{"id":69685,"date":"2022-09-23T17:57:10","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T22:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=69685"},"modified":"2022-09-23T17:57:10","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T22:57:10","slug":"how-the-miami-boys-choir-turned-orthodox-pop-into-a-tiktok-sensation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/how-the-miami-boys-choir-turned-orthodox-pop-into-a-tiktok-sensation\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Miami Boys Choir turned \u2018Orthodox pop\u2019 into a TikTok sensation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By JACKIE HAJDENBERG<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014 \u201cK-pop is over,\u201d one Twitter user declared. \u201cWe\u2019re listening to Orthodox Pop from now on.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_69686\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MBC-Image-2.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-69686\" class=\"wp-image-69686 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MBC-Image-2-300x167.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MBC-Image-2-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MBC-Image-2-1024x569.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MBC-Image-2-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MBC-Image-2-1536x853.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MBC-Image-2-2048x1138.jpg 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/167;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-69686\" class=\"wp-image-69686 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MBC-Image-2-300x167.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MBC-Image-2-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MBC-Image-2-1024x569.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MBC-Image-2-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MBC-Image-2-1536x853.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MBC-Image-2-2048x1138.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-69686\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Miami Boys Choir has gone viral on TikTok and Twitter, creating a new generation of fans of the Orthodox pop group.(Screenshots via Twitter, TikTok\/Design by Jackie Hajdenberg)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>With those words, the Miami Boys Choir has transformed over the last two weeks from a singing group popular among Jewish insiders to a viral sensation. On TikTok and Twitter, users have shared clips of the group\u2019s concerts, overlaid its music with other scenes and inserted themselves into split-screen duets. New fans of MBC, as the group is known for short, have chosen their favorite singers through their stage presence, their vocals, or simply, their \u201cit\u201d factor.<\/p>\n<p>Some are finding it hard to choose. \u201cHow does every single one of these kids have the it factor,\u201d said one person who shared the now-viral video of a 2008 performance of \u201cYerushalayim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some basics for newcomers to the cult of MBC: The Miami Boys Choir is not based in Miami. Its members do as much dancing as singing. And the boys in the viral videos are, well, men now.<\/p>\n<p>Some of them have joined in the fun, riffing on their own long-ago performances with lip sync videos and an a cappella rendition of \u201cYerushalayim\u201d by MBC alumni in the all-vocal group, the Maccabeats.<\/p>\n<p>David Herskowitz even pulled out his old silver satin shirt and red tie to reenact his performance, which he posted to TikTok.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@davidhersko\/video\/7145078814547135787\" data-video-id=\"7145078814547135787\" data-embed-from=\"oembed\" style=\"max-width:605px; min-width:325px;\">\n<section> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"@davidhersko\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@davidhersko?refer=embed\">@davidhersko<\/a> <\/p>\n<p><a title=\"duet\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/duet?refer=embed\">#duet<\/a> with @miamiboyschoir <a title=\"vocals\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/vocals?refer=embed\">#vocals<\/a> that outfit though\u2026 <a title=\"mbc\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/mbc?refer=embed\">#mbc<\/a> <a title=\"miamiboyschoir\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/miamiboyschoir?refer=embed\">#miamiboyschoir<\/a> <a title=\"jewish\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/jewish?refer=embed\">#jewish<\/a> <a title=\"jewishtiktok\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/jewishtiktok?refer=embed\">#jewishtiktok<\/a> <\/p>\n<p> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"\u266c Miami Boys Choir. Yerushalayim Live Version - MBC\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/music\/Miami-Boys-Choir-Yerushalayim-Live-Version-7134418174686087978?refer=embed\">\u266c Miami Boys Choir. Yerushalayim Live Version &#8211; MBC<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was hilarious,\u201d Herskowitz recalled about his time as a choir member, speaking to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. \u201cI mean, it was awesome. You got to travel the world, perform for various communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Herskowitz was 5 when his father took him to see the Miami Boys Choir in concert. The group had already been in existence for nearly a quarter-century since being founded in Miami in 1977 by an Orthodox composer and musical director named Yerachmiel Begun. (Begun moved the group to New York City in 1980 but kept the Miami name.)<\/p>\n<p>Since Herskowitz\u2019s father knew Begun when they were younger, the two were invited backstage, and that was when Herskowitz told his father he would sing in the choir one day. He joined the group when he was 10 or 11 and stayed until he graduated \u2014 members leave around 14, when their voices get too deep to fit into the songs. During those years, he toured widely and appeared on some of the group\u2019s recorded albums \u2014 there are currently 32 in the discography.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was always into music,\u201d Herskowitz said. \u201cI always had a real connection and appreciation for music.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Herskowitz said he barely touched music after leaving MBC \u2014&nbsp;until recently, when he began composing during the pandemic. Now 27 and newly married, Herskowitz is using this viral moment to try putting original songs out into the world. After posting a teaser for his new music on TikTok this week, he quickly racked up more than 10,000 followers and nearly 400,000 likes.<\/p>\n<p>The teaser was a song he premiered in January during another big moment in his life: his proposal to Yakira Gerszberg, a marine biologist studying sharks whom he credits with pushing him onto TikTok. Already, he said, one new fan has asked about using the song, \u201cYOU,\u201d for the first dance at his wedding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an open road,\u201d said Herskowitz, whose day job is in digital marketing. \u201cI\u2019m not really drawing any conclusions yet. And I\u2019m sort of just seeing where this goes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If Herskowitz makes it big, he would join other alums of the Miami Boys Choir who have gone on to prominent careers in the genre of Orthodox music, where romantic ballads with a spiritual element are embraced.<\/p>\n<p>Those graduates include Ari Goldwag, Yaakov Shwekey, Shloime Dachs&nbsp;and Mordechai Shapiro \u2014&nbsp;all household names for consumers of Orthodox music. Others, including Chanina Abramowitz, who was in the now-viral \u201cYerushalayim\u201d video, have since gone on to join the Maccabeats, an all-male Jewish a capella group famous for their Hanukkah mashups and turning songs like Taio Cruz\u2019s \u201cDynamite\u201d and Meghan Trainor\u2019s \u201cAll About That Bass\u201d into \u201cCandlelight\u201d and \u201cAll About That Neis.\u201d In 2015, the Maccabeats performed at the White House Hanukkah Party.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/EclecticHams\/status\/1567284205394034691?s=20&#038;t=uCDqeE5_c_TxWT7lnN3jvQ<\/p>\n<p>One defining characteristic of the Orthodox pop genre is its exclusivity \u2014 for male singers only. For modesty purposes, under Jewish law, men are prohibited from hearing women sing, though women can sing in front of other women.<\/p>\n<p>Many others have gone on to careers not in music, including Herskowitz\u2019s two younger brothers, Jeremy and Max. The family is one of many to send multiple children to the choir, which itself has been a family project.<\/p>\n<p>The Begun family also comes from a legacy of musicians and performers, including MBC composer Yerachmiel Begun\u2019s father, the former vaudeville actor Chaim Begun. Yerachmiel Begun\u2019s wife Shoshana, a classical pianist, wrote many of the group\u2019s English songs, such as \u201cSunshine\u201d from the 1995 album, \u201cOne by One.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, the Miami Boys Choir, which Yerachmiel Begun still leads, albeit with a totally new cohort of boys than the video, will be returning to the stage with their annual Sukkot tour of the tri-state area. (Dates and locations for the tour have not been set yet, but the group\u2019s website shows that it held auditions last spring in two places: Miami and Lakewood, New Jersey, which has a large Orthodox community.)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"MIAMI BOYS CHOIR - Esmach (Official Music Video) \u05e4\u05e8\u05d7\u05d9 \u05de\u05d9\u05d0\u05de\u05d9  - \u05d0\u05e9\u05de\u05d7\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tt730_DNdks?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>MBC\u2019s TikTok account is run by Yerachmiel and Shoshana Begun\u2019s son Chananya Begun, who is also a music producer and the owner of the Young Talent Initiative, a creative arts organization to support young Orthodox musicians. He presented his father with the idea of creating a TikTok account at a Shabbat meal several months ago, citing the group\u2019s more than 40 years of content.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just think something crazy might happen,\u201d the younger Begun recalled telling his father, whom he called \u201cnot tech-y Mr. Social Media.\u201d He added, \u201cFor me, personally, I was obviously motivated for multiple reasons, as far as furthering my father\u2019s legacy and Miami\u2019s legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When he first started posting the videos two months ago, engagement was moderate. But six weeks ago, the \u201cYerushalayim\u201d video started blowing up. Since then, web traffic has increased, people have been buying albums and subscriptions to MBC\u2019s music, and Spotify listens have tripled, Chananya Begun said. Even TV studios and documentary producers have been reaching out to the Beguns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve seen incredible reactions and it\u2019s been absolutely wild to watch,\u201d Begun said. \u201cAbsolutely crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beyond MBC\u2019s popularity with the Orthodox Jewish world, Begun has been impressed by the group resonating with non-Jews and people who haven\u2019t identified much with Judaism in recent years. Tweets and comments left on their videos often refer to people not understanding a word of the music but listening to the songs on repeat.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cYerushalayim\u201d video, which is less than a minute long, has thousands of comments on TikTok, and hundreds have duet videos as people react to the song. Comments praise the young boys\u2019 talent, often admitting, \u201cthis song has no business being this good.\u201d New fans rank or choose their favorite singer, much like fangirls would have a favorite Beatle or member of One Direction.<\/p>\n<p>MBC isn\u2019t the only Orthodox Jewish boys choir to take on the pop genre \u2014 the Yeshiva Boys Choir, famous for their song \u201cAh Ah Ah,\u201d which draws from the Hebrew acrostic prayer \u201cAshrei,\u201d has a similar pop sound with religious and spiritual elements.<\/p>\n<p>The YouTube version of the full \u201cYerushalayim\u201d song, which was uploaded Sept. 11, well into the frenzy, has 70,000 views. \u201cI\u2019m not Jewish but I\u2019ve listened to this so many times I\u2019ve memorized the words,\u201d one user commented. Another wrote, \u201cI would give away my first born child to go back in time to watch this concert live.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This kind of exaggerated proclamation is not uncommon in the world of pop fandom, and the comparisons of MBC to Korean boy band BTS of K-Pop fame have been made clear in the comment section and in TikToks about the group.<\/p>\n<p>Jewish comedian Eitan Levine declared the Miami Boys Choir to be \u201cthe Jewish BTS\u201d in one video, with commenters suggesting that perhaps \u201cK-Pop\u201d could stand for \u201cKosher Pop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But creating something to appeal to the general public was never the goal with their music, or the TikTok account, Chananya Begun said. After all, the video that went viral is from more than 10 years ago, when MBC\u2019s audience was primarily Orthodox.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe didn\u2019t do anything that wasn\u2019t genuinely Miami Boys Choir,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just spoke to us that being genuine is the most powerful weapon to change the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have this Orthodox-but-American entertainment type of thing that seems to really be having some wide appeal, all of a sudden, out of the blue.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"How%20the%20Miami%20Boys%20Choir%20turned%20%E2%80%98Orthodox%20pop%E2%80%99%20into%20a%20TikTok%20sensation\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":69686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7137],"tags":[11351,8790,8795,12569,8788,12570],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69685"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69687,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69685\/revisions\/69687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}