September 24th, 2021, Shabbat is almost here!
And it is Sukkot time. Let’s celebrate it with a joyful song sung by the Chassidic singer from Minnesota Benny Friedman. And please don’t miss the videoclip!!!
Hello, how are you? I hope well. The last week it was Yom Kippur. It happened that I was in Cologne. This picture is on the day of Yom Kippur and the building behind me is the biggest synagogue in Cologne. I would have loved to enter but I preferred to respect that special moment of reflection and prayer and stayed out, enjoying its beauty in a sunny morning.
And now it is Sukkot. 8 days of holiday living in a hut. I think it is also an occasion to reflect, in this case on the comforts we have in our lives, on how fortunate we are to have a solid house over our heads and a bed to rest in. At least generally, and I hope this is your situation.
It is also a celebration. If you are not familiar with the meaning of this holiday, here is a simple video with the essential ideas. So, after Yom Kippur, let’s relax and celebrate.
Sukkot remembers the recovery of the freedom. When you receive this email in your inbox I will be travelling again. Little by little recovering the freedom… Specifically, I go to Belgrade, for the Todo Mundo festival.
Then, please, spread the word.And note that these weekly emails are also posted in the website www.musicbeforeshabbat.com
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About the Chassidic singer Benny Friedman and his background
This picture is from Friedman’s Facebook Page ? 
According to his website: “Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Benny’s musical career began at age thirteen when he began performing at small local events and audiences were mesmerized by his dazzling voice. He rose to prominence on the contemporary Jewish music scene with his first album, “Taamu” in 2009. Since then Benny has released 7 solo albums, 10 singles and has been featured on countless other projects and concerts around the world. His biggest hit to date is the song “Ivri Anochi” (I’m a Jew and I’m Proud), which the music video has over 19 Million views on YouTube.
Benny views his music as a Shlichus (outreach) tool, with the goal of inspiring people through music, and drawing them closer to Hashem.”
This last phrase seems to be very into the Chassidic philosophy and remembered to me this meaningful phrase in the website of the film 100 Voices:
“In Chassidic belief, whatever seems foreign to godliness, even a secular melody, is only estranged from it and can be reunited with the Divinity, provided it is wedded to a sacred text. This doctrine has spurred cantors over the past 200 years to “reclaime” Romanian shepherd calls, Russian ballads, Polish military marches, Austrian waltzes and Ukrainian love songs for synagogue use.”
Benny is the brother of another singer, Avraham Fried, and son of Rabbi Manis Friedman who, according to Chabad.org, “is a world-renowned author, lecturer and philosopher; and co-founder of Bais Chana Institute of Jewish Studies.” He is a personality. He has his own Youtube Channel and a website. According to the description of this video of TEXx Talks (very reccomendable too), he was “born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1946, Rabbi Friedman immigrated with his family to the United States in 1950. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Rabbinical College of Canada in 1969 and is a professionally ranked member of the National Speakers Association. His speaking tours take him to every part of this country as well as Israel, England, The Netherlands, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, Canada, and Hong Kong.”
About the piece Хорошо / Charasho
I don’t usually bring commercial music to MBS and the mood is quite serious but on this occasion, I hope you’ll forgive me, hehehe, and that while you watch and listen to them you’ll dance a little too. I can’t help it, with this great song!
Charasho means something like “good” in Ukrainian. I wondered if Friedman had Ukrainian ancestors but I didn’t find anything. As you will listen, the song is a tribute to life and to happiness and it includes some words in Ukrainian, Yiddish and Hebrew. I searched for the translations and you might like to have them too:
Как дела? – How are you?
מה נשמע – What’s up?
хорошо хорошо слава Богу хорошо – Good, good, thanks God, good.
וואָס מאַכט אַ איד? – What makes a Jew?
!’ברוך ה – Blessed be the Lord
אשת חיל – woman of valor
And the last part is:
слава Богу слава Богу хорошо, хорошо хорошо слава Богу хорошо, Здесь друзья и семья, Время праздновать пришло!
Хорошо, хорошо, Жить, любить, смеяться, петь!
И не просто жить, А очень хорошо!
Thank God, thank God good, good, good, thank God good.
Here are friends and family, it’s time to celebrate!
Good, good, live, love, laugh, sing!
And not just live, and very good!
With no doubt, Benny’s singing makes this song brilliant but the composition is also great and it is by Yitzy Waldner, who is also a singer and you can listen to him in this video. And the lyrics are written by Benny Friedman, Aliza Spiro, Mottel Friedman and Julia Miroshnichenko (she is the only one that I haven’t been able to identify in the Internet). And the music director was Avram Zamist.