Video – MBD to Toker: Without Kosher Events, People Attend Non-Kosher Ones

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mbd[Video below.] Mordechai Ben David was interviewed recently by well-known music radio personality Mencham Toker in Israel. MBD, who lives in Sea Gate, Brooklyn,  had travelled to Israel to attend the bris of a son of Menachem Toker (videos of which were featured yesterday in Matzav.com‘s Featured Video section).

During the interview, Toker commented that MBD has lost a significant amount of money because he refuses to perform at concerts with mixed seating – something he had done at one time, but has seen accepted on himself not to do – though many other singers continue to sing at mixed-seating events. MBD responded that there are “macherim” (busybodies) who say “all kinds of falisties and foolishness. If someone tells a rov that boys and girls danced together at a performance, what’s he supposed to say?”

Tucker commented that MBD hardly performs anymore at concerts in Israel. MBD remarked that two years ago, when he was scheduled to perform in Israel, many people came out against it, so the event was called off. As a result, MBD said, people resort to attending less kosher events, because there are no kosher ones.

MBD’s comments were quite similar to the ones he made during an interview earlier in the year which was transcribed exclusively here on Matzav.com.

During that interview, MBD stated as follows:

He then commented on efforts to ban certain musical events.

“There are a couple of machers, a handful of guys – not even a handful, a couple of fingers – who have been running around being rodef me and everybody else in the business for years. I mean, I’ve been suffering from these guys for …ever since I remember. [They try] to impose their opinion upon everybody else. So what do they do? They go to rabbonim and they tell them, ‘Eh eh, veist vos tutzach dortin? Mir tzantzed yingalch mit meidlacha. Un es tutzach dortiin pritzus.’ Which is a bunch of lies, of course. But a rov, who is sitting in the koslei bais hamedrash yomam volayla, all he knows is daas Torah, they come to him and say, ‘Yingalach and maidlach tantzen tzuzamen… [and he says,] ‘Avadeh..Hashem yeracheim…Assur!

“As a matter of fact,” continued MBD, “here, when they had a problem with the Lipa event last year, also two machers…ran around to rabbonim, farkoifin lukshen, and there was a letter from Rav Belsky who supposedly signed that issur… First of all, they changed around everything that was written. And second of mall, most of the rabbonim who signed it… most of them never even signed it. They never even saw it. So these are machers. That’s what happens in today’s day and age. All the machers that run around to rabbonim, they sell whatever they want to sell…they get epes a vort from ados, they get one signature [and go to other rabbonim and say,] ‘Der rov hot ge’asart,’ [and the rov says,] ‘Avadeh es iz assur…”

To watch a portion of the interview with Menachem Toker, click below:

[media id=239 width=400 height=300]

{Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel}


14 COMMENTS

  1. With all due respect to MBD, I think he is fooling himself when he says that rabbonim are merely being fed misinformation. If it’s such a clear-cut issue as he says, he would find the time to meet with them & clarify his position to set the record straight. Deep down he probably realizes that the Jewish “music” industry has crossed a few red lines and this has contributed to the opposition to concerts in general. In fact, I remember that he backed out of the concert 2 yrs ago in deference to Rav Wosner who personally instructed him to do so. Why didn’t he seize the opportunity then to correct things? Apparently, it’s not so simple…

  2. MBD is correct if there is not kosher leisure available then the youth will find unkosher outlets, and who will take responsibility for that?

  3. when everything is forbidden, nothing is forbidden. It’s easy to always say “assur”. You don’t need to be a talmid chacham to do that.

  4. these singers of ours should stop with all the lighting, big bands, big beat and choreography, and revert to the more simple yiddishe way of singing. They’ve been too assimilated and golus-ized. We should be one nation different from other nations.

  5. Dovid Shmuel, we are different!!! by singing songs of praise, gratitude and love to hashem, am yisroel and eretz yisroel. What is wrong with the lighting, bands, etc.. we are in a generation of graphics.

  6. To many things go wrong before and after concerts. MBD can well attest to that and that is also a reason rabbanim are banning concerts.

  7. MBD knows what he is talking about, as the Rabbonim that he has spoken to are very for what he does, eg. kosher entertainment.
    MBD is a very Ehrliche person who would never go against Daas Torah. He knows this issue very well and is saying the truth on the matter.
    MBD is King.
    Long Live The King!

  8. the drums and the beat and the lighting and the choreography make it harder for a person to learn. it gives power to the yetzer hora and pulls people away from where they need to be in order to be a true eved Hashem. The gelodim don’t listen to music like that. It’s only done because it “sells”, which means the yetzer hora likes it.

  9. MBD’s comments are absolutely terrible and damaging. We have to trust all aspects of the decisions of Gedolei Yisroel, including who they trust as sources. It is widely recognized that in order to avoid listening to our venerable leaders people come up with many theories. One example of this is that people try to find “personal negius” (selfish motivation) in their decisions, and they proclaim that the Torah itself teaches us that bribery has an effect on our leaders. The Chazon Ish in his sefer Emunah Ubetochon (Ch. 3, 30) cries about this “sickness” and explains the proper intention of the Torah. Another common theory is the one perpetuated by MBD. The theory says that our leaders are surrounded by people that control their access to information. The followers of this theory proclaim that it is not the fault of the sages – they are well meaning – but we don’t have to listen to them since they are not privy to the “truth” about what is going on in the real world. Even well-meaning individuals sometimes fall prey to this type of thinking. However, a small analysis of the way our leaders live easily debunks this destructive theory. The facts of the matter can be recognized even without delving into the well-established understanding of the supernatural powers of Torah scholarship and leadership. Even a cursory understanding of how our leaders interact daily with countless individuals including roshei yeshivos, admorim, rebbeim, principles, teachers, and community leaders from all over the world – by telephone and in personal face to face conversations – already throws this theory out of the window. This is besides the hordes of plain folk that line up for advice and blessings. The fact of the matter is that nobody can stop this constant flow of information. In addition, we also have to trust our leaders’ confidence in the people that do surround them just as we have to trust them about anything else.
    We must proudly trust those that excelled in Torah scholarship and were recognized as leaders by Klal Yisroel, and not try to find excuses to exclude ourselves from their decisions.

  10. I disagree that he is the only one. Most of them do and they want to as well. they are good people the yetzer hora does mix in loads and yes MBD is an erlicha person with a very good heart. It is surrounding everything else.

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