Although Yossi Honig doesn’t work in the music field full-time (he runs a real estate business by day), it’s clear where his passion lies

He’s a son of chassidish vocalist Isaac Honig, yet YOSSI HONIG is a talented music personality in his own right, having produced Zanvil Weinberger’s Min Hashamayim album as well as his father’s recent masterpiece Kol Bayaar. He’s also composed Yiten Lecha for Shmueli Ungar and produced songs for Hershy Rottenberg. Although he doesn’t work in the music field full-time (he runs a real estate business by day), it’s clear where his passion lies.

A SONG I NEVER MISS SINGING ON FRIDAY NIGHT

“Vehei Raava,” the tefillah we say before Kiddush, that Yossi Green composed for Rabbi Shloime Taussig. The song is so beautiful — it feels like a composition from 100 years ago. I just naturally slip into it every week without even thinking. To me, the melody is simply the peirush hamilos — it just sings itself. Other than that, I generally sing the basic zemiros like my father does. My father used to joke that for him singing is uvda d’chol, but I can’t make that excuse since music is not what I do for a living. I generally alternate between a few “Kol Mekadesh” niggunim that I heard my father sing, and I find myself humming Yossi Green’s “Chukoseha/Shomrei” and “Ani Shabbos” from MBD’s Moshiach album. And it might sound cliché, but “Kah Echsof” never fails — it just does it every time.

A SONG THAT TAKES ME BACK TO MY CHILDHOOD

For some reason, whenever I listen to MBD’s “Ve’ohavto” from the Lulei Sorascha album, it takes me back to 1999 when the album was released and we listened to it the first time on a Motzaei Shabbos in my father’s car.

A MUSIC ARTIST I FEEL CONNECTED TO

Of course, I’ve always lived my father’s music and been part of its production, but I connect to a wide range. When I grew up, Avraham Fried was probably the most played in our house. I’m always inspired by Fried’s vocal ability, MBD’s incomparable way of owning the song, making every word an entity of its own, Lipa’s flawless singing, and Yeedle’s deep understanding of a melody.

MY GO-TO MELAVEH MALKAH SONG

Yom Tov Ehrlich’s “A Gutte Voch,” that Avraham Fried sang on his early A Melave Malka album — ideally sung while sitting at the piano on a snowy Motzaei Shabbos with my kids around me.

THE SONGS ON MY OWN PLAYLIST

It’s always changing. At times I’m focused on production so I’ll listen to some of Eli Lishinsky’s work, like Avraham Fried’s “Baishanim” and Lipa’s “Hut Bitachon.” A song track is made up of composition, performance, arrangement and production, but very few are even close to perfect on all ends. Those two are winner tracks in my opinion — out of this world vocals, super fresh sound, arrangement and production. While songs that are expertly produced are usually on my playlist, sometimes I’ll listen to Ben Zion Shenker and trade sound and production for an absolutely beautiful song that makes up for the scratchy cassette.

A SONG THAT REMINDS ME OF MY GRANDPARENTS

Rebbe Shlomo of Bobov’s “Hosheiv,” which my father re-recorded on Kol Bayar. My grandfather would always ask my father to sing this song to him. He loved it.

A NIGGUN AND WORDS THAT ARE A PERFECT MATCH

I’ve always enjoyed Yeedle’s work, and he recently made waves with his new album Hu V’lo Acher. I happen to really like one of the less popular songs “Rum Lev Ashpil,” beautiful words and the niggun really does justice to the lyrics — it’s a more musical song, sits on two scales, maybe too complex for today’s impatient generation, but I love it.

A GROUNDBREAKING ALBUM FOR JEWISH MUSIC

Lipa’s Keinehora, back in 2006. It broke the mold in so many ways, with its production and variety of genres. He did jazz, funk, traditional ballads and others, all done to perfection from the arrangements and vocals down to the mix. On the other side of the spectrum, L’Chaim Tish 1 by Yosef Moshe Kahana was groundbreaking as well, beautifully produced with warm soloists, and a choir that captured the essence of zemiros. Chaim Hartman, then a no-name, brought his own unique, orchestral style to the arrangements — I still listen to it often.

AN INSTRUMENT I WISH I PLAYED

I play the piano, but not on a professional level. I wish I could, because then I could really get lost in the music.

A FULL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, OR A ONE-GUITAR KUMZITZ?

There’s a time for everything, but as someone who appreciates music, I can say that a full orchestra can do what one instrument obviously cannot. The strings, woodwinds and everything together can carry you to a different world.

A SONG THAT GIVES ME CHIZUK DURING TOUGH TIMES

Heiligeh songs always leave you feeling better. My father’s “Shtark Dich, Shtark Dich Yidele” is very powerful.

MUSIC THAT HELPS ME RELAX

I enjoy listening to music but I can’t really relax with it, because I find myself paying attention to every detail and instrument. I sometimes try nature sounds with just a mellow piano or classical guitar.

A SONG THAT TAKES ME TO ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE

Avraham Fried’s Hebrew album Kamah Tov. I was engaged and learning in Eretz Yisrael when it came out, and listening to “Ani Shar” and “Yerushalyim She’balev” magically makes me feel like I’m back in Yerushalayim.

A SONG THAT AMAZED ME THE FIRST TIME I HEARD IT

MBD’s rendition of the famous Chabad “Tzama” on Once Upon a Nigun. I froze when I first heard it. he doesn’t just sing it, he owns it, the way he expresses every note and syllable. Brilliantly arranged by Suki Berry.

MY BEST FEEDBACK

My mother was recently in the supermarket when a woman stopped her to tell her that she can never get enough of the song “Kein Techayeini” that I composed and sing with my father. She said that she often goes into a quiet room and just listens to this song as a form of tefillah, that it helps her connect to Hashem. A SONG I CAN’T STOP

SINGING THESE DAYS

I’m hooked on “‘Yom Shekulo Aruch” from Yeedle’s new album. Yeedle always innovates, and here he took Aaron Razel’s composition and put in Yiddish lyrics written by Lipa. In general, I love the Razel brothers’ music. They have a background in classical music so they compose very differently, and because their songs are mostly in Hebrew, these Yiddish lyrics make it feels totally new.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1086)