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The internationally acclaimed composer and balladeer who created D’veykus, Journeys and The Marvelous Middos Machine took time out of his busy schedule to speak with Ben about the concert and his work -- and the journey well traveled by Jewish music since he first began his career.

A versatile composer, Rotenberg has created several completely different musical projects spanning the range from spiritual to reflective to children’s hits. His work was deliberately wide-ranging in its target audience, beginning with the series called D’veykus, a spiritual collection that became one of the inspirations for an entire generation’s love for Jewish music.

“We wanted our music to be for a kumsitz, for a shalosh seudas… that type of music where people would sit around and sing a soft, slow song over and over again,” he explained. “All of those songs are written to pesukim [Biblical verses] or to words from the siddur [prayerbook] – so all I wrote was a niggun [melody]. I wrote a song, and we had to choose the right words."

A totally different project followed, Journeys, targeting the recent returnees to Torah life, those who had grown up in America and more easily related to themes that echoed that reality.

Many Jews who grew up in the United States spent their childhood in a complex web of Americana tinged with the sometimes not-so-faint horror of the Holocaust and the struggle to maintain their Jewish identity amidst the glitter of Christian holidays.

The Journeys series is a collections of songs that range from poignant to fun to outright belly-busters. “Journeys is conceptual, there are original lyrics, there are themes, there are messages,” Abie commented.

“They’re thought-provoking. They’ve been used all over the world by people who are m’karev rechokim [reaching out to assimilated Jews to bring them back to Torah], used in schools, used by educators – these are concepts of Yiddishkeit that are brought out in song,” added Rotenberg.

It was his children’s series, The Marvelous Middos Machine, however, that captured hearts and minds of the generation that sprang from those who had completed the journey.

“Obviously the focus is on middos – on character development, on proper behavior,” he said. Surprisingly, the children’s material was the toughest project of them all. “They were very difficult to do. A lot of time, thought and effort went into saying the right thing and giving the right hadracha [guidance] to children – and to their parents, actually, in terms of what to say to their children and how to bring out areas and aspects of correct and proper behavior based on Torah Judaism.”

It was a project that captured his heart as well. “It was also a wacky and crazy story line with all kinds of technology and characters, and it was a lot of fun,” he said. Abie added that his oldest daughter and son helped out “when they were little kids” by opening a song that began with music coming out of a cereal box. Today they are both married with children of their own – but the issues haven’t changed with the years.

“I meet a lot of young adults today who have children of their own, who grew up with the Marvelous Middos Machine, and they always bother me: why don’t we come out with more?” he chucked. He added that he didn’t think it would happen.

Still, Rotenberg acknowledged somewhat reluctantly, “Maybe when the grandchildren start misbehaving around the house we’ll come up with some ideas….” He caught himself quickly, though, adding that he didn’t think there was really enough material “out there” to add another album to the middos series.

He was silent for a moment, and then said, thoughtfully, “It may be worthwhile to redo. Some of those songs can be upgraded or updated. The story line and technology today is different.” Maybe Bresky’s questions evoked a sleeping giant.

Rotenberg had sobering words about the importance of Arutz-7’s work. “It is to me more than just a radio station,” he said. “It’s a concept. Arutz-7 represents to me, from where I am sitting, unfortunately, here in the Diaspora, a movement, a love of the Land of Israel, a commitment to its preservation and its settlement by Jews for Jews. For me, it’s certainly more than Israel National Radio – it’s a whole way of life.”

Rotenberg will be joined at the Arutz-7 "Miracles" concert by top Jewish music stars whose musical mettle has been tested and found true over the decades.

Shlomo Simcha, Chaim Dovid, Srully Williger, Cantor Netanel Hershtik and Rivie Schwebel will all be on stage February 18th at the Rose Theater – known as the “Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center” in New York City.

Even the Master of Ceremonies deserves top billing: Nachum Segal, the Number one Jewish radio host in the United States, will be on stage to introduce the musical magic for the evening.

Tickets may be purchased online here.

To listen to audio of this interview click here.

For more information on The Beat with Ben Bresky, visit israelbeat.blogspot.com.