יום ראשון, 5 יולי 2026Sunday, July 5, 2026
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יום ראשון, כ׳ תמוז תשפ״וSunday, July 5, 2026
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Mendi Glik

Mendi Glik performs as a one-man-band. To book Mendi Music for your event – bar mitzvah, wedding, engagement, sheva brachot – visit findmusicians.co/musician-details/mendi-glik or email menachemglik@yahoo.com.

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Arts

In the Market for a New Car? Consider the Sound System

By Mendi Glik

I need a car with a good, high-quality sound system. Different models come with different sound systems, and within each model, different trims have different setups.

Arts

Behind the Hits: Uber-Composer Yitzy Waldner Finally Takes the Mic

By Mendi Glik

He always enjoys seeing people enjoy his music, and he receives emails from all over the world.

Headline / Features / Arts

Behind the Lyrics: Master Composer (and Yeshiva Principal) Baruch Levine

By Mendi Glik

Every time Levine composed a song, he wanted people to be comfortable with it right away. The tune should seem a little familiar, but with a chidush (something new).

Features / Arts

The Sound of Shlichus

By Mendi Glik

When he sings at a chuppah and sees the chosson and kallah glowing, Faiden knows he is fulfilling his shlichus.

Headline / Features / Arts

Itzik Dadya: From IDF Rabbinate Band to Israeli-American Superstar

By Mendi Glik

At his parents’ home, everyone sang – not professionally, but they all loved to sing. He has bli ayin hara 11 siblings, so you can just imagine their Shabbat table when they were growing up. Not only did everyone sing, but every sibling wanted to be the lead singer.

Headline / Features / Arts

A Soulful Singer with a Breslov Beat

By Mendi Glik

Over the years, Cohen was in close contact with his uncle. He used to send him songs and consult with him. Shloime taught him that to sing is to pray.

Features / Arts

Music to Get Us Ready for Matan Torah

By Mendi Glik

The album features rich orchestration, blending strings, brass, and piano with saxophone, clarinet, and electric guitar in the style of traditional chassidic music.

Headline / Features / Arts

Yom Yerushalayim: Songs to Celebrate Jerusalem

By Mendi Glik

For thousands of years, throughout the long years of exile, the Jewish people have never forgotten Jerusalem. And indeed, after two thousand years in the Diaspora, Hashem performed a huge miracle and returned Am Yisrael to the land of Israel, and to Jerusalem.

Arts / Features

A Leibedik Lag Ba’Omer: Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon Songs

By Mendi Glik

The Zionist movement drew profound inspiration from Bar Kochba’s spirit of resistance. But it is deeply ironic that today, many self-proclaimed liberals continue to refer to our ancient homeland as Palestine with total disregard for the name’s origins.

Arts / Features

Weddings and More: The Latest Jewish Music Trends

By Mendi Glik

The field of wedding bands is crowded. There are many in the marketplace. But Shir Soul stands out because of the high standards Ross maintains for the band.

Features / Arts

Little-Known Gems of Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut

By Mendi Glik

I asked some Israelis in the community if they knew the song. And guess what? They also were not familiar with it. I realized that most of the readers here also might not be familiar with the song, so I decided to review it in this column.

Headline / Features / Arts

Songs of Forgotten Heroes of the Holocaust

By Mendi Glik

In the concentration camps and the gas chambers, Jews were murdered on the cursed soil of Europe. And while their brothers and sisters in the United States couldn’t do much for them, the little they could do was to shout.

Features / Arts

Pesach Special: An Interview with Yeedle Werdyger

By Mendi Glik

MBD produced his son’s first album, titled “Together.” When it came to the second album, his father stepped back and encouraged Werdyger to take the wheel, offering guidance as needed.

Features / Arts

The Season of Rebirth: Israeli Songs of Spring

By Mendi Glik

Classic Israeli music has many songs to offer about spring and nature. And how could it not? Just walking outside in Israel immediately inspires you.

Features / Arts

Yussi Sonnenblick Goes Back to the Future

By Mendi Glik

As the soloist who helped popularize these songs for the original Pirchei choir, Sonnenblick reunites with his younger self on the new album, Yussi Sonnenblick: Then and Now, through harmonies and melodies, bringing those timeless pieces back to life in a way that only he can.

Features / Arts

The Quiet Power of Yitzchak Meir

By Mendi Glik

Shabbat is the peak of the week, explains Meir. And for him, the peak of Shabbat was always singing zemirot.

Features / Arts

Songs of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk

By Mendi Glik

Perhaps one of the most famous and most beloved songs about Rabbi Elimelech is the well-known popular Yiddish folk song “Der Rebbe Elimelech,” or “Harabi Elimelech” in Hebrew.

Features / Arts

Purim Playlist #2 (2026 Edition)

By Mendi Glik

What I like about Simche Friedman’s Purim medley, which he released last year, is that it’s not too electronic. The beat is a freilach style, upbeat, and makes you jump.

Features / Arts

Purim Playlist #1 (2026 Edition)

By Mendi Glik

A good Purim party needs music – good music. When you build your playlist for your upcoming Purim party, don’t forget to check the two columns from last year – you’ll find some good suggestions. And now let’s look at some more.

Headline / Features / Arts

Giving Rock n’ Roll a Jewish Soul

By Mendi Glik

At age six, Harris started to play the violin. His parents sent him to music school because his uncle had given him a violin, and he joined the school orchestra, which he played in for five years.

Features / Arts

Straight to the Soul: Eitan Katz

By Mendi Glik

Katz has this unique feature that his music speaks to a wide range of people.

Features / Arts

Songs of the Exodus & Tu B’Shvat

By Mendi Glik

Hisyatzvu features a clarinet solo in the middle, followed by a piano solo, which sounds jazzier. I can understand why it didn’t become a first or second dance song at weddings, because it is a little complex. But it’s a great song.

Features / Arts

Jazz and the Jews

By Mendi Glik

Jews and Jazz takes the form of mini-biographies of the most important Jewish contributors to jazz since the 1920s. It focuses on 140 people – 136 of them Jewish, and four non-Jewish but with connections to the Jewish world – all of whom have had significant impact on jazz since its development in the past 100 years or so.

Features / Arts

Pinchas Bichler: Malchus Choir’s Maestro

By Mendi Glik

Chasidic music is limited. That’s the nature of the music. Think about it, Bichler says – most of the Jews in Eastern Europe were hardworking people. Many of them were in survival mode. Life was not easy. And that was reflected in the music. It was simple.

Features / Arts

Marrying Jazz and Klezmer: Violinist Ben Sutin’s Unique Sound

By Mendi Glik

His style is different from the typical Klezmer players. He’s not only a Klezmer violinist; he’s also a jazz violinist – he mixes the two genres.

Features / Arts

Beracha Beats: The Music of Parshat Vayechi

By Mendi Glik

Right after Yaakov concludes his beracha to Ephraim and Menashe, he blesses their father, his beloved son, Yosef. Va’ani natati lecha sh’chem echad al acheicha… – And I gave you sh’chem echad – sh’chem in Hebrew means shoulder. But in Yaakov’s beracha, it means that he gave Yosef more, something extra above his brother.

Arts

A Piece of Holiness – Moshe Kahan’s Debut Album

By Mendi Glik

I mentioned that many tracks on his album have a traditional chassidic feel, with brass, strings, piano, and classic rhythms. He told me that was absolutely intentional. To him, this is genuine heimishe music – music that comes from the neshama.

Arts

A Playlist for Chanukah

By Mendi Glik

Whether you read this column on Tuesday, Friday, or even Motzaei Shabbat, it’s still Chanukah – and Chanukah parties are still going on. So today I’d like to review some music for Chanukah.

Arts

New Six13 Parody Could Be Their Best Yet

By Mendi Glik

Where does their inspiration come from? They tell me they are inspired by world events as well as personal experiences.

Arts

Seeking Holiness

By Mendi Glik

Ahavat Yisrael – loving and caring for another Jew as though he were you – is something which is identified with Rav Neria, zt”l. Over the years, his students have told many stories about how he loved them, how he cared about each of them, and how he loved Am Yisrael.

Arts

Daniel Yativ – Chasidic Hybrid: A Unique Voice from Israel

By Mendi Glik

Yativ has always understood that music is a key to the soul. His goal is to create music with messages of emunah and closeness to Hashem.

Arts

Ashreichem! The Music of Parshat Toldot

By Mendi Glik

While there are so many wedding songs out there in the Jewish music world (which I wouldn’t be able to cover in one column), I’d like to recommend one which might not be the most well-known wedding song but is really beautiful.

In Print / Arts

The Music of Hebron

By Mendi Glik

Walking the streets of Hebron is a unique experience. You can see and feel the history from every street corner. Almost every place you walk has a story.

In Print / Arts

Parshat Vayeira - Songs About Brit Milah and the Akeidah

By Mendi Glik

One of my favorite singers is Yehuda Glanz, whose album Na’ale, which was released in 1993, has been one of my favorites since I was in high school.

In Print / Arts

The Songs of Parshat Lech Lecha - A Tribute to Dedi Graucher, z”l

By Mendi Glik

In general, Dedi did a lot of chesed. While he was considered a chasidic singer, some of his songs are very Zionist and patriotic and talk about our zechus (right) to be in Eretz Yisrael – something we find less among other classical chasidic singers.

In Print / Featured / Arts

Songs For Parashat Noach

By Mendi Glik

While many of the secular Israeli songs were influenced by the Bible and respected Jewish tradition, some of them were totally inappropriate and disrespectful, and made a mockery of our tradition.

In Print / Headline / Arts

Bereishit Inspiration

By Mendi Glik

As we know, Hashem created the levana (moon) on the fourth day, and it’s also the subject of one of Avraham Fried’s songs. His album Bracha Vehatzlacha was released in 1995 and is one of my favorites.

In Print / Arts

8th Day: A Band of Brothers with Musical Yichus

By Mendi Glik

For those of you who are hearing about them for the first time, run to YouTube or Spotify right after Havdalah. Your Chol HaMoed travels are going to be a lot of fun – their music and rhythm are very upbeat.

In Print / Featured / Arts

Cantor Colin Schachat: A South African-Born Sensation Creating a Family Legacy

By Mendi Glik

When preparing for a performance, it’s very important to know how to choose a piece. It’s not enough for the cantor just to like the music. It has to be a piece that matches his voice.

In Print / Arts

Ki HaMitzvah – A Song About Teshuvah

By Mendi Glik

Do not have any excuses. The Torah is not far away. You don’t have to reach the heavens or cross the ocean in order to learn Torah and do mitzvot.

In Print / Headline / Arts

Songs Of Return

By Mendi Glik

The navi Yishayahu compares the return of Am Yisrael to Eretz Yisrael as doves who return to their home. The navi continues and describes how the gates of Israel will be open day and night for Jews to return home.

In Print / Headline / Arts

Cantor Moti Boyer: The Successor to Yossele Rosenblatt?

By Mendi Glik

Moti used to listen to chazzanut for hours and try to analyze the pieces, to listen to the dynamics and understand their meaning.

In Print / Headline / Arts

A Tribute to the Classic Tunes – Don’t Mess with Tradition!

By Mendi Glik

I’ll be very honest with you: This new trend of using different tunes for the High Holiday tefillot really ruins the davening for me.

In Print / Arts

Special Chazzanut Series: The Story of Cantor Yossi Schwartz

By Mendi Glik

Yossi grew up in a musical house. His mother played accordion and used to sing with the kids every Shabbat. His grandfather on his father’s side was a ba’al tefillah. His grandfather’s brother was a cantor and knew the big cantors.

In Print / Arts

From Father To Son: Two Generations Of Hershtik Cantors

By Mendi Glik

You’ll be surprised to hear that Netanel was not pushed by his father to be chazzan – it was all his choice. But chazzanut was a big part of his childhood.

In Print / Arts

The Playlist of Tu B’Av

By Mendi Glik

The key to success is very simple: If you see someone you like, don’t be shy – approach her (or him), introduce yourself, be nice, and have a chat.

In Print / Arts

“Eli Tziyon” – The Melody Of Tisha B’Av

By Mendi Glik

Where did this tune come from? Who composed it?

In Print / Arts

Dance and Trance

By Mendi Glik

Music can generate curiosity. Once young people start to listen to this music often, they might start to look for the “original.” And if it sounds almost the same anyway, why not start listening here and there to more goyish music?

In Print / Arts

What is a DJ?

By Mendi Glik

In some ways, in this column I’m kind of a DJ.

In Print / Arts

Nisht Gedaiget

By Mendi Glik

The reason, by the way, that I didn’t really pay attention to the words all those years is because the melody is just so beautiful that I didn’t really care that I didn’t understand the words.

In Print / Arts

Motty’s Machshavot

By Mendi Glik

When Motty returned to Israel from the trip, he continued to sing and play music at events, and sometimes used to sing the Hashgacha Pratit song, but with his own words. Instead of “hashgacha pratit,” he used to sing machshavot tovot, diburim tovim (positive thinking, positive speech).

In Print / Arts

Yehuda Leuchter Does Jewish Reggae

By Mendi Glik

One day, his brother brought him a cassette of Bob Marley. It was the first time he had listened to Bob Marley, and from that moment he got connected to reggae music and started to make his own reggae. It’s kind of as if reggae chose him.

In Print / Arts

The Mamad Playlist

By Mendi Glik

How many scary scenarios heard we heard in the last few years about the day Israel will have to attack Iran? It seemed to complicated, nearly impossible. But we must not forget that the main reason everything worked perfectly is just because of the hashgacha of Hashem.

In Print / Arts

Authenticity – The Music Of The Waterbury Mesivta

By Mendi Glik

The yeshiva is all about authenticity and feeling, [being] real with yourself, Rabbi Wolf told me. When you have those thoughts, you think of real stuff, it generates inspiration, and the students share it with the world.

In Print / Arts

Wedding Season Music Trends

By Mendi Glik

A lot more songs during dance sets are rock or electronic style, Mordy says. It used to be more freilach, but recently the music has more of a rock, electronic, and trance vibe.

In Print / Arts

The Yom Yerushalayim Playlist

By Mendi Glik

As a teenager, we used to go on Yom Yerushalayim to the Rikud Degalim (March of Flags). The whole city filled with boys and girls dressed in blue and white holding flags of Israel in their hands, storming the streets with dancing, joy, and happiness, celebrating Yerushalayim.

In Print / Arts

The Music of Lag B’Omer

By Mendi Glik

The beauty of klezmer music is that you don’t need to understand the language. Because there’s no language. It’s only music.

In Print / Arts

Mordy Weinstein - Not Just A Cappella

By Mendi Glik

The first time Mordy started to sing was in high school. First, however, he learned how to play a guitar. Just because it was cool.

In Print / Arts

Yom HaZikaron And Yom HaAtzma’ut Music

By Mendi Glik

Despite the controversy and arguments between the different groups, we always need to remember that – left, right, secular, religious, haredi, Ashkenazi, Sefaradi – we are still one nation, Am Yisrael.

In Print / Arts

B’Shetzef – He’s Just Turned Around

By Mendi Glik

For years there was a controversy in Israel about the date of Yom HaShoah. The suggestion was for it to be on the day that the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising started.

In Print / Arts

Pesach Special: Young Musicians

By Mendi Glik

I have a feeling that you’re going to hear about these two a lot in the future. They both grew up in very musical homes and music has been part of their lives since they were born.

In Print / Arts

Avigdor Gavish: Samaria Soul

By Mendi Glik

As Avigdor puts it, from his father, he and his siblings got the military part, and from his mother the music part.

In Print / Arts

Bendigamos

By Mendi Glik

The reason that I liked so much to go to the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue is because of the special nusach that they still daven there, a nusach that goes back hundreds of years. They still pray in the original style that they prayed in when the shul began.

In Print / Arts

Aderaba – A Lesson In Achdut

By Mendi Glik

Many Jewish songs have been written and composed based on Rabbi Elimelech’s writings and tefillot that he composed. Rabbi Elimelech was also a composer and composed a few niggunim.

In Print / Arts

The Purim Playlist (Part II)

By Mendi Glik

This is one of the greatest holidays in the year for musicians, perhaps the busiest, and so there are many songs and performances of Purim songs.

In Print / Arts

Purim Party Playlist (Part I)

By Mendi Glik

In our column we’re going to have some oldies together with some contemporary music. I’m not only going to suggest Purim songs, but also other upbeat songs that will cause you to hold hamantaschen in one hand, a good bottle of wine (or whiskey) in the other hand, and start dancing! Hora!

In Print / Arts

The Music Of Shabbat

By Mendi Glik

I still make sure to sing mostly the tunes and melodies my father sings. But at the same time I also love and enjoy listening to the new versions, new tunes that the different singers perform on their albums. But the melodies from the albums stay in the car, or wherever I listen to music.

In Print / Arts

Shtar Hatana’im Or Shtar Hatno’im?

By Mendi Glik

The song is about a “shtar tena’im – an engagement contract between a chatan and kallah, a groom and a bride. And we’re going to talk about this song and explain it. What a beautiful song!

In Print / Arts

Eretz Asher Tamid – A Playlist For Tu B’Shvat

By Mendi Glik

I can imagine Rabbi Nachman standing in the middle of the cold forests of Ukraine, yearning for and dreaming of Eretz Yisrael. The kedusha, the holiness of the land.

In Print / Arts

The Super Bowl Playlist

By Mendi Glik

So this Sunday is the big game, and whether you’re hosting a Super Bowl party in your house and looking for the best playlist to dance with your guests during the break, or just watching with friends and family, I’ll have you covered.

In Print / Arts

Music In High Frequencies: How To Select A Music Player

By Mendi Glik

In order to listen to hi-res music, we need a special music player which can play these files. These players are relatively expensive, but they are worth the price.

In Print / Arts

Israel’s Right And Left Reflected In Its Music

By Mendi Glik

Interesting fact: Go on Google or Wikipedia and search for the famous picture of Sadat and Begin in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem when he came to visit Israel. Look closely at his tie and see the pattern. What symbol is repeating on his tie? (Hint: Swastika.)

In Print / Arts

Running To Protect Jews

By Mendi Glik

Music has power. Sometimes music is the power behind big movements. OK, saying it’s the power behind movements might be too exaggerated, but it definitely accompanies and empowers movements and social processes.

In Print / Arts

A Satmar Musical Surprise

By Mendi Glik

You know how it is when a song gets stuck into your head and you keep humming it? This song just got into my head and I had to find it.

In Print / Arts

Mendi's Notes

By Mendi Glik

I still love this music, but to some kids it was not appealing as it sounded kind of anachronistic. Not to mention that most (if not all) of the singers dress and look charedi; in other words, they didn’t look like rock stars.

In Print / Arts

Better, And Better, And Better

By Mendi Glik

The narrator then prays to Hashem that he’ll lead him in the right way, so everyone will see that the tefillot are get accepted. He then asks Hashem to allow him to always smile, to be healthy, and sing.

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