Some of his camp’s favorite musical choices, and some of his own

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usic is an integral part of the camp experience, the backdrop of summers both past and present. As Rabbi Yehoshua Ottensoser is spending his 13th summer as head staff at Camp Munk, he shares some of his camp’s favorite musical choices, and some of his own.

A song that always works to get everyone up and singing

On Friday night, the Carlebach classic “Yibaneh, Yibaneh, Yibaneh Hamikdash” used to be like a wake-up call. The last couple of years it’s been “Niggun Bobov” — composed by the Kedushas Tzion of Bobov ztz”l and recently re-released by Arele Samet — which today has become an instant stand-up-on-the- benches song.

The best camp kumzitz song

The classic “VeliYerushalayim” from Dveykus, and another “VeliYerushalayim” niggun composed in Camp Munk and not yet on any official album. (We’ve had a lot of beautiful music composed at Munk over the years, as both Shalsheles and Lev Tahor are groups of Munk guys. And Yisroel Lamm himself started off here. I think it’s our circus that gives everyone a chance to develop talent.)

What’s your all-time favorite album and why?

Miami Boys’ Choir’s Besiyata Dishmaya, a classic from the 1980s. First of all, at the time I knew some of the boys who sang on it. Second, the lead track is unforgettable and so uplifting. I think this was one of the key albums that raised the bar in Jewish music and set the tone for a lot of inspiring songs that followed.

A song that takes me back to yeshivah days

I was in Camp Na’arim (now called Bonim) for many years, and there we sang Shir Hamaalos to Rabbi Shmuel Kunda’s “Here Comes the Trolley.” That’s a tune we used in yeshivah too.

The song that takes me back to my own years as a camper

One summer in Camp Kol Reena, I think it was in 1980, there was a camp theme song to the tune of Kah Ribon. Thirty-nine years later, I can tell you every word of the lyrics of those five stanzas. Just start singing Kah Ribon…

A song that can calm any camper down

I wish I had one that really worked! But if you need to calm the campers, generally you can start a slow song, such as “Acheinu” or “Tov Lehodos,” and soon you’ll have the mood you want.

A song I consider under-rated

“Yisrael,” an English-language ballad sung by Dov Levine, a cry from Hashem to Am Yisrael not to get tempted away by the nations. It’s on the Kumzitz Classics album and is one of my favorite songs. [The tune is also used for “Shomer Yisrael.”]

What is Camp Munk’s musical highlight?

In the Camp Munk mesorah, Shabbos Chazon ends with a kumzitz of eight slow songs of yearning. We sing certain songs about Yerushalayim, and always include the Skulener Rebbe’s song “Zechor Davar Le’avdecha.” It’s a very beautiful time. Everyone joins in, even the most hardened campers.

Also, the whole concept of the Grand Sing was introduced in Camp Munk many decades ago, by Rabbi Yerucham Shapiro. The other Jewish camps took it from there.

A song with a funny camp story connected to it

During one color war, the song leaders from the two teams were Simcha Sussman and Yitzchok Rosenthal, later of Shalsheles fame. They both wanted to use a certain niggun for their song, and so it was decided that they’d flip a coin to see who would have the right to use it. Sussman won, leaving Yitzchok stuck, so instead he used a tune he had composed during the year. He didn’t think it was that good, but he’d lost the toss-up… and that tune became the Shalsheles classic, “Esa Einai.”

The perfect tune to borrow for a camp song or color war

I always tell the guys to keep it simple, then you can add harmonies and do shtick. If a song is too complex it’ll be hard to teach. Also, to use a more contemporary song, so you won’t have to teach it from scratch.

 (Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 771)