Aryeh Hurwitz sings Tzama Lcha Nafshi on the Radio! Hosted by WABC 77's Sid Rosenberg Aryeh Hurwitz sings Tzama Lcha Nafshi on the Radio! Hosted by WABC 77's Sid Rosenberg

One night I got a call from a dear friend Menachem Siegal of Lakewood. “Would you be able to sing at WABC 77 Radio headquarters in Manhattan tomorrow morning?” They were organizing a celebration for Israel’s 70th Birthday and wanted someone to perform Jewish songs. Eventually the lineup came together with some major talent such as Lipa Schmeltzer, Eli Levin, Shlomo Levinger, Eli Lebowicz, and more. I reached out to Zalmy Schreiber, knowing he could come through on such short notice. "Would we be live streamed? Would our performance be broadcasted on 77 WABC, reaching their millions of monthly listeners?" we didn’t know for sure but we went for it. Then, a thought came to mind. What if we could broadcast one of the Rebbe's favorite nigunim to the listeners during the Israel Celebration Day program? It would be a magical moment, and a kiddush hashem. They tell a story of Rabbi Don Yoel Levy in the 80s, who traveled to Russia with a tape of the Rebbe’s farbrengen. A KGB agent, suspecting propaganda, played the tape on loudspeakers in the airport. The famous nigun the Rebbe would conduct, "Tzama Lecha Nafshi," played for all of Moscow Airport to hear. This ultimately saved Rabbi Levy. I envisioned something similar, but without, of course the life threatening component, a much larger audience and of course it would be us singing instead of the Rebbe’s majestic voice. I couldn't share this idea with anyone, in case they don’t approve of the idea as Tzama wasn't an Israel-related song like the rest of our lineup. So we just went with it! It was quite the moment, an awesome way to start the music. The audience in the room stopped in their tracks and I’m sure the listeners felt the same way! John Catsimatidis, the station owner, and his wife Margo Catsimatidis made the event happen, they gave us the grand tour and introduced us to the guests. They invited dignitaries, politicians and even Mets World Series champ Art Shamsky. The heart of the event, however, was the host, Sid Rosenberg, one of WABC's prominent personalities and a proud Jew. He was so moved by our performance that he put on Tefillin with Zalmy right after we finished. He cried tears of joy… it was, indeed, a real kiddush hashem!