Jewish (Hasidic) Music in the 2000s אידישע מוזיק אין די 2000ער יארן

The Foundations

When Mordechai Ben David (MBD, born 1951 as Mordechai Werdyger) began singing, chazzanus was the main music in Orthodox circles, and there were almost no singer-performers ^[1]. His father, Reb Dovid Werdyger, was a chazzan from Krakow and a Holocaust survivor ^[1]. To date MBD has released more than 46 albums, and he has been the headline singer at many charity concerts, especially those of HASC and Ohel ^[1].

Avraham Fried (born 1959) released his first album, "No Jew Will Be Left Behind," in 1981 ^[2]. According to Wikipedia, he was encouraged toward a music career by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Reb Eli Teitelbaum, MBD and the producer Sheya Mendlowitz ^[2]. Many of his biggest hits, such as "Aderaba" and "Didoh Bei," were composed by Yossi Green ^[2].

New Voices

Lipa Schmeltzer (born 1978) grew up in New Square ^[3]. After his wedding he released his first album, which was not a success, and in 2001 he released his second album, "Shema" ^[3]. With his thick glasses and peyos, his unusual outfits and comic videos, he became a star of the Hasidic music world ^[3]. After the 2008 Mumbai attack, in which the Chabad shluchim Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg were murdered and their little son Moshe'le was rescued, he wrote the song "A Letter to Moshe'le" ^[3].

Shloime Gertner of London became internationally known with his first album, "Nissim," in 2007 ^[4]. Yaakov Shwekey's "Vehi She'amdah," composed by Yonatan Razel, became a huge hit in 2008/2009 ^[5].

The "Big Event" (2008)

On February 20, 2008, the newspaper Hamodia published a kol koreh signed by 33 rabbonim against a charity concert scheduled for March 9 at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden, under the name "The Big Event" ^[6][7]. The concert, with separate seating for men and women, was meant to support Simchas Tzion, an organization that pays for the weddings of poor orphans in Eretz Yisroel ^[6][7]. Lipa Schmeltzer, the headline singer, withdrew on February 23, and soon afterward the entire concert was called off ^[6]. More than 3,000 tickets had already been sold ^[7]. Schmeltzer's step was widely praised in the Charedi world ^[6], and he announced that he would no longer sing songs composed by a non-Jew ^[6].

A year later, on March 1, 2009, a new concert called "The Event" took place at the same theater, without any controversy, before a sold-out crowd ^[3].