Image by Courtesy of Aryeh Hurwitz

Cantor/Web developer
Chabad Lubavitch Media Center
Brooklyn
Age:26
Nominated by: Himself
Song: “Vehu Rachum,” Yossele Rosenblatt

Jewish music is made up of various different genres, styles and modes. But what makes Jewish music so unique is that, from top to bottom, it is soulful. You experience an event through song. It’s the equivalent to praying, studying or connecting to a source of some sort — something greater than just lyrics and a tune combined. “My Yiddishe Mame”; “Raisins and Almonds”; Shlomo Carlebach’s “Mimkomcha,” and even Yaakov Shwekey’s “Shomati”; — they’re not just folk love songs or lullabies. They are our heritage, wrapped up in a gift box. And you can re-create it by simply signing or, even more simply, listening. —Aryeh Hurwitz

INFLUENCES: Shlomo Carlebach, Mordechai Ben David, Yossele Rosenblatt, Moshe Koussevitzky.

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