New York – In an interview with Israeli radio host Menachem Toker last Motzei Shabbos, Mordechai Ben David offered his thoughts on the current situation in Israel.
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Quoting the Satmar Rebbe, Reb Yoel, zt’l, MBD called the continuous clashes between the Chiloni and Chareidi community very frightening.
“The Satmar Rebbe, R’ Yoelish was correct. He was completely right. He said there would come a time when Chareidi Jews would not be able to live in Eretz Yisroel. Hashem Yiracheim.”
Speaking about the general anti-Chareidi bias emanating from the secular community and not the recent events in Beit Shemesh, MBD attributed the conflict to the Chiloni community becoming concerned by the rising birth rate among the Chareidi community and likened it to biblical times when the Mitzrim were afraid that they would be outnumbered by Bnei Yisroel.
“There are so many Chareidi babies being born and iy’H we will grow in our simcha and in our Avodas Hashem and as we grow stronger our light will overcome the darkness,” said MBD.
MBD also discussed his most recent album, Kissufim, and suggested that despite earlier statements that this was his final album, it is possible that there could be additional Chasidic albums in his future.
Citing excellent sales of the album, which featured exclusively Chasidic music MBD said, “this proves to me that true Chasidim don’t copy music and those who are not so Chasidic are the ones who are doing the copying. I have my finger on the pulse of American buyers. In the Chasidic areas, like Monsey, Monroe, Borough Park and Williamsburg, it is flying off the shelves. Apparently true Chasidim learn Shulchan Aruch and they don’t steal.”
When asked to comment regarding the interview and his possible return to the studio MBD told VIN News, “I’m not back in music. All I said to Toker is the fact that the Kissufim album, which is Chassidish, sold better than expected, proving that the chasidishe velt doesn’t copy or steal like the others. ‘Maybe’ I would consider doing another. But honestly I don’t think that’ll happen so fast. It’s just too much work.”
To listen to the full interview below:
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Amazing what people will say for a buck!
Hamavin yavin.
satmar Rebbe was a really ‘tzadik’!
Last I heard, there are zero problems outside of meah shearim and ramat bet shemesh.
It’s mostly his radical followers that have major problems.
And yes, the leftist media is inciting against all charedim because of these extremists. Not that anything has really changed elsewhere. Most Israelis aren’t anti-semites.
Right on. satmar was totaly right when everybody said “aschalta degeila” or “nisim” he was the 1 man standing and saying No, not everybody understood then but now weverybody sees it
Wasnt the Satmar rebbe saved by a Zionist?
MBD. You were allways my hero. You sing from the heart. And now I see your TALK is that way too.
Quoting the Satmar Rebbe, Reb Yoel, zt’l, MBD called the continuous clashes between the Chiloni and Chareidi community very frightening.
“The Satmar Rebbe, R’ Yoelish was correct. He was completely right. He said there would come a time when Chareidi Jews would not be able to live in Eretz Yisroel. Hashem Yiracheim.”
This is INCORRECT!! I was there last night and this is not what MBD said! MBD said the exact opposite. That there will come a time when Jews would not be able to live in America!
MBD You’re 100% right we discussed this here in Bais Medrash Gevoha, wow how Satmar Rav knew exactly what will happen. Amazing
It gets me nervous when pop stars start making political statements and get involved in giving commentary on current events. Please stick to what you do best…singing! Lhavdil when the goyishe actors and stars put in their 2 cents into current events It gets me nervous too. I never could understand what makes their statement get to the headlines? What are they different then charliehall when it comes to analysis of the news?
A good and honest man who is never afraid to say what needs to be said.
Not that he needs the money, but he won’t lose a single tzioini fan because of what he said. It isn’t the first time he said this and he is right. What’s more, unlike secular music stars who think they know about politics, MBD has a Yiddishe kop and knows exactly what he’s saying.
I wasn’t going to buy the album because B”H I hardly have time to listen but now, davka, I will buy a copy this week.
This staement of his, is the greatest PR job and advertisement for his CD’s that he could have made. I am sarcastic. He will now become “kosher” by the satmar community and will sell so many of his products.
“That the chasidishe velt doesn’t copy or steal like the others” What is this suppose to mean?
And he’s completely off on the other stuff as well, Satmar Rebbe did not refer to this in context when haradim are attacking and spiting on other Orthodox Jews. And when arrested for attacking other Jews, they would compare it to the Holocaust.
Shame on MBD for the above statements.
I really enjoyed kissufim… And no I am not chassidish and no I did not copy the cd. I am utterly insulted by his insensitive, inflammatory, and provocative words. Is he a statistician with empirical evidence proving his assertion. Let him stick to music and keep his mouth shut on issues he is not an expert in. For all you chassidim (who as it is are disobeying the rebbe’s by being online) think about this before you comment!
I am also sure the Rebbe zt
If he thinks the Satmar REbbe Z”L is so right, then maybe when MBD sings he could stop wiggling and gyrating which I am sure the Satmar Rebbe was also correct that it is far from Yiddish let alone Chassidish. Sing and dance on stage like a Yid
It’s ludicrous to say that chareidi jews cannot live in israel! Anywhere else in the world, these fanatics would be behind bars.
There are huge neighborhoods and entire cities in israel that are flourishing chareidi communities.
Citing excellent sales of the album, which featured exclusively Chasidic music MBD said, “this proves to me that true Chasidim don’t copy music and those who are not so Chasidic are the ones who are doing the copying. I have my finger on the pulse of American buyers. In the Chasidic areas, like Monsey, Monroe, Borough Park and Williamsburg, it is flying off the shelves. Apparently true Chasidim learn Shulchan Aruch and they don’t steal.”……………………… really? they dont sell drugs or smuggle it either, their rebbees dont go to jail for money laundering. Moreover what about the tunes you stole from the geman band? OMG does this bozo live in relaity? The satmar rebbee was a tzadik but he was wrong here . It is his teachings that lead to whats going on in Bet shemesh. His hatred of zionism has now taken on so many different levels of hatred that its a chilul hashem
He sounds much better when singing comes out of his mouth.
I found his comments that imply that anyone but true chasidim from Monroe, etc. are ganovim to be insulting. I’m actually surprised and hope he will clarify it soon.
Bh there r still some who r real yirai shameim. Of course there r extremist in every faction. The frei also have extremist, but unfortunately the name calling for the charadi is ok when they use it. When the chilonim spit,harrass,or physically abuse the chasidim its bcause they were trigerred. When the chiloni davka dress immodest and test the waters on the mehadrin bus,or stam in the ultra neighborhoods its live and let live. Its hard to b a yid in eretz yisroel as satmar rebbe said and halevei all shomrei torah imitzvois yidden will understand it.
For all u ppl who r upset at MBD at voicing his opinion, how abt u guys who r here vending out all ur dayos here! He’s entitled to an opinion too (and he’s rite!) And for 1198, watya know abt history? I c, practically 0! Kastner, didn’t wanna save d rebbe z”l, his father in law, made him to, and after getting hundreds of thousands of dollars for it, he “saved” d rebbe. Read sum more b4 u make ur dumb comments again
let him stick to music!!
this would be like a rov telling him he is singing off key!!
by the way im not chassidish and i have NEVER copied a CD
He is either ignorant of what has been happening or he completely supports the current wave of Charedi extremist outbursts. If that is what Charedi way of life should be then yes Satmar rebbe is a prophet because no civilized culture would tolerate their demands and antics. I want to see them try spitting on women in Sweden, demand segregated buses in Britain and then wear yellow stars of David and cry antisemitism when their demands are not met.
And Charedi babies are not scaring secular Israelis, it’s the fact that these babies will be raised with no education and no skills or work ethic like their previous generations. When they start outnumbering the working. tax paying, Army serving population then there will be a major crisis. Will MBD open up his bank accounts and start feeding these babies himself when Israeli government won’t be able to sustain that?
Chareidim cannot live because the extremists are not letting them live. They are the true victims, not the Chilonim, who have virtually no contact with Chareidim.
Mordechai ilove your tapes BUT please appologize to hashem for calling his KIDS MITZRIM,,, who started the fight nebech,, those crazy fanatics no one else did,, what do you expect
Chareidi Meltdown Timeline:
1. Following forty years of staggering provocation, a radical chassidic sect finally fulfills countless rueful predictions that one day, its misguided version of strict Torah observance will morph into full blown Shaaria.
2. (Too few) legitimate Chareidi leaders grow a pair and start pushing back (forty years too late).
3. A quarter of Israel’s Chareidim shake off their stupor and admit they let this happen.
4. The rest don’t fully understand why the current crisis is a problem.
5. Radical chassidic sect don’t fully understand why anyone would oppose their embrace of Arab street justice and claim they’re victims of Israel’s secular media.
6. A washed out, American musical has-been takes up their cause.
7. The moron corner of the VIN comment section nods in agreement.
8. Moshiach flips his srugi and hands in his resignation.
Since Hip-Hop and reggae cd’s are selling strong in Harlem and Bed-Stuy it is equal proof of the moral integrity of those neighborhoods. Perhaps the next cd should be marketed in these ehrliche communities. It never dawned on him that his chassidishe music might sell better in the chassidishe communities than in others.
i had a very enlightening conversation with a young israeli woaman who told me the reason many secular israelis hate the chareidim is because they don’t work or go into the army and so the seculars feel very used.can you blame them?
Look! There is so many chareidim that is living over there in peace, Only a few stupid people that doesn’t have what to do with there day are fighting and looking what to do next!!!!!!!!!
Mordechai ben David’s view is 100% wrong. There is no better place in the world for G-d-fearing Charedi Jews than in Eretz Yisrael. But there is no place anywhere in the world for violent fanatics who desire for misguided political and non-religious reasons to cause a churban and delay the coming of Mashiach with their hateful and anti-Halachic pronouncements lacking any basis and by their violent actions . HaShem Yerachem.
the problem is when we think chilonim/charidi instead of more serving HaShem/less serving HaShem. Some of us do better and some do worse, but we are all the children of G-d and this pains Him so much. Avinu sh’b’shamiyim, rachaim ulainu and help us end this stupid and destructive hatred!
Many of us don’t hold by what MBD says or what the Satmar Rebbe paskined. Sorry to disapoint those that do.
Plz dont mix up the facts…
The fact is there are hundreds of yeshivas in israel recieving support from the government!
There are Tens of Thousands of kolel yungeleit receiving support from the government!!!
There thousands of shuls flourishing in Israel!!
Almost no one can get married without a orthodox rabbi!
The point is that when some people curse and spit on young girls you bet there will be a crackdown on them and rightfully so!
So if you still think that hareidim cannot live in israel then you are truly absolutely wrong!!!
Many yUngeleit from america choose to settle in Israel!!
Almost all yeshiva bochurim and seminary girls choose to go learn in israel!!
I am not sure what he is trying to do I think he should settle down …..
Mbd is a great singer and reall nice man and satmar rebbe was a real holly man and did lots of good but did everyone agree but everything? Does mbd represent him? I mean what’s this all about
To fight zionism today is like someone going around America screaming that we need to fight off communism.. Hello .. Yes there was a threat 30-40 years ago of comunism but those days are gone.. same with the medinah.. Once people also rode horses but we now ride cars..
Today yiddishkeit and torah is alive and vibrant and flourishing in israel!!
But that doesnt mean you have a right to denigrate others..
And lets face most satmerers children are raised that anyone less than them are goyim and shaigetz etc.. No respect for others even frum or even other chassidus.. I once was by my uncle in Monroe for shabbos and because i had a tie and maybe a little hair trop, the children called me sheigetz and goy…
Is that the way of torah of respect??? As the Rebbe said you have to be careful of kannaus as most times it comes from the yetzer harah!!
Let and start by saying.. I love his music…but wow what a chutzpah to say that everyone else steals????? That is the most insulting comment I have ever said.
“Wasn’t the Satmar Rebbe saved by a Zionist?” Not really. Although Kastner was affiliated with the Zionist organization in Hungary, he was not an official representative of the Jewish Agency. The Jewish Agency did have an official representative in Hungary, but he was an idiot who did nothing. Kastner, Joel Brand, and Pinchos Freudiger jumped into the vacuum and formed an unofficial committee to do what they could to save Hungarian Jews. From this committee came Kastner’s most impressive achievement, the “Jews on Ice,” 15,000 Jews from Eastern Hungary that Kastner convinced Eichman to send to a labor camp instead of Auschwitz, where 75% of them survived the war. With regard to “Kastner’s train,” it was Himmler’s idea. He needed money to fund his retirement, and he thought he could raise $1 million by offering the lives of 1,000 Jews in exchange. Kastner jumped at the chance, and went around to raise the money and find the Jews. Pinchos Freudiger put up $200,000 of the money needed, and was able to put 200 Jews of his choosing on the train. It was Freudiger who put the Satmar Rebbe on the train. Kastner probably didn’t know he was there.
The Satmar Rebbe has NOT been proven correct, and hopefully he never will be.
There is no indication whatsoever that it will be impossible for Chareidim to live in Eretz Yisrael. The trend is going in the exactly opposite direction. As Chareidim grow in numbers and political power, they are GAINING more rights, protections, and privileges, not losing them.
Shame on MBD for pandering to this ridiculous allegation. I strongly suspect that he is doing it to protect his image. Chareidi singers (Lipa, Shwekey) have been under fire in recent years for not being “frum” enough, and MBD wants to avoid that kind of persection.
MBD is totaly right
A1 MBD
KEEP UP YOUR GOOD WORK AND DONT BE AFRAID TO SAY WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY
First of all, I will be dan lekav zchus and say that MBD was misquoted. If he wasn’t, I hope he is ready to ask mechila from all of the non chassidim in Monsey, monroe, BP and williamsburgh and all yidden who don’t live in Monsey, monroe, BP and williamsburgh who (in his view) are obviously all criminals and never pick up a Sefer to learn because his CD’s dont sell well there. Or maybe it’s because they don’t like his music!!!
I agree with #10 that being talented in one thing (e.g. singing) doesn’t make you smarter in anything else. I enjoy very much MBD’s albums, especially the earlier ones, but that doesn’t mean that I consider him brighter than anyone else.
That being said, I do believe that his quote from the Satmar Rebbe might have some truth to it, although I doubt that the Rebbe was referring to the current situation. IMHO the Rebbe was referring to the problem that since the Israeli government was built on a secular model and in just a few decades half of Israeli Jews will be Charedi it just simply won’t work out. Just think about it; half of the Jews won’t serve in the military (because it’s EXTREMELY difficult, if not impossible, to strictly follow the Shulchan Aruch in the IDF), almost half of the country will be unemployed (because if you don’t serve you can’t work), etc.
On the other hand, in the other countries around the world this problems don’t exist, and Charedim could practice their beliefs and yet be part of society. I genuinely hope that these issues will somehow be worked out in the coming years, but there definitely is a major problem.
May the RBS”O have mercy on us but maybe we can have a little rachmanus on Him and not make Him listen to His children argue all day about which one is doing what Tatti asked us to do, who is doing His ratzon better, etc.
What parent wants to listen to this garbage all day?
Let’s knock it off before He c”v stops listening to us altogether and hides his face from us again c”v.
Please, with every lashon of bakushah, please, rachmonim bnai rachmonim, stop the nonsense already before it is too late c”v.
The S”R in VaYoel Moshe (1961):
“Even according to the natural order, were they to yield their government and Zionist State, there is no doubt that the United Nations could make arrangements to prevent war and bloodshed. How could anyone think that our holy Torah approves of shedding the blood of Jews because of this impure State? “
Anyone who followed the news of, literally, millions of people slaughtered under the watchful eye of UN “peacekeepers” in Yugoslavia and Congo/Zaire/Rwanda over the last 20 years should read those lines and recoil in horror. The Rebbe recommended dissolving the State of Israel and leaving the millions of Jews there to the tender mercies of the same UN who left such a trail of blood and bodies wherever it went. He got the characterization of the UN completely wrong. How can anyone possibly trust his vision. I submit that had Klal Yisroel followed his recommendations we would have seen a “second Holocaust” rivaling the first within a generation.
The Rebbe was wrong. Period!
GO MBD!! Your last album is just beautifull im just going crazy over it!! MBD is and will Allways remain KING OF JEWISH MUSIC!!! his talent is just unmatched/unmatchable!!!
GO MBD we will support you no matter what anybody says!!
Your diehard fans!!!
Actually, it’s The Belzer Rebbe who is proving to be right.
He’s the one that said that..it’s not evil nor is it the redemption..rather it’s a chessed of Hashem that he gave us the opportunity to live in Eretz Yisroel. But in terms of the State it should be approached and viewed as any other State that we’re living in. That includes respecting the State and it’s laws and contributing to it’s wellbeing..without all the emotion that’s bringing this State to it’s knees.
Wow. A satmar friend just told me. On lee ave they sold more then 2000 CD’s off MBD. In any case I agree the holy satmar Rabbi was right 100 percent. And even the chiloinei say it. …… Fact Israel is not a safe place for jews
Why is it that every time there is any kind of disagreement between religious and secular in E”Y, the press tries to convince us that we are in a civil war (G-d forbid)? Every time a b.t. nutcase burns a tire, we are on the brink of something. This so called sinat chinam is a myth. The truth is that a Satmer business man inviting a secular zionist Israeli over for sukkos doesn’t make for interesting reading. Get a clue people, we actually do a pretty good job of getting along B”H!
It is a shame that with all our tzuris and with all the learning that takes place in our yeshivos, and all the expertise in the minutae in Halacha , we still cannot follow a rule as simple as “הוי דן את כל האדם לכף זכות”.
When you personally discuss a situation describing a fact that “apparantly they do not steal like some other community of jews”, you have actually just violated Torah yourself for you have just stolen the commercial integrity of the Israelite Nation. If another Jew pirates some music and does not get reprimanded and caught by the Jewish community, he will suffer great attrition and pain at the expense of the Malachim and the Will of Hashem. This is a personal situation where he can eventually learn to come back to Torah; but in your case, you have just unwittingly smeared the lifestyle and leadership of any other group of Jews and thus you are guilty of a crime maybe even more sinister and devoid of Rights than the eventual idea that a man or woman might take your music you are selling for less than face value or less than a rightful person should pay by the laws of the community. So think of that and do some Tikkun Olam (charity and prayer) to finally get back with Hashem on that one. Think about it.
Its horrifying to see how the yellow star matsav has bought up horrific memories from the past and now the Kastner affair which will forever remain controversial. Nobody can put anybody in each others boots then. Nobody in our generation can comprehend or comment on what went on then. But a niggling thought now is that history repeats itself and just like then in WW2 it was ‘jew against jew’ In the horrific blood for money saga so too now albiet in a much smaller way BH (so far) jews are nebech spitting on each other and mamesh near killing each other not for rescuing neshomos but under the name of kanous. Like then we daven for moshiach forever more. Why does the man in yerusahlmi levush care if a girl wears sandals? why does he care if a woman sits near him? people want to run their daily lives without interference. MBD can comment all he wants the spitters will spit on him and the zionists will spit on him nobody is good enough for anybody. The yiddisher nation have long forgotten we are in golus can the human nature of begging for kavod and attention only be reigned in with petch from the aibishter chas vesholom? where has yiddisher sechel gone?