It’s sure to be grabbed by parents of young children for bedtime Krias Shema

Pressing play on the new YINGERLICH III CD TZOIN KODOSHIM takes you into a new dimension. There’s the fine music expected from producer Naftali Schnitzler, the originality brought to the table by creative director Hershy Weinberger, and of course, the sweet, simple timelessness of the singing of a chassidish boys choir, under Yingerlich director Reb Shea Rosen. The combination is warm and authentic music that speaks to the heart.

Sixteen months and a world-changing pandemic ago, Yingerlich II hit the stores. The Yingerlich team (who have produced hits like “Davenen” and “Meloch”) had this album recorded, but Schnitzler felt he wanted to wait to release another Yingerlich album. It was Moshe Yosef Kahana, the producer of the L’chaim Tish series, who told him to get another helping of Yingerlich out there already, “because people need it, and are already waiting.”

One timely song is the moving “Av Harachamim,” composed by Pinky Weber and arranged by Moshe Laufer. Although it was composed before the Meron tragedy, it’s definitely appropriate and powerful during these days. Another gem is “Mein Zeida,” a Yiddish song about the connection of a grandchild to his grandfather, and through him, to the past. The dance track “Zakeini,” which has already become popular at the season’s weddings, was composed by Hershy Weinberger at the piano — in one sitting.

“The niggun came out of Hershy in two minutes, so fast that I thought it was something he had come up with before and I asked if it was sold yet,” says Schnitzler. “But he told me he had just composed it.”

The first guest artist to appear on a Yingerlich album, wedding singer Tzali Gold, takes the solo in “Zakeini,” while a new composer, Reb Shimon Yoel Weber, makes his debut in the eleventh song, “Keil Melech.” He comes by his talent honestly: he’s a son of Reb Pinky Weber, as well as a nephew of Naftali Schnitzler. Reb Shimon Yoel is a cheder rebbi, and he brought Schnitzler some compositions based on pieces he sings with the children in his classes.

“I originally told him that I needed something a bit more polished than what he brought me,” says the producer, “and Reb Shimon Yoel said ‘Okay, it’s fine.’ But I knew he had it in him to compose something original and great, so I encouraged him to bring me more tunes. Then he came back with ‘Keil Melech,’ and I knew this was it. The song begins with a cheder boy’s prelude to Shema —“rechte hent of der tzigemachteh oigen, tzu gedenken und tzu vissen as is nohr du Ein eintzigger Basheffer of di gantzeh velt — right hand on closed eyes, to remember and know that there is only one Creator of the whole world,” then continues to Shema. It’s sure to be grabbed by parents of young children for bedtime Krias Shema.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 866)