.

Rabbi Ophie Nat
Miami years: 1986

I have been singing at weddings for many years with many different bands. Fifteen years ago, my own solo album was released, and there have been a number of singles over the years, as well as collaborations with others. So in addition to being a rebbi in Yeshiva of Central Queens, I’ve kept the music alive too. I daven from the amud often and am currently the chazzan during Yamim Noraim for the Young Israel of Lawrence/ Cedarhurst.

Dovid Pearlman
Miami years: 2009–2015

After my years in Miami, I sang on Chayala Neuhaus’s Miracles album. Recently, I released my own solo album, Shira Shebalev. One of the songs is a composition we found on a tape left by my uncle Zavel Pearlman a”h, for the words to “Hamalach Hagoel,” which really means a lot to our family. Zavel was a member of MBC. I had the privilege of collaborating on his song with my father (also an MBC alumnus), my cousin David (from “the Chevra”) and we even incorporated Zavel’s original vocals from his demo tape! I also had the honor of collaborating on another song with fellow MBC alumnus Ari Goldwag.

Ari Goldwag
Miami years: 1988–1994

Although I was a nervous nine-year-old at my initial audition for MBC, I became a lead vocalist with the choir for the next five-plus years, until my voice changed. But I’m ever-grateful to HaKadosh Baruch Hu that that wasn’t the end of my career. To date I’ve released seven solo albums, written a number of popular songs for other singers, and produced albums for other artists. But what I value most of all is the opportunity to teach Torah through my podcasts.

How I Started at Miami

RABBI OPHIE NAT: I had been in Amudei Shaish and New York School of Jewish Song, both of which ended their run, which brought me to join Miami when I was 12 years old.

MICHOEL PRUZANSKY: I was spending the summer in Camp Sdei Chemed in Eretz Yisrael. Miami had concerts scheduled in Israel but it was too expensive to fly out the entire group, so Yerachmiel Begun asked Rabbi Teitelbaum for some kids who could fill the choir’s ranks. He came and heard us sing in camp, and then we performed in a couple of shows that summer. I was pretty friendly with Jonathan Paley, who was in camp too and was a star soloist at MBC, so when I came back to New York, I tried out and was officially accepted.

RABBI NACHMAN SELTZER: I had wanted to be in the choir ever since I watched them perform in Brooklyn College, when I was a little kid. I tried out when I was nine, but I didn’t understand what was required — the audition didn’t involve singing a song, but singing certain notes which were played on the piano. I didn’t get in. When I was 12, I watched MBC perform at Carnegie Hall, opening with “Baruch Haba Besheim Hashem.” The songs and the precision of the choreography were so over the top — they blew me away. Once again, I auditioned. I just had to. And I was asked, “Where were you all these years?” I didn’t tell them I had tried and been turned away.

My Most Unforgettable Performance

SHLOIME DACHS: The concert we did in Polanco, Mexico.  Other than being told not to drink the tap water, it was a concert I’ll never forget. Polanco is not like New York where there are concerts all year round. The audience couldn’t get enough of us and truly appreciated our performance and visit to their city. Then there was my first Brooklyn College Auditorium concert, which was the first time my entire family saw me perform live.

DOVID PERLMAN: The summer concerts in Binyanei Ha’umah, in 2010, 2011, and 2014 — the energy of the Miami fans in Eretz Yisrael was unparalleled. You could feel their love for Jewish music and their enthusiasm, because there aren’t so many concerts like that in Eretz Yisrael.

RABBI OPHIE NAT: When I came back to do the 25th anniversary show, that was special. I sang “Meheirah,” which is one of my solos on the original recording (Shabbos Yerushalayim). I felt honored to be able to represent “Meheirah.” I remember Yisroel Lamm saying as I got up to sing it, “So many people walked down to their chuppah to that song.”

ARI GOLDWAG: HASC A Time for Music 7, at Radio City Music Hall, in 1994. It was really cool to be singing at that venue with many stars, including MBD.

A Miami song I'm Still Singing

ARI: I sing “Menuchah Vesimchah” (Klal Yisrael Together) pretty much every Friday night. “Meheirah” is my favorite slow song, but really there are so many. For a fast song pick, I’d choose “Min Hashamayim,” the title song of the same album.

MICHOEL: As a wedding singer, I’ve sung “Meheirah” hundreds of times through the years. Other than that, “Nekadeish” (Miami Experience IV — Shiru Lo) is an absolutely beautiful one, and I still like “Kumt Shoin Schnell Arain” (Min Hashamayim) and the chorus of “Adon Olam” (The Simchah Song).

YITZCHOK: Every so often I get nostalgic — there are so many great compositions. “Ki Atah Hu Melech Hakavod” (B’Siyata Dishmaya) is special. “Meheirah” is an amazing slow song, which I actually sang when I tried out for MBC. “Atah Seiser Li,” from Klal Yisrael Together, one of the early albums, is a nice fast song, but less known.

DOVID: In my family we love “B’Siyata Dishmaya” and “Klal Yisrael Together,” so we sing those a lot. “Yaaleh Veyavo” (Chanukah – Light Up the Nights) is a favorite slow song, and “Vetaher,” from the Mi L’Hashem Elai album, is a fun fast song.

RABBI NAT: “I would say “Meheirah” was one of my favorite songs in MBC. So much emotion... I also really enjoyed “B’siyata D’Shmaya.” I had the opportunity to sing it in concert even though I wasn’t on the recording. It spoke volumes to me. We all go through tough patches in our lives, and can only get through them with siyata d’Shmaya. I have since lived my life like that. Thank you Yerachmiel!

SHLOIME: I’m definitely still singing “Ani Maamin” (Min Hashamayim). I think that “Refa’einu” is a classic slow song that’s here to stay, and I have a personal liking for “Lo Yisa Goy,” both from Shabbos Yerushalayim.

RABBI SELTZER: I recently sang some vintage Miami songs with Ari Goldwag at a Chaim V’Chessed event on Chol Hamoed. My number one pick would be “Meheirah,” followed by “Ki Atah Hu Melech Hakavod,” “Shir Hamaalos,” “Shabbos Yerushalayim,” “Es Tzemach Dovid,” “Baruch Haba,” “Bayom Hahu,” and many many more. My Shirah Chadashah choir also sang “Ani Maamin” and “Refaeinu.”

The golden era, in my opinion, was from the Min Hashamayim album in 1993 to One by One in 1995. The soloists during that period, Robert Lowy, Ari Goldwag, Oded Karity, and Yitzy Spinner, to name a few, were incredibly talented kids, and the songs were the best.

Close Calls

MICHOEL: Jonathan Paley was a big soloist, and he was also a big friend of mine. I stood next to him, but I didn’t quite put enough effort into the choreography, I could always do what he did. Only, it may have been a second later. Which got me some raised eyebrows from Yerachmiel.

SHLOIME: We wore special costumes for each performance. I don’t need to tell you what it was like backstage finding the right size shirt, pants, and jacket. There were times I was wearing a shirt at least two sizes bigger than I needed, but somehow it always ended well.

YITZCHOK: The first concert I took part in was in Montreal. Each kid had four or five costume changes during the concert, so you had to come along with a big garment bag. I am generally a very organized person, but when I arrived there, I found that I’d left my sequined blazer behind. Suffice to say, I only took part in most of the concert.

DOVID: We were going to fly from Chile to Argentina during the volcanic ash cloud crisis. We spent around 12 hours waiting in the airport, then drove back to Santiago. Although one concert was canceled, a day later we did fly. I remember the air pressure change over the Andes Mountains, which makes you feel like the plane is dropping. It was pretty scary, we were terrified, but the locals were laughing.

ARI: During a performance in Woodlake Estates, I couldn’t find the red cummerbund that matched my red bowtie right before we were about to go on the stage, and I had solos in that part of the show. Luckily, a good friend of mine gave me his and let me go on instead of him. Thank you, Shuey Fogel!

RABBI SELTZER: I remember when a kid once split his pants on stage — that was about the worst. I guess all of us kids made mistakes, of course. I once came in in the wrong place, starting my solo in “Od Yishama” three bars early.

My Biggest Challenge

YITZCHOK: The choir was never just about singing, and Yerachmiel can be credited with pioneering Jewish entertainment. I know some kids found the dancing pretty hard, though.

DOVID: At the beginning I couldn’t dance. Then, one summer, I spent loads of time teaching my friends the MBC dances so we could “perform” for our families. It was incredible how teaching others helped me. After that summer Yerachmiel asked, “Where did you learn how to dance?” Yiddish lyrics were hard for me too, but I loved it all.

SHLOIME: Choreography was never easy for me. It’s not easy to sing on pitch and dance simultaneously, all while being nervous at performing live in front of thousands of people. Back then the choreography was much simpler, so eventually I got it. Today, it’s far more sophisticated.

RABBI SELTZER: I was a kid from Boro Park — I was not a dancer. The choreography was very challenging, and Yerachmiel was very demanding. It was so hard for me that I considered dropping out. A friend of mine used to tell me, “Don’t drop out of your dream just because it’s hard!” and eventually it became easier and I caught on. I learned that when something is hard for you, you need to fight for it and not give up.

My Most Valuable Lesson

RABBI NAT: I learned how to lead a choir. Only a few years after being in MBC, I led choirs in multiple camps. For the last 14 years I have had my own camp, Chazak Day Camp in Queens, where we present a choir for our cantata, and have an end-of-season concert. It’s always a wonderful hit with the campers and parents.

YITZCHOK: Discipline. Rehearsals were long and intense, but if you loved music, that was a real way to realize your talent.

DOVID: Engaging and connecting with the audience, which comes with experience on stage. Also, I learned a great work ethic, how to take direction, and how to be a team player by performing successfully and maintaining a group mindset, so that you don’t overperform.

SHLOIME: I was a shy little boy with a decent voice that Hashem gave me. The years in MBC boosted my confidence and strengthened my ability to use the talents I was given. I developed much-needed self-esteem, which helped me to be able to lein my entire bar mitzvah parshah and to not be afraid to speak and say my pshetel in public. I also learned to appreciate and get along with kids from different backgrounds.

ARI: How to control my voice better. There was a competition of sorts to get the solos, and that meant you had to sing well. So as I progressed in the choir (I was there for almost six years) I went from having a very straight and simple singing voice, to having more control over my voice — being able to make more sophisticated movement with my voice, to sing with vibrato (emotional “shaking” of the voice) and other tricks that added to the quality of the singing. It was something that we picked up along the way, hearing other kids do it (Nochum Stark comes to mind) or just from listening to MBD and Avraham Fried. You can actually hear the difference if you listen to my earlier solos on the first Miami Experience concert/album, when I was about ten years old, on through the second and third Miami Experience and the Min Hashamayim album, by which time I had turned 13.

Some Lasting Miami Friendships

ARI: As a result of the choir and the friendships I made there, I became more connected to the yeshivah world at that time, having come from a more modern background. I ended up going to Yeshivah of Far Rockaway for high school, largely because of the influence of the boys I met in the choir. Specifically, Reb Yerachmiel’s persona — his dedication to spreading a positive Torah message, his example as a ben Torah, his determination to learn with us on every trip we took — this had a far-reaching impact on me and on all those who were in his choir. For that, most of all, I am forever indebted.

MICHOEL: I was friendly with everyone, but most of those friendships were short and sweet. I kept up with Yerachmiel, though. Menachem Klein, a close friend of mine, is a very talented Miami alumnus from a few years after me, and when Yerachmiel decided to form a Miami Alumni Group, I joined.

SHLOIME: There are many boys from the choir who I still know today. And the respect and friendship I developed for Yerachmiel Begun over the years is hard to describe. He’s a ben Torah and talmid chacham with unique musical talents few have. He paved the way for Jewish choirs to blossom and is still going strong 40-plus years later.

YITZCHOK: There were many friendships. Nachum Stark, who was the star soloist during my time in the choir, opened for us at our first Shalsheles concert. Unfortunately, we’ve now lost touch.

RABBI SELTZER: Until this day, I’m friendly with Ari Goldwag. I knew him from MBC and met him again when he came to the Mir. He sang under my chuppah, and once when he came to us for Shabbos as a bochur, he introduced me to his “Kah Ribbon.” We’ve sung and recorded together a few times.

RABBI NAT: When I was in the choir, I developed a wonderful friendship with Eli Lewinstein and Moshe Hamel. We were the soloists at the time, and when the choir would go backstage to change into another outfit, we would sing our own medley of songs. I have a picture of us singing at my bar mitzvah. My relationship with Moshe Hamel has lasted till now — we’re both in chinuch and teach in the same yeshivah. A few years ago Rabbi Hamel became the assistant principal, and as one of the 8th-grade rebbeim, I’m now working under him and he’s my direct supervisor. We also both run day camps (mine is in Queens and his is in Brooklyn) and we’re both in Queens Hatzolah, taking night shifts together. On the singing front, we actually perform at weddings together — I sing as the front man and he sings and does sound. Today we’re the closest of friends, and all that started because of MBC.

Yerachmiel Begun Is a Master of Harmony. How Did You Manage It?

RABBI SELTZER: There was a very complex harmony on the song “Chatzos Laylah” from the Torah Today album. The song goes, “Chaver ani lechol asher yeraiucha,” and the harmony on yeraiucha weaves from low to high. I was happy I didn’t have to do it myself but as part of a group.
Another time, in the song “When, We Ask When?” Yerachmiel offered five dollars to any kid who could sing the harmony right away. Ari Goldwag got the five dollars, and Yitzchok Rosenthal almost did, and I realized then that they both had talent which would take them far in music one day.

DOVID: Singing harmony with others develops your ear for harmony over time. It definitely built my singing abilities.

RABBI NAT: I gained a feel for harmony from my time in MBC. Not only a simple two-part harmony, but I became skilled in multiple layers of harmony, something I have used since. I recorded a slow a cappella song a few years ago, “Hashem Shema B’koli” (a cover of an Abe Rotenberg song). I did most of the harmonies and Nochi Krohn touched it up and produced it. I feel that much of that skill came from my years in MBC.

When I Knew My Time Was Up

RABBI NAT: We were recording Klal Yisrael and had to take a break over the summer. Right before the summer, I recorded a number of solos. I believe I was supposed to sing the first part of the title song, but by the time the summer was over my voice had completely changed. I was out. That was it. I showed up to the recording but I knew I couldn’t do it.

ARI: My voice started to change, so I couldn’t hit the high notes. And that meant that I wasn’t able to do the solo with MBD for “Yiboneh Hamikdash” in Wembley Conference Centre in London in the summer of 1993, as planned. That was really tough. But it was sort of a cool closure that 23 years later, in 2016, my son, Moshe Dov, got to sing a duet with MBD for the song “Daddy Dear” in a concert in London.

MICHOEL: When we wore those cute chassidish boys’ vests for the B’siyata D’Shmaya album, and mine was short and tight, I knew it was time.

SHLOIME: In addition to my yeshivah high school schedule becoming more of a conflict, my voice began changing. It’s so important to stop singing at that critical point so your new vocal cords strengthen properly and you have a new adult voice you can use forever.

RABBI SELTZER: I moved to Eretz Yisrael. But I lost my voice that summer, anyway. I was in Camp Agudah and my voice changed literally overnight. I never had to move to the low section.

DOVID: I left after my bar mitzvah, to focus on high school. I felt good about leaving before my voice changed.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 858)