New Tunes for the Post-Holiday Blues

It’s the period known as “acharei ha-chagim” – after the holidays. After a month packed with holidays, suddenly Cheshvan comes and there are no holidays. Winter begins, the days get shorter, and people have this feeling of emptiness. It’s back to routine, and suddenly all the things we pushed off till after the holidays, it’s now time to do. And let’s be honest: No one really meant to do them – it was just easy to push things off to acharei ha-chagim.

There are still a good few weeks until we start preparing for the next holiday, which is Chanukah. But we have the whole month of Cheshvan to get through, so this is the perfect time to review some new music releases and bring back some excitement to our lives.

And if you happen to have some long trips coming up – whether you have days off from work or are simply taking a fall outing on a Sunday – grab this new music and listen to it with the family. Or just enjoy it at home.

A month ago, Haviv Haim Ben Aryeh released a beautiful new song called “Shirat HaPitgamim.” It’s a light, quiet pop song with catchy and pleasant music and a cool animated video.

The song has a simple, optimistic message: If you just think good, things will be good for you. The lyrics come from several sources: the Talmud Bavli, Otzar Pitgamei Chabad, and Ben Aryeh himself, who also composed the song.

“Ha’adam holech zakuf, gam k’she-raglav al ha’aretz

B’y’cholto lir’ot et ha-Shamayim

Ha-zulat, hu re’ee

Chapeis b’tochecha et she-ra’ita b’zulatecha.”

Man walks upright, even when his feet are on the ground

He has the ability to see the Heavens

The other person is a mirror

Search within yourself for what you saw in your fellow.

“Ehov et ha-bikoret

ki hi ta’amidecha al ha-gova ha-amiti

B’kdei she-gishmei ha-bracha yiklitu

al ha-sade lihyot charush

Simcha portetzat geder,

shoveret chomot,

Sorefet shtikot atzuvot

Ha-kol od yachol l’hishtaper,

Yachol l’hishtanot

Im rak tachshov tov, yihyeh lecha tov

Yihyeh lecha tov, yihyeh lecha tov.”

Love criticism

for it will place you at your true stature

In order for the rains of blessing to be absorbed,

the field must be plowed.

Joy breaks through fences,

breaks down walls,

burns away sad silences.

Everything can still improve,

can change.

If you just think good, it will be good for you,

it will be good for you, it will be good for you.

“Rotzeh Rak Otcha” is another new song released a few weeks ago. With words and music by Eyal Bogat, it also has a light, upbeat pop style – the kind of song that’s perfect for the chilly days of autumn.

Baruch Levine recently released a beautiful live performance of his song “Galei,” featuring Eli Marcus. The song first debuted on Baruch Levine’s album Vezakeini on August 30, 2006. While the rhythm in the original version is very upbeat, this new version features a quieter, slower rhythm which is beautiful, captivating, and full of emotion. The lyrics are simple and powerful: “Avinu Malkeinu galei kvod malchutcha aleinu...”

“Tatte” is a newly released, emotionally charged duet performed by Ahrele Samet and Srulik Kletzkin, and features a rich arrangement by Yonatan Blau. The song was created to celebrate the wedding of the daughter of Rabbi Y.M. Druck, shlita, rosh yeshiva of Tiferet Yisrael, to Yehoshua Malin.

Yerachmiel Begun & The Miami Boys Choir are back with a brand-new album titled & On That Day. Take a taste of this new release with “Atoh Kail,” a wonderfully upbeat and uplifting song.

Now, I want to dedicate the next song in this week’s column to a special person.

Over the last couple of weeks, Hizzoner Mamdani has spewed his regular nonsense claiming that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, alongside his usual attacks on Bibi – even going so far as to promise to arrest him (though I think Bibi is safely back in Israel...). To make matters worse, on October 7, he chose to attack Israel on his X (formerly Twitter) account, and later went out to celebrate with friends at a restaurant in Manhattan – Ayat Hinds Hall, an Arab restaurant on the Upper West Side, with anti-Israel slogans and wording on the menu.

The next track isn’t a new release – it actually came out back in 2011 – but it’s a quiet, beautiful song by Ben Artzi, the son of Israeli music icon Shlomo Artzi.

The song is called “Ani Efes.”

I tried to translate it into English, so I turned to ChatGPT. The words “Ani efes” can be translated into English in a few ways:

I’m a loser!; I’m a pathetic loser; I’m an idiot!

While all of these describe Mamdani quite well, I think the third one is the most precise.

The song begins with a light piano intro:

“Ani Efes, Ani efes; tzaakti lifnei kulam ba-mesiba

Ani Efes, Ani efes; besach hakol ratziti ahava.”

I’m a loser, I’m a loser; I yelled in front of everyone at the party.

I’m a loser, I’m a loser; I just wanted some love.

Maybe Mamdani is just looking for love and attention. Instead, perhaps he should focus on managing his failing city.

(I hope not to lose business in the Satmar community after writing that.)

Enjoy the music!