People afraid of being exposed to COVID-19 can use the time home to be exposed to a variety of Jewish music and topics.
“We’ve got people who wouldn’t normally listen to Jewish music,” said Michael Greenberg, who reaches thousands of listeners around the world with a cornucopia of Jewish tunes Sunday mornings on his Kol Yehudim radio show.
The program, now celebrating its fourth year, airs 6-10 a.m. on Edison-based radio station WJPR, found at 1640 AM. Although the station has a three-mile radius and can be heard only in Edison, Highland Park and some parts of New Brunswick, East Brunswick and Piscataway, it has an international reach through the internet at 1640WJPR.com and Tunein radio.
Greenberg, a Highland Park resident, also has archived years of programs at http://bit.ly/cooljewishradio, which can be accessed any time and has garnered him an international listening audience from as far away as Australia, New Zealand, Poland and Israel.
The music format is also tailored to certain holidays. On March 29, in keeping with his annual Passover tradition, Greenberg played Moishe Oysher’s 1958 Seder recording.
While much of the world is self-quarantining, more Jews of every denomination are discovering his eclectic mix that spans musical styles from Israeli pop to cantorial, klezmer, classic Jewish tunes and the modern standards of Debbie Friedman and Shulem Lemmer, the first chasidic artist to sign with a major label.
However, to lift people’s spirits at a time of so much fear, Greenberg is focusing on upbeat selections “that could be interpreted as tefillot like ‘Mi Shebeirach’ or other meaningful music,” he said of Freidman’s modern interpretation of the Jewish prayer for healing.
He also has an extensive collection of albums dating back to the 1950s, some inherited from his grandparents.
“I have found that Jewish music radio today seems specialized and the music sounds similar,” said Greenberg. “There’s Yeshivish pop and at the other extreme is Jewish folk rock radio. You are getting both extremes, but nothing in the middle. I include everything from old Jewish music from the 1930s to today.”
Mason Resnick, a professional photographer from Highland Park, is a regular listener to Greenberg’s show.
“I love the diversity,” he told the Jewish Link. “If there’s a style I’m not really into I just wait a few minutes and something else is on. It’s never boring. I’m not a big fan of cantorial music, but I love Israeli pop. There are just so many styles and it’s so much fun. He’s got a great sense of humor and plays Jewish comedy and really mixes it up with off-the-wall things. And he takes requests.”
A third-through-fifth-grade STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) public school educator on Staten Island now distance teaching, Greenberg is Modern Orthodox and a member of Congregation Ahavas Achim in Highland Park. However, unlike on many Jewish radio stations, he has no problem playing groups like Pharaoh’s Daughter and other female singers on his show, a surprise to some listeners.
“Once they know it’s not kol isha and allows women’s voices to be heard they are shocked at first, then they have a good reaction,” noted Greenberg. “I have frum women artists who have no problem with me playing their music but they would only play to women live.”
Greenberg’s views on playing female artists contrasts with those of the station’s owner-operator Al Gordon, who offers a mix of Jewish music, religious programming, sports, news and golden oldies.
“He plays a lot of artists we don’t normally play on air,” said Gordon, also of Highland Park. “He’s got a big following from around the world. It’s a different kind of program for sure than any you’ll find elsewhere.”
Gordon, who does not play female artists or songs with God’s name in it, launched the station in 2011 as a way “to do something for the local community,” and got a transmitter, equipment and a dial location that no one else had. He has a long background in radio, including 11 years at WMCA AM, beginning in 1994 when it was talk radio, working on its Jewish segment. It is now a Christian station.
He is also Modern Orthodox and described himself as “owner, program manager, director and janitor” and the station as having a “hybrid format” that has Jewish broadcasting during the day and early evening and rock and roll oldies through the night.
Gordon has long broadcast the Daf Yomi from 5-6 a.m. where listeners study Talmud with Rabbi Moshe Elefant, the Orthodox Union’s CEO of kashrut. While many followers have listened on their commutes to work, those and others are now beginning their home-isolating days with a dose of Talmud.
Gordon himself does a live show 6-10 a.m. on weekdays featuring Jewish music, news, sports and local content. It’s broadcast by famed radio and television host Zev Brenner on his talklinecommuncations.com network, which also allows listeners without internet access to call in at 641-741-0389, 641-741-0389 or 712-432-3483 and listen by phone. Monday through Thursday, 7-9 p.m., the station picks up Talkline with Zev Brenner. Sundays from 2-4 a.m. Gordon’s show is broadcast live on Brenner’s station, 620 AM, which can be heard throughout the New York Metro area.
“We are trying to keep people’s minds off what is happening,” said Gordon in a phone interview.
His station, which also attracts a far-flung international audience, is interspersed with interviews with luminaries from the Jewish world, including singers Baruch Levine, Yisroel Williger and Rabbi Shmuel Brazil.
Both Gordon and Greenberg’s shows have become so widely known that artists often send them their work for airplay. Others who have recorded only a song or two send their tunes looking for exposure, said Greenberg, adding he continuously contacts other artists to get more material.
For programming schedules and ways to access programming and make requests go to 1640wjpr.com. Requests for Kol Yehudim can be made at [email protected].
By Debra Rubin
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