Everyone has their favorite songs, but have you ever wondered about the people who actually create their own music — the singers, composers, producers, lyricists?

Illustrations: Dov-Ber Cohen

Imagine this: You’re going for a drive in the car, singing along with a CD you love. Or maybe you’re harmonizing at a kumzitz, and suddenly there are tears pouring down your face because something stirs you in just the right way. There’s no question about it — music speaks to the soul. Everyone has their favorite songs, but have you ever wondered about the people who actually create their own music — the singers, composers, producers, lyricists? What music speaks to them most? This week we ask our contributors exactly that question:

What is your favorite song and why?

Chanale Fellig-Harrel

singer/composer

My favorite song, hmmm… that’s a tough one! I’m gonna go with “Besiyata Dishmaya” by Miami Boys Choir. I was always drawn to the powerful lyrics and emotional melody, and it’s a great song to rock out to at a concert or jam to at a kumzitz! I recently did a cover of it with an all-women’s band, and presenting it to the world with full orchestration and a beautiful arrangement by Yuval Stupal was a very special and exciting moment in my music career.

Menucha Chana Levin

author

My favorite song is called “Al Kol Eileh” in Hebrew and “The Bitter and the Sweet” in English. It was written 40 years ago, so it’s not that familiar to young people now, but the beautiful, poetic lyrics ask Hashem to bless and protect us in Eretz Yisrael.

Naftali Schnitzler

producer/composer

I don’t have a favorite; every day, every moment there’s another song that speaks to me most. It depends how I’m feeling and what’s happening at that particular moment in time. That said, some of my all-time top favorites are: “Vehi She’amda,” sung by Yaakov Shwekey and composed by Yonatan Razel; “Vzakeinee L’gadeil” by Baruch Levine; “Yeshimcha” (a Yiddish song) composed by Pinky Weber and sung by Michoel Schnitzler (who’s my uncle!); “Maskil L’Duvid” by Moshe Goldman, sung by Isaac Honig; and last but not least, or rather acharon acharon chaviv, the “Koh Echsof” of the Karliner Rebbe. All of these songs bring out a certain longing for something big and also have beautiful, stirring melodies.

Dovid Pearlman

singer

It’s hard to choose just one favorite. My favorite song at the moment, though, is probably “A Yid” by Benny Friedman, composed by the talented Chayala Neuhaus and produced by the one and only Doni Gross, both of whom I’ve had the privilege of working with many times on various projects. It’s a beautiful song about courage, resilience, and the strength to go on and never break down, even in the face of life’s most diffi cult challenges. It’s very appropriate for the current events we’ve been living through as a nation.