Top Ten for the Soul
My favourite music CDs had filthy language and foreign beliefs that simply weren’t appropriate in a Jewish home. But it was still hard to chuck them away...
When you make teshuva, especially at the beginning of the process, it can feel sometimes feel that G-d is asking you to give every last bit of yourself away. All the secular novels you read and enjoyed? Dump ‘em. All the not very modest clothes in your cupboard (including your very favorite jeans…)? Burn ‘em. All the Saturday nights going out to clubs, bars and movies with your friends? Forget all about them (after you’ve made teshuva for doing it in the first place.)
For me, this was not a fast process. It kind of slowly unfurled across about eight years, with the most intense ‘progress’ happening after we’d made aliyah. When I moved here nearly five years ago, I wore jeans, didn’t cover my hair, watched movies (but thank G-d, not TV), read trashy novels and loved, absolutely loved, a wide variety of goyish music, including Michael Jackson, Nora Jones, and Queen.
Slowly slowly, Hashem started to educate me about what He expected me to do. Somethings were relatively easy, like stopping watching videos and movies. Other things I have struggled and struggled to do.
One example was my books. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been an avid reader. I dumped a whole bunch of ‘stupid’ books when we made aliyah – took boxes and boxes of them to the local library in London.
But I still had literally hundreds of ‘quality’ novels on my shelf, and even though I increasingly felt that they shouldn’t be there, I simply couldn’t bring myself to get rid of them. This continued for a few months, until Hashem gave me a nudge I couldn’t ignore.
I’d been reading only Jewish books for about a year and a half, when I suddenly wondered if maybe, I was being unreasonable and a bit too ‘fanatic’ about the whole religion thing. For the first time in ages, I felt like reading a novel. So I went to Steimatsky, found a new book by a reputable author, and took it home.
I was reading it on Shabbat when my youngest daughter came in to the room making weird wheezing noises. She’d swallowed something, and couldn’t breathe. That was the longest minute of my life. I grabbed her, turned her upside down, but still the choking noises continued. So I panicked and ran outside with her, still upside down, desperately calling for help. I begged Hashem to help her to breathe – and thank G-d, He did.
Thank G-d, she was absolutely fine, and outside playing again five minutes later. But I was completely shaken up about how close a call we’d just had. But it was only the following day that I made the connection. I picked up something that was talking about ‘frivolity kills your children’ – and I instantly realized the message Hashem was sending me.
That night, I asked my husband to please take all the non-Jewish books off our shelves, and to throw them out. It was too hard for me to actually do it myself, but I knew I couldn’t risk a stronger ‘hint’.
My CDs were another thing that I found very hard to let go of. But again, Hashem found a way to help me to do it (this time, much gentler…) First of all, I realized that the lyrics to a lot of them were simply not what I wanted my kids to be hearing and repeating and internalizing.All of a sudden, it dawned on me that songs containing swear words, crude language and foreign beliefs simply weren’t appropriate in a Jewish home. But it was still hard to chuck them away. Alanis Morrisette! I listened to you all through university! And even then, you were a bit shocking – out you go. Abba! The dancing queen! With her beat and her tambourine – oh my goodness, is that the sort of life I wanted to romanticize for my daughters? I want them to be thinking about a shidduch when they’re 17, not gyrating in some cheap club. In the bin it went. Lauryn Hill? Madonna? What on earth was I thinking… And so on and so on.
My 200 hundred non-Jewish CDs shrank to a bare 20 survivors, which weren’t ‘obviously’ bad. But in the meantime, what the heck was I going to listen to? Thankfully, I live in Israel. Thankfully, there are a whole bunch of absolutely amazing musicians here, many of whom have a powerful Jewish soul that radiates through their music and lyrics. It’s taken me a couple of years and quite a bit of hit-and-miss, but thank G-d, I’ve found some amazing CDs, which I’d like to share with you. I also want to invite readers of Breslev Israel to write in and tell us about your favorite ‘Jewish music’ CD, so more or us can have a kosher alternative to George Michael and Norah Jones.
So here are my personal top ten musicians for the Jewish Soul:
1) Elyon – Ekiezer Kossoy and Yonasan Hill, my absolutely favourite CD. Think of a Breslev version of Simon & Garfunkel. I listen to this at least once a week.
2) Udi Davidi – another very popular Breslev musician, who now has four albums. All of them are worth buying, but my favorite is number 3 – Back to You.
3) Before he made teshuva and started learning with Rav Arush, Shuly Rand used to be a famous Israeli actor and entertainer. His first album ‘post teshuva’ is called Good Point, and has become a best-seller in the Holy Land.
4) Sinai Tor is big on guitar, strong beats and emuna. I actually heard him sing live in Uman, and it completely blew my socks off. He has two albums out that I know of, but my favorite is Tov Como Achshav (Good like now).
5) OK, OK, I know that everyone’s heard of Shwekey already, but seeing as I got addicted to his Live in Caesarea CD for about three months solid, I have to include it here.
6) Avraham Abutbul has a very deep, smokey voice and a number of CDs out. My favorite is Enlighten Me From There.
7) Another singer that I saw live in Uman was Eviatar Banai. His album, Night as the Day Does Shine, is worth buying even just for the first track, ‘Abba’, which makes me cry (in a good way!) every time I hear it.
8) Reva L’Sheva have apparently been around for ages, but their music still sounds as good today as when it was first recorded more than a decade ago. Try One Love, to get you started.
9) I found Aharon Segal’s album The Light of All Lights when I was poking around the bookstore at Chut Shel Chesed. It’s kind of a cross between Likutey Moharan and a rave. Kind of crazy, but I really like it when I’m in a mood to dance around my living room.
10) It’s tough to know who else to include: the soulful songs of Yosef Karduner? The Sephardi melodies of Yair Gadassi? Yonatan Raizel? Our very own Rabbi Brody, with his new album, Calming Waters?
So now, let me open the mike for you, dear readers. Who makes it in to your Top Ten for Jewish neshamas?
8/31/2010
Shlomo Katz, and his brother Eitan Katz! I know Shlomo is a friend of Rabbi Brody, and a Breslever with some gorgeous niggunim – his most recent MALEI OLAM is fantastic. Also, Ari Goldwag has some fantastic albums. Finally, all the Shalshelet albums are great.
8/31/2010
A Few to Add Shlomo Katz, and his brother Eitan Katz! I know Shlomo is a friend of Rabbi Brody, and a Breslever with some gorgeous niggunim – his most recent MALEI OLAM is fantastic. Also, Ari Goldwag has some fantastic albums. Finally, all the Shalshelet albums are great.
8/30/2010
my favorit album that should for sure be included in any top 10 list is Meir Solomon’s “Mimizrach Shemesh”.