The sun was setting, lighting up the sky in a shade of shimmering pink. It was a pleasant 60 degrees outside the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York—perfect weather for the “Rise Up YU Concert” starring Ishay Ribo. On May 26, more than 12,000 Jews flooded the windy, narrow roads near Corona Park to enter the venue. According to Ticketmaster, tickets ranged from $50 to $230. Premium tickets, which included a meet-and-greet with Ribo, were being sold for $1,000. It was one of the largest Jewish music concerts in North American history.
My wife and I both graduated from Yeshiva University in 2020 and 2021 respectively. A few weeks ago, our friend Jack Turell, who works in the Alumni Affairs Office at YU, was giving away free concert tickets to those alumni who sent in the best submissions for an alumni video that would be played at the YU graduation to take place at the stadium prior to the concert. My wife submitted a video of us in Disneyland posing with Minnie Mouse, and to our delight, Jack texted us that ours was one of the top videos, rewarding us with two coveted tickets!
Doors were scheduled to open at 6:30 p.m., with a siyum starting at 7:45 p.m. and the concert beginning at 8. The traffic entering the concert was extremely congested—our GPS originally signaled our arrival at 7:20, but there was such an overload of cars trying to get into the parking lot that we didn’t find a spot until 7:50. Our spot, about a 10-minute walk from the stadium, offered us the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful scenery overlooking Corona Park, the luminous Citi Field, and the breathtaking sight of thousands of Jews walking together towards the concert.
Once we arrived at the stadium, we immediately encountered many friends and family acquaintances. It was easily one of the biggest social scenes of my life. Even more amazing was the vast diversity of Jews in attendance, including yeshivish, Sephardic, chasidish, secular and more, despite the fact that YU caters to a mostly Modern Orthodox population. As we walked in, we passed many Yeshiva University signs and pictures of graduating students. We took some photos with a few friends by a quaint fountain outside the stadium. Our seats were front row in the center of the third level, directly facing the concert stage. The stadium seats were dark blue, and there were white folding chairs on the floor in front of the stage for choice seating.
To kick off the event, Binyamin Broth made a siyum on Bava Basra. Following that, the concert opened with a few songs by Jewish pop singer, Yaniv Hoffman, known by his pseudonym Jeryko. My favorite song of his was “On the Bowery,” a melody that motivated many in the crowd to clap along with the beat. Prior to entering our seats, we had been handed light-up inflatable boomsticks. As I looked around during the show, I saw thousands of flashing colors as spectators clapped their boomsticks along to the rhythm of the songs.
Next appeared the star of the night, Ishay Ribo. I had never heard any of his songs before, but his voice and singing style reminded me a lot of Omer Adam, whose music I enjoy. Ishay’s melodies were very Israeli and chill. Before each song, he would play a few notes on his guitar, causing the crowd to screech in unison. He occasionally shared a few words of wisdom in Hebrew when introducing his next song. My favorite song was “Zocher Ani” because it was a great responsive song in which the audience repeated the words that he was singing. Imagine the awesomeness of hearing thousands of people singing along with Ishay, songs such as “Hinei Yamim Baim,” “Lashuv Habaita,” and “Comme Les Oiseaux.”
There were numerous Jumbotrons at the stadium that focused on live singing and sometimes simultaneously faded in the background on other angles of the singer or on some of the musicians in the band. The camera also occasionally switched to a background shot showing the singer’s back and the entire audience laid out in front of him, giving us an insight into his perspective of what it is like to be singing on stage. Additionally, there were a lot of stage lights that dazzled the audience by changing colors in sync with the tune of the song.
Following Ishay’s performance was a tribute video to Alex Clare, tracing his journey from being a world-famous pop singer to becoming an Orthodox Jew. Next, Alex came on stage and sang his most famous song, “Too Close” which has over 77 million views on YouTube and even peaked at the number 7 song in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 2011. Hearing that song live was truly special, and it was by far our favorite part of the concert, since we love both the song and Alex’s beautiful live rendition.
The highlight of the concert for most of the audience was when Ishay Ribo joined Alex as they serenaded the audience in a duet rendition of “Nafshi” (from Anim Zemirot). It was awe-inspiring to hear them with the entire audience singing along. Some teenage girls in my row were even crying. Following that song, Ishay Ribo sang a few more songs. Next came guest singer Akiva Turgeman performing some of his top songs. Ishay and Akiva then sang together before Ishay took over the rest of the event.
To cater to the audience’s gastronomical tastes, in every few sections, a concession cart sold drinks and snacks. The lines were long and the cashiers had difficulties processing orders. Outside of the stadium by the fountains were two food trucks: The Wandering Que and a kosher Rita’s Italian Ice. The Wandering Que sold various meat items such as burgers, hot dogs and salami. I purchased some Rita’s vanilla ice cream with cotton candy-flavored ice. It was a delicious treat to have after all of the dancing and climbing stairs.
This was the first concert I have ever been to where every singer had their tzitzit dangling out of their shirt, adding to the wonder of it all! It was a truly remarkable experience to be a part of, and I am thankful to my alma mater Yeshiva University for putting together such an outstanding event.
Zachary Greenberg is a Health & Benefits Consultant Analyst at Mercer as well as the TABC Track Coach. In 2021, he interviewed Eric Walker, who played Mace Towani in the Star Wars film “Caravan of Courage:An Ewok Adventure.” The full interview can be found on his YouTube channel. Zachary recently watched the flick “When Harry Met Sally.”
