Boys’ choirs compete for charity

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Four high school yeshiva boys choirs will face off this Sunday, April 28th at 1 p.m. Lag Ba’omer at Rambam Mesivta in the fourth annual choir competition to benefit the Koby Mandell Foundation.

The Rambam choir, now called the Harmonidies, was founded by then Rambam students Yossi Szpigiel and Jacob Bernstein. They both graduated from Rambam in 2010, attended Yeshivat Har Etzion in Israel and are both now in college. They founded it because “we simply enjoyed music and singing, neither of us had any formal musical background—and we basically just created it for fun,” said Bernstein. After many conversations with fellow student Gaby Novick regarding running a chesed project, they selected the Koby Mandell Foundation as the place to donate funds raised from a choir competition. Bernstein noted that he has been involved in chesed projects since 4th grade. He continues to try to assist with the choir competition. The choir sang in Israel for the Foundation once. Chesed, he said, is “one of the most successful things a child could do along with studying - leadership in chesed helps children recognize the responsibility they have for others - which contributes to why the competition still exists today.”

“Gaby came to me a couple of years ago with the idea of having the competition as a way of raising money for our camp,” said Roy Angstreich, Executive Director The Koby Mandell Foundation. He said that Novick participated in their “Camp Koby Experience in Israel” a few years ago. The five and a half week summer program brings about 50 high school teens from North America to serve as counselors at their camp for Israeli victims of terror, Camp Koby. “We were and are thrilled .. Serving as a counselor at our Israeli camp has a tremendous impact on the teens who work with our kids and we were honored that Gaby felt the importance of helping us provide the camp experience for even more kids. The competition not only raises funds for our camp but also raises awareness of the work that we do on behalf of the victims of terror. Our camp in Israel has about 400 kids.This coming summer we have about 12 – Five Towns kids participating in the program.”

According to the website: “Rabbi Seth and Sherri Mandell established the Koby Mandell Foundation in 2001 after their 13-year-old son Koby and his friend Yosef Ishran were brutally murdered by terrorists near their home in Israel. In the past ten years in Israel, terrorism has claimed over 1,300 lives and has left over 6,000 people wounded, many of them severely. The number of extended family members of victims—those who have lost grandparents, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews or cousins — exceeds 12,000. Additionally, an estimated 50,000 Israelis have directly experienced a terrorist bombing; its horrors, carnage, and aftermath.” The camp and foundation seek to help this population.

Rebecca Rubin-Seligson has been involved with the Foundation since she had a chesed project at her bat mitzvah—assembling packages for campers at the recently opened Camp Koby. Her family has also been active in the Foundation since then. She is the treasurer of the event committee, she said, and has been involved in that aspect of the choir competition for three years. “I basically do the fundraising, trying to get people to sponsor the event so that 100% of the funds raised at the competition can go to The Koby Mandell Foundation. Besides raising over $1,500 for the Koby Mandell Foundation, the event has allowed us to raise awareness about the foundation. At the last choir competition, I spoke on behalf of the foundation, informing the choir participants, judges, and audience members exactly where their money was going. It helped people learn more about the foundation and all of the amazing work that they do.” Rubin-Seligson attended HAFTR High School, Midreshet Moriah and is currently a senior at Stern College.

Harmonidies choir captain Eric Grossman enjoys music, especially acapella. The choir practices often during the run up to the event. “I like being in the choir because it allows me to be part of a group where we can use our talents to inspire people around the world. My co-captain Tani Martin and I decide on the songs and come up with the arrangements. My plans for the choir is to try to get everyone in the choir to reach their greatest potential and to inspire people with their G-d given gifts and to take that gift and use it whether in the choir or anywhere else their lives take them.” He noted that the choir posted a you tube video cover called “Some Nights Jewish lyrics,” currently with over 20,000 views. He said that they also led the davening and singing on Shabbos Chanuka at a synagogue in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania and will be performing with Aryeh Kunstler at a Belle Harbor Sandy relief concert on Sunday June 23rd. Grossman is now a senior at Rambam and lives in West Hempstead.

Novick said that they enlisted other schools to enter the competition starting in 2010. They signed up sponsors to defray the cost and contacted performers to perform at the competition and sit on a panel as judges. He noted that in the past they had about 300 in the audience and have raised about $3,000. They have received a lot of positive feedback. “Rabbi Friedman was at the first competition and loved it, as well as many other Rambam teachers. And the choirs that have participated regardless of if they won or not have all loved it and the choirs that were not able to participate have told me that they have regretted it. Audience members have also told me it was a great event.” Novick, a resident of West Hempstead, said “To me it has all been amazing, seeing how many people actually came and how great the whole event was, but I think the most amazing part for me was sending the check to the Koby Mandell Foundation after the whole thing was over and receiving their thank you.”

“We are pleased to host the upcoming choir competition on behalf of the Koby Mandell Foundation,” wrote Rabbi Zev Friedman, Rosh Mesivta at Rambam. “The students in our Harmonidies group have lifted the spirits of so many who have heard them and look forward to doing whatever they can to help the remarkable efforts of the Koby Mandell foundation.”