When my editor asked me to write about the music of Yeshiva of Waterbury (or the Waterbury Mesivta), it was perhaps the first time I had heard about the yeshiva. So I started to research. A quick search on Google brought up their beautiful songs on YouTube. Interesting, I thought to myself. So I continued to search and I decided to reach out to them. I found their Instagram profile, so I sent them a message. A few days passed, then a week, then two. No answer. OK, I thought, let’s try something else. On their website there’s an email address and a phone number. If they don’t answer on Instagram, they’ll probably answer by email or phone.
But then, someone from my shul got married, and as the chuppah started, they called up the rabbi of the chatan – and after his name I heard the words “Rabbi Of the Waterbury Mesivta.” Wait a second – why does that sound familiar?
I quickly found some friends of the chatan and asked: “Is this the famous yeshiva with the music? Nu, the yeshiva from Connecticut?” Yes, they answered. This is the famous Waterbury Mesivta. Bingo! I knew what I was going to do – right after the chuppah I’m going to speak to the rabbi. Well, after the chuppah the rabbi organized a Maariv minyan, so I joined the minyan and after I finished davening, I waited patiently to exchange some words with the rabbi.
He connected me to his assistant, the Mashgiach of the yeshiva, Rabbi Nochum Wolf, who is also the logistics coordinator of the Durham campus. So I spoke with Rabbi Wolf about the Waterbury Mesivta and how they got into music production. It was a very interesting and fascinating conversation, in which I also had a chance to learn about the unique educational method of Rabbi Daniel Kalish, the high school’s menahel.
Rabbi Kalish likes music. Every time he sings a song, he will first explain to the students the translation of the words. He’ll talk about the meaning of the song. Once he teaches the students a new song, sometimes for two months straight everyone will sing it over and over. They get connected to the song. To the music. For Rabbi Kalish, a song is like a tefillah.
Waterbury Mesivta is a yeshiva high school where the students study both Torah and general studies. And besides their regular studies, they also do music.
I asked Rabbi Wolf how it all started. How did they get into professional music production at the yeshiva?
“The yeshiva is all about authenticity and feeling, [being] real with yourself,” he told me. “When you have those thoughts, you think of real stuff, it generates inspiration, and the students share it with the world.”
And this inspiration pushes them to express themselves through music.
I asked him if the students have formal music studies in the yeshiva or if they already know how to play. Some boys already play from their elementary school years, and some learn to play at the yeshiva. Being in such a place encourages even those who didn’t play before to start playing music.
They have a studio on campus – a real professional music studio. It’s called Camp Sulam Music Studio, sponsored by Reb Aryeh Weiss. In the studio, the students work and produce their music.
Most of the students mainly play guitar. Some play drums, violin, and piano. Some are singers. They do not have official music classes, but while in yeshiva they continue to practice.
Even during classes, the boys play. They mainly perform at Rabbi Kalish’s daily mussar shiur, which is also available to listen to at Rabbi Kalish’s website, www.RabbiKalish.com. His love and friendship brings out the talent from every student.
I asked Rabbi Wolf if the music is mostly cover music, playing the songs of popular Jewish singers, or do they create their own music? He says that most of the music is original music which the students wrote and composed.
When do the students work on their music? Is it part of the curriculum or done in their free time? It’s an open yeshiva, Rabbi Wolf says. Every student can do whatever he wants whenever he wants. Thus, the students are responsible for their time, and learn how to manage their time. So students choose the time they work on their music.
They get inspiration from Rabbi Kalish who, as mentioned above, sees music as a form of tefillah – prayer.
Rabbi Kalish is always happy when a student expresses himself. Waterbury Mesivta’s music took off when Waterbury legend Dovid Edell created “Tatty, My King” which was a hit across the Jewish world.
Many of the students continue to pursue music after their years at the yeshiva. In many of the alumni weddings, friends from the yeshiva are the ones who sing. At the wedding that I attended, friends from the yeshiva sang during the chuppah. And I must say – it was beautiful.
The yeshiva started around 18 years ago, and in the last couple of years they began with music productions. Students at the yeshiva are always singing. A typical Friday night davening takes an average of two hours. Before Kabbalat Shabbat, the students sing. During the tefillah they sing, and after “Lecha Dodi” they’ll dance for 20 minutes. Rabbi Wolf says that Shabbos in Durham, Connecticut is otherworldly.
Almost every Shabbat that the students stay in the yeshiva (usually every other Shabbat), students who already graduated will come to visit and spend Shabbat there. Approximately 20 to 40 alumni come to visit on a typical Shabbat. They are always happy to come and reminisce about the good old days. On Shavuot alone, about 75 alumni came back to the yeshiva. Also during the High Holy Days, many alumni come back to pray at the yeshiva.
As we speak, Rabbi Wolf mentions Hillel Kapnick, who is the one who runs and operates the studio. Hillel Kapnick? Sounds familiar… I know him – he’s the one who also runs the popular Facebook group “Jewish Music Musicians and Teachers.” We’ve had some correspondence on Facebook through the group.
So I reached out to Hillel and spoke with him about his work in the studio with the students.
Hillel has been in the music business for many years. He started the Facebook group together with Mendy Wax. Hillel is a one-man band/singer and DJ as well as a music producer. He can typically be found producing music in his recording studio, Uptop Studio, which is based in Monsey. He has had the pleasure of working on music with the Waterbury Mesivta, Lipa Schmeltzer, Yeshiva Boys Choir, AKA Pella, and many others within the Jewish music industry.
Hillel tells me that when he started at the yeshiva, they only had a small conference room, and from there they set aside a real space for the boys to have a real studio. He helped build the current studio, and now he comes to the yeshiva once every two weeks, sits in the studio for 10 hours, and works with the students. They come, present their music to Hillel, and he works with them to develop it.
He categorizes the students into two categories: Some guys have songs which are ready to go. They have the words and the song composed, so he will work with them on the professional recording, getting the arrangement down, choosing the instruments, and producing the song. Some guys, on the other hand, come up with ideas (words or music) – and he helps them structure and develop their ideas into a song, so that at the end of the process they go into professional production.
I asked him about the experience of working with the students. What is it like?
It’s amazing, he says. “We did the first song back in 2018,” he says. “I have been doing this for a while. It’s a large number of very talented guys…a great group of guys both in talent and personality.” He says that Rabbi Kalish encourages every student to develop the talent inside him.
He mentioned that some guys have gone on to develop a profession in music.
When Hillel is not there, the studio is kind of a practice room. The students come and play, practice, etc. When you first come to the yeshiva campus, the studio is one of the first rooms you see. There are some apartments near the campus, and one of the apartments was converted into the music studio.
In their productions, students generally play the instruments by themselves – guitar, piano, etc. Sometimes Hillel is the pianist or guitarist for them, and if needed, he hires other musicians who contribute their musical talents to the arrangements for the song.
What are the most popular songs at the Waterbury Mesivta, I ask? “Tatty, My King” and “Letter To G-d.”
“Letter To G-d” starts with an acoustic guitar in the background which continues along the song. Then drums and piano are added as the song progresses, with some touches of electric guitar. The song was composed and written by Gavriel Reichmann and Dovid Edell.
When you listen to the song, you can’t tell that it was produced by high school students. It sounds sleek and professional.
Same with “Tatty, My King.” This song was created in the forest. It begins acoustic, with acoustic guitar in the background, and as the song progresses you can hear piano in the background as well as some strings. And then the drums are added.
I really liked the yeshiva’s performance of “Ochila,” the popular song from the tefillot of the High Holy Days. Listen to it again in Elul to get into the atmosphere of the High Holy Days. Another beautiful song I really liked is “David.” The flute in the background is just great and adds a lot to the atmosphere of the song.
What are the yeshiva’s plans for its music? What should we expect from them? Rabbi Wolf says the students are working now on a new album which will be released soon. Stay tuned!
The music of the yeshiva is available on all music platforms by searching “Waterbury Mesivta,” and the songs sung in shiurim are available by searching “Waterbury Mesivta Unplugged.”
