Baruch Levine & Benny Friedman - Vzakeini | Reaction 

Nachas doesn't have a good English translation, it describes the feeling a parent has when they see their children doing something good, it's a mix of pride elation and satisfaction all in one.

I loved your reaction when you first heard Baruch Levine’s voice 😂- yes he has a high register. Like really high. He’s an amazing composer of some great songs that have become staples of Jewish Music. He has a song with the same title, “Vezakeini”, that pretty much any Orthodox person knows and can sing. And yes, Benny really has a great voice and great range!

If mbd is king of Jewish music, Baruch Levine is queen. 😂

The tears shattering gates is a reference to our belief that there are gates into heaven. The gates will always open for a prayer that is expressed with tears.

You can use grape juice instead of wine for the blessing for kiddush on Shabbat. Lots of people cant drink alcohol but both wine and grape juice are " fruits of the vine."

Fun fact: Baruch Levine is from Toronto. So many well-known people in the Jewish music biz originate from Toronto.

The shleping nakas kind of nakas 🤣 Love you!!!

I'm fascinated every time you watch an English song. To most religious Jewish people, this song is so easily understood. But we forget how much Hebrew is peppered in there

This song was composed for an organization that assists couples that are struggling with fertility.. it's the prayer of a mother at the candle lighting which brings in shabbos... The prayer asks God to give us the merit(vezakeini- may i merit/grant me) you nailed it as far as the woman singing.... there is the female version as well.. you can check it out

You post too little lately 🥲 WE WANT MORE!!! Thanks for your time, I really appreciate it 🙏

The line about tears "shattering" every gate is a reference to the teaching in the Talmud that every gate of prayer may be closed but the gates of tears never close. These are many Jewish songs that make reference to this. Avraham Fried has a song called Sha'arei Dmaot, and of course there is the classic song (sung by Abish Brodt) Machnisei Rachamim that mentioned "Sha'arei Dmaot" (Gates of Tears).

For context, Bonei Olam who created this video is an incredible organization that helps couples through the journey of fertility treatments.

Tehillim is a book of psalms that are supplemental prayers that can be said at any time in addition to the typical regimen of daily prayers. When someone is in a specific time of need they usually increase their tehillim recital as a merit to see salvation

This also has two choirs in it - the New York boys choir and the Shir V'Shevach choir which is a Chassidic boys' choir. My son is in the new York boys choir part.

Oooh, that's interesting. When they have the kids singing the English lyrics, the kids are not Chassidish. But when it goes into the Yiddish lyrics, it's a different boys choir - they're all Chassidish (you can tell by the side-curls). The accent is different too. The "Litvish" (non-Chassidish) pronunciation is "Vezakayni" while the Chassidish pronunciation is "Vezakuyni".

It's definitely a song that ought to be sung by a mother/woman, and many activists took issue with that when the video first came out. The problem there is that that would severely limit the audience, and the idea here was to raise awareness for the organization to raise money for fertility treatments.

Wow!!! I feel honored!!! So happy your reviewing the song I have suggested!! Hope you liked it as much as I do

You should listen to hold on tight same kind of song and organization with Benny Friedmen it’s beautiful

Finallyyy you got to vezakeini!! :) Vezakeini - may i merit/grant me, is part of a prayer recited by women by the shabbos candle lighting, hence the scenes of the candles. The prayer is about asking Hashem to grant us children who are G-d fearing and honest.

I’m not sure if anyone mentioned it already. This song was composed by a female. Love your content. Keep it up ❤

Vazakeini is part of a prayer a mom says when she lights the candles Friday night and asks for good children that follow her footsteps

Yay! Can't wait to see! Wow! You are really perceptive, especially about the third candle at the end-yes that does mean they had a baby! Traditionally, we light 2 candles in honor of shabbos and then an additional one for each child.

Sometimes I have such an urge to do a reaction to your reaction vids! I can answer all your questions in real time and provide context and also laugh, good naturedly of course, at your attempts to make sense of a culture, language and customs which you are still so new to!

omg your reaction when Baruch Levine started singing was hilarious😂😂 he does have a very high pitched tone. I agree but it’s still so beautiful. and you’re right about this being about children. the mother recites this prayer after lighting the friday evening candles for Shabbat and it’s about asking G-d to raise the children to follow His ways and to be smart. And yes, shepping nachas is a yiddish expression!!

Every picture on the line was born with the help of bonei olam

Yes, this is a song coming from a woman's perspective. But since it was being used as a promo to help fundraise for the Bonei Olam organization (which helps couples with infertility) they wanted it to be able to be seen by men and women alike so it needed to be sung by men. Makes it slightly awkward for men to sing "will I ever be a mother?" but this song was a big hit and was a big boost for the organization so it definitely worked out

Like @BK-hc7dz said, Avraham Fried is knows as the Star of Jewish Music, MBD is the King of Jewish Music and Boruch Levine is jokingly called the Queen of Jewish Music😂😂

They had Baruch Levine do this song because he had a beautiful song a little while back called Ve'zakeini that you can see here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v8j4wUNnF5c.html

This song is related to Bonei Olam - which is an organization that provides medical assistance to couples with infertility problems. Nachas is the feeling of pleasure (e.g. when one is proud of their child, etc.).

One of my favorite songs! Baruch Levine is originally from Toronto!

A third candle means they have a little baby.

Boina oilam is an organization that helps Jewish childless families with fertility problems, guide along the process, and help financially the costly procedures. The organization was founded by a man with no kids (years ago there was less medical advancement in this area) who made it his life mission to help those with this problem to do what he couldn't. This song was composed in honor of this organization. The Jewish mother is considered in Judaism the rock upon which the home is built, and the direction the kids take in life morally lies in her hands more than that of the father's. She will go to great lengths to keep her kids protected and onto the right path, and it's their credit that the Jewish people survived till today. On Friday night when the sabbath comes in - is a very holy moment, and the mother lights the candles and then closes her eyes and covers them with her hands and prays silently to G-d that she may raise her kids on the right path and reach a point where she sees "nachas" from them (nachas is the sense of satisfaction when a kid grows up and turns out to be what you hoped for all the years you invested in them). I still remember as a little boy when my mother took off her hands after the prayer, and saw her eyes soaked in tears, and I asked her if she got hurt or something, and she smiled and said: no! I prayed to make sure you and your sister don't get hurt! This is the theme of the song, a prayer said by the mother at candle lighting on the eve of sabbath. All the pics of kids are the ones the organization helped bring into the world and the mothers that will get a chance to cry at the candles at sabbath eve so their kids succeed.

Shabbos and Jewish holidays are very family-centric times. So many couples experiencing infertility may feel like they are living a half-life or waiting to start their life. V'zakeini means may I be worthy/merit, so they are praying to Hashem that He finds them worthy of having and raising healthy children who will follow the path they believe is right. There is a commandment of Kol Isha, which literally means a woman's voice that prohibits men from hearing a woman sing. There are many leniencies and is not something that is universally kept. That's why the men are singing from a mother's pov. There is a beautiful version sung by women as well. Check that one out.

It's about the prayers of parents who are having trouble conceiving a child. They are praying for children to bring up in the ways of Yiddishkeit.

You are so on the nail😂 you pick up on the heart of every issue! I always hated the line where they go, “will I ever be a mother?” And I’m like No, you won’t guys, for a good reason 😂. The reason the organization had men singing this very female centric song is bc they wanted it to have a wider reach and if women sang it then only women could hear it. But I know a lot of people had issues with that. The lyrics bugged me on principle, but I understand why they chose to have men sing it. Two big orthodox female singers did end up “covering” it tho, which I guess was more aligned but they also both have children so it felt just as off to me when they sang those lyrics as well.

Finally you did Baruch levine

1) I happen to enjoy Baruch Levine's voice (he's also a great composer) but we've all suggested what you have at one point or another... 😄 2) When a Jewish woman lights candles at the beginning of Shabbos she says a beautiful prayer that she should merit to raise children who are righteous and G-d fearing, who learn Torah and cling to G-d and His Commandments. V'zakeini means "may I merit". 3) To have nachas kind of means to be made proud. 4) Tehillim - Psalms 5) This song is being sung for an organization that assists with fertility issues. The problem affects both husband and wife, but it's known that women have a tendency to be more spiritual and closer to G-d, and a mother's prayers for her children can't be matched. Obviously for a public music video only men will sing, even though the song is from the perspective of the woman.

Baruch Levine is a prolific composer of Jewish music. His youthful voice has captured the hearts of Jewish music fans for a generation. I would describe his voice as boyish rather than feminine, simply because they could be interchangeable, and he is a man after all. I see others have explained the song. It’s a moving one, that’s for sure. And those two singers, along with the choirs (two separate ones - one chasidic and one regular orthodox), nailed it.

Benny Friedman & Mordechai Shapiro recently collaborated with Matt dubb for an awesome song called "L'chai Olamim"

This is indeed a song a mother would sing. The words "Ve'zakeini" is taken from the prayer that Jewish women recite when they are lighting the Shabbat candles. But they have men singing it because it would be forbidden for men to listen to women singing under the laws of modesty.

There are actual few different Jewish languages similar to Yiddish, Ladino is like the Yiddish of Spain, and there is a Jewish kind of Arabic, I’m sure there are a couple others as well.

You can use both grape juice or wine

Vzakeini means loosely gift me or make me deserving. So it’s asking Hashem to give the gift of children. As you’ve learned, Jewish life has a heavy focus on family life and having children, so for those struggling with infertility it is especially difficult. Bonei olam is an organization that helps couples navigate the technicalities and finances involved. Nachas means like satisfaction and joy kind of-to shep nachas from kids is a blessing we give people and hope for ourselves as well, which basically is seeing the fruits of our labor. The time right after candle lighting is especially auspicious for prayer, and there is a concept within Judaism that God won’t turn away prayers offered with tears. Many say a prayer upon lighting candles that includes the word vzakeini as we ask for children who will follow in the ways of Torah. The man in the apartment was sad due to not having children and as you noticed, they added a third candle at the end for a child.

By the way Yiddish is a universal language people from all over Europe and Israel israelia United States Argentina and so on speak Yiddish so I guess this means Universal it doesn't mean that every single Jewish person spokes it

You mentioned that not all Jews speak Yiddish… In this video you see two choirs The first choir is boys that speak English as their first language so they’re singing the English part and the second choir speaks Yiddish so they’re singing the Yiddish part Just an interesting part…

In a lot of Hebrew words that are transcribed to Hebrew, the V at the start is its own consonant meaning "and." V-za-kay-nee - may I merit

First! Check out shmueli Unger

Watch Hold on Tight. Also Benny and Baruch. It's the next song for the vezakaini initiative.

CAN U PLEASE DO PISHCI LI BY SIMCHA LEINER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agree it looks a little silly having men sing “will I ever be a mother” 😂but song is so beautiful and the meaning is very powerful

Joke goes that Baruch Levine is the queen of Jewish music....

This song was made for a fertility organization.... vezakeini means... may I merit children..who give nachas... happiness

You can definitly use Grape Juice instead of wine for the Kiddush (the Friday night and Shabbat morning belessing)

Grape juice is OK for the blessing of the wine Btw the blessing of the wine is called "kiddish"

Waiting for you to review one of my songs!

I was wondering how quickly you would mention that why are men singing the perspective of a mother? It was indeed controversial.

Awesome catch on the 3rd candle. I missed that myself!

I’ve been going through the comments for a while and still have not seen anyone explain this, The organization that the song is written for (bonei oilem : translates to children and world: Meaning bringing children to this world) the organization helps couples that want children and can’t have children, they help pay for medical support and pretty a lot of other things that may help them have kids. Funds are usually donated by people of the Jewish community. The man( the lonely guy in the apartment) apparently can not have children and it is showing the sadness and despair that it is causing him. The beginning starts off with crying and burning food as you’ve said, it shows that children can sometimes be hard to manage but in reality what it is like to not have children. It’s sort of comparing the ones with children and the ones that are childless to show what it’s like to go through the hardship of not being to have a child. Having children in the Jewish community is looked upon with high respect, as well as it being an obligation for men. Jewish people sponsor medical bills for those couples that are medically impaired to have kids. Now I don’t know if what I’ve said makes 100% sense, I’m still pretty young, but I think this is something that should be explained. Please if someone thinks they can do a better job, please explain this cuz I’m having a bit of trouble.

It is a prayer to G-d that a mother says when she lights the candles on Friday evening that her children should grow up properly.

There's a wonderful video by Bracha Jaffe and Devorah Schwartz with this song.

You got it right. You CAN use grape juice instrad of eine on a blessing of wine becasue both come from grapes, same blessing on both

So people spoke Yiddish mostly in eastern and central Europe up until the middle of the 20th century. Now days it is spoken mostly in charedi home's.

Nachas= pride I guess Grape juice and wine could be interchangeable in this case Yiddish and Hebrew have the same alphabet but yes that was Yiddish (well, except the Hebrew parts) You're quick with the candle thing

It's about a mother's prayer while she lights the Shabbat candles and asks for kids

The song is for a company called bonei olam that helps pay for woman/couples to get a child. But in Jewish law a woman is not allowed to sing publicly so they have men singing. The book she was reading, a tehillim is psalms, nachas is pleasure.

We love Baruch Levine but his nickname is the queen of Jewish music

When a couple has children, they light another shabbos candle for example, my mom had six kids, so she lights eight shabbos candles, two for her and my father and one for each child. the extra candle at the end is because they had a child.

Yiddish is the main language that Jewish people of Northern Europe used with each other. Hasidic Jews decided to keep it more after World War 2.

Yes yes yes it’s awesome that you said Baruch’s voice is feminine because it’s a running “joke” in our circles.

nachas is to bring pride to the family and joy to the familyand represent them good in houner of the family

Yes, many homes use Grape Juice instead of wine. Some people are strict and will only use wine. Good catch on the switch to Yiddish in the middle!

vzakeini roughly transated is , when i grow old

The song is technically from the mothers perspective, there is a women’s version but women are not supposed to sing in front of men

The reason that it's from a mother's perspective is because the woman is the one who lights the candles

Performed by: Baruch Levine, Benny Friedman, New York Boys Choir, Shir Vshevach Boys Choir

9:00 - Here's a thought: Wine is grape juice where the sugar turns into alcohol.

as you might remember from the Shabbos video she lights as many candles as people in the family. So the 3rd candle represents a child.

I don’t know if you’ve come across this yet, but Chassidic Jews and some non Chassidic Jews don’t cut the boys hair until 3 yrs old, we call it an upshernish, so many times people will mistake a little boy for a girl since they have long hair.

Yes you can use grape juice. It has the same blessing as wine.

9:45 - I think that was the line-up of the Miami/Yeshiva Boys Choir at that point in time.

I love how you kind of melted from seeing the pictures.

They keep jumping from one apartment to the other to show how sad he is that he has no children while others his age and his friends have lots of children already

Grape juice can be interchanged with wine.

You are right they switched to Yiddish. But from the little I know I think the subtitles were off at that point.

i love to see your reaction to all the jewish words 😄

This song was performed for the organization that helps parents who cannot have children and receive medical...spiritual support in their endeavor to have a family...

Nachas means… it’s hard to think of an exact English translation. I think it literally means contentment, or peace. But, in general usage, it basically means pride, but the good type of pride you have in someone else, usually a parent to a child. Like, if someone says “my son gives me so much nachas,” they mean “I’m so proud of my son.” Grape juice is a perfectly acceptable substitute for wine. I actually usually use grape juice.

It said Tehillim..is the book of Psalms

as im watching you i see you catching on😀

Id recommend for another reaction video to Check out this one ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-g1YAoxyv6Ik.html talent is incredible and is a must watch

Fabulous, as always, regarding your reaction, and really enjoyed this video too. My nephew sings in the shir vshevach choir. They perform at a lot of weddings.

There is a girl version ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2zjQKquXe_Q.html By bracha jaffy and devorah shwortz

It's amazing that most of your questions/comments get answered within the first hour... That speaks volumes that when someone is here to listen, we really like to explain everything... Therefore I haven't gotten much to add, just to express how much I love your reaction videos, and am constantly refreshing to see if a new video was posted...🤩

Yup!another candle means another child!

Nachas pretty much means to cherish see good things from your kids or anyone.

Nachas is basically a joy of an achievement/ fulfillment example if you send your child to a music school and he play in a very popular band the joy that a parent feels is Nachas

Here is another great video of Baruch Levine alongside Abie Rotenberg and Shlomo Simcha, all three from Toronto. I am surprised that you haven't yet come across Abie Rotenberg. Most would say that he is the most talented Jewish Composer today-although he generally keeps a low profile. He mentored and frequently collaborates with Baruch Levine. (Side point, have you considered interacting with #FrumTwitter? It may be a useful tool to bring in new users and it is easier to interact with followers. Many of the singers you covered are there, as well as Peter Santenello and Shloime Zionce.) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HJ75MiANJBg.html

7:42 tehillim is psalms

Tehillim (that white book she's holding) is the book of Psalms.

Also tehlllim is the psalms…