‘Unity’ Brings Singers Together

By Mica Soffer, Publisher of COLlive.com

What would get Mordechai Ben David to stand on a milk crate and conduct a choir? What do Y-love and Describe have in common with Michoel Schnitzler and Berry Weber? What would bring amateur artists together with professional musicians?

Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, a Lubavitcher serving a 27 year prison sentence after being prosecuted with a vengeance that is rarely seen in the US justice system.

The plight of this charitable man and former executive of the country’s largest kosher meat plant has united over 30 Jewish music industry performers in a joint music video.

“Unity for Justice,” based on the classic song “Listen Brothers, Listen Friends,” was recorded and filmed at Bennett Studios in Englewood, New Jersey Sunday.

Singers of all walks of life, clean-shaven along with long peyos, from Lakewood and Crown Heights, from Flatbush and Williamsburg all joined with one voice to decry the injustice done to a fellow Jew, harshly sentenced to 27 years in prison.

The sight of them singing arm in arm was an emotional one for many. Mrs. Leah Rubashkin, Sholom Rubashkin’s wife and staunch defender, told COLlive the scene was “unbelievable.”

“Seeing all these people together reminds me of what Sholom Mordechai stands for,” she said, flanked by four of her 10 children. “This is what we had in Postville every day, that Sholom Mordechai worked his whole life to build. A place where the uniqueness of every group was appreciated, and everyone came together.”

Mrs. Rubashkin said the positive actions that have come from their ordeal is what keeps them going. “It’s like Hashem said, he did such a good job of bringing people together in Postville, now let’s see you do it for the rest of Klal yisroel.”

Included in the choir were Yeedle Werdyger, Benny Friedman, Shloime Dachs, Michoel Schnitzler, Yehuda Green, Shua Kessin, Yoni Zigelbaum, Avi Begun, Shneur Hasofer, YLove, the Shira Choir, Yossi Goldstein and Danny Finkelman and the Sparks Choir, and others.

Danny Finkelman, producer of the project, said he came up with the idea a few weeks ago while listening to the song in his car.

“I realized that it would be perfect for a ‘We are the World’ style musical tribute to Sholom Mordechai’s cause,” he told COLlive.com. “So I called MBD with the idea, he got his son Yeedle involved and the rest was history.”

Once Mordechai ben David came on board, everything fell into place, he said. Top singers such as Avraham Fried, Lipa Schmeltzer, Yaakov Shwekey and Ohad Moskowitz all agreed to take part in recording the song about unity amongst brothers – the Jewish people.

MBD told COLlive.com: “When Danny called, of course, I immediately said yes. I got involved because of the terrible injustice being done to Sholom Mordechai. This year, bekorov, we pray he should see a yeshua.”

The song, which was recorded in studios in Brooklyn and Israel, concluded with this session for the chorus at the famed New Jersey studio where the remake of “We are the World” for Haiti was recorded.

The single will include all new arrangements by Ilya Loshinsky and will be released as an audio and video clip before Rosh Hashana, according to the producers.

Singer Benny Friedman, a Minnesota native, said the project was important to him because of his close friendship with the Rubashkin family, having lived in their home in Postville for 3 years as a teen in yeshiva.

In fact, his first live concert was in the Rubashkin’s backyard for a Lag B’omer event. “Sholom Mordechai was my first fan – he encouraged me to start a music career, always pushed me to sing,” Friedman told COLlive.com.

Friedman says he has instituted a new custom in his own house in the merit of Rubashkin. “Every Motzei Shabbos we make a Melava Malka,” he said. “It’s something I learned in his home. That’s what we are all trying to do – increase in light to push away the darkness.”

Singer Yehuda Green, who some consider the reincarnation of Sholom Carlebach, said that “ever since this happened, I have been looking for ways to get involved and help.”

“A Jew like Sholom Mordechai, who did so much for Tzorchei Tzibur (community affairs), Hashem will pay him back,” he told COLlive.com. “Hopefully with the achdus here we will bring about his redemption, and he will be united with his family.”

Singer and composer Yeedle Werdyger commented, “we all want Sholom Mordechai to have ‘peace of mind and unity’,” quoting from the classic song his father wrote years ago along with Shea Mendlowitz.

Meir Cohen of Lakewood, partner in Tel Tech which sponsored the project, said: “We feel it’s an important cause because of the terrible attack on not only Sholom Rubashkin, but on every Jew.”

Leah Rubashkin concluded: “The achdus brought about by our story, brings some kind of meaning to the insane times we are going through. We daven that all our efforts should not only bring about Sholom Mordechai’s personal redemption, but also our geulah klalli with Moshiach tzidkeinu.”

For more information see www.unityforjustice.com