“There are a lot of chassidishe CDs out there, and a lot of modern sophisticated music. But the combination of doing updated songs with these kids and their authentic havarah is unique” (Photos Jeff Zorabedian)

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n a recent trip to Eretz Yisrael, Yossi Green walked to the Kosel for Kabbalas Shabbos.As probably the most prolific composer of Jewish music in our time, Yossi has attained something of a celebrity status, so it wasn’t surprising that he was easily recognized by many in the Friday night crowd. But even Yossi was shocked to find that a total of 15 different bochurim approached him, each one thanking him for releasing the third Yiddish Nachas album.

Pretty surprising, considering that the album had just been released a few days before.

It’s an indication of just how popular and well received the Yiddish Nachas albums have become in the five years since Yiddish Nachas 1 and 2 have been released. What began as Yossi Green’s pet project has morphed into a movement that has enchanted people everywhere — even as today’s sophisticated Jewish music world has moved far beyond the Pirchei records of the ’70s and ’80s. Who would have thought that a group of chassidishe children would capture the hearts of today’s most discriminating listeners?

A few years back, Yossi — who composed the classic “Kol Beramah,” for Yigal Calek and his London School of Jewish Song in the early ’70s, and has since written over 800 songs for the entire who’s-who of the Jewish music industry — decided to revive the concept of a children’s choir, albeit for a new listening audience. He discovered Moishy Kraus, a talented chassidishe young man with a studio in Kiryas Joel who recorded children’s choirs, but never imagined that with his new partner, they would create a sound that’s become a celebration of chassidic purity — shared through the voices of sweet young children yet sophisticated enough for discerning adults, and supported by Yossi’s own prolific past.

“It’s Yossi Green with chassidishe kinder doing hartzige songs,” says Moishy. “This combination is what makes it so special. There are a lot of chassidishe CDs out there, and a lot of modern sophisticated music. But the combination of doing updated songs with these kids and their authentic havarah is unique.”

They might make an unlikely pair, Yossi Green and Moishy Kraus — Yossi is a veteran composer who has experimented with integrating many different genres during his years in the business, while Moishy is three decades younger and has pretty much stuck to one chassidishe style.

Moishy admits that, although he’s had a studio and had been working with children for the past 11 years, he was flabbergasted when he received a call from Yossi. “I happened to be in London for a family wedding, when I picked up the phone and the man on the other end said, ‘Hi, my name is Yossi Green.’ I don’t really know how he heard about me, but he got my number and said he wanted to do an album with tinokos shel beis raban — a project with heimishe kids and ten songs. I didn’t have a live choir then, but I would record boys in the studio. I was so excited, you can’t imagine. It was right before Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Two weeks later I called Yossi back and asked him about the project. He said, ‘Moishy, you have no idea what Sandy did to us.’ He lives in Seagate and he lost a lot. So I waited until he was able to move forward.” (Excerpted from Mishpacha, Issue 722)