Bochur’s Project Keeps Inspiring

As told by Rabbi Zalman Goldstein, founder of The Jewish Learning Group, and producer of the “Chabad Classics” music series

Around Shavous 1991, I was 20 years old. Listening to the Rebbe speak more and more fervently about the importance of learning about Geulah and Moshiach week in and week out, everyone was motivated to do something to bring the Rebbe’s vision to fruition. The question was what? I remember the stream of new pamphlets and books that started coming out then on the topic of Geulah and Moshiach, and I noticed there was little being done for children.

I thought about this a lot. About finding a way to spark a child’s interest on the topic without overwhelming them with information. The idea came to me of creating a short, 10-minute audio dramatization of the arrival of Moshiach to act as springboard for discussion at home and in the classroom. Every kid enjoys a dramatization. I know I did.

On 12 Sivan, 5751, I wrote a letter to the Rebbe outlining the idea and asked whether I should pursue it (see attached). After several days, the Rebbe replied: “In accordance with Vaad Rabbonei Anash and Agudas Chabad. Azkir Al Hatzion.”

Rabbi Groner provided me with a list of the names of the Rabbis of Vaad Rabbonei Anash and Agudas Chabad (among them Rabbi Zalman Gurary, Rabbi Nissan Mindel, Rabbi Alter Metzger, etc). I made copies of the script and gave it to each of them. While I was thrilled to have such senior Rabbis give their input, I was also scared what they may say about a script written mostly, if not entirely from my imagination.

A few weeks passed and Rabbi Zalman Gurary called me to his office and congratulated me on the project, saying he enjoyed it (his grandson told me he had him read the script to him). He shared that the Rabbis met about the project and after reviewing the details they gave their full consent “to benefit children so that they may grasp, on their level, the concept of the coming of Moshiach.”

Rabbi Gurary wrote a letter of approval on behalf of Vaad Rabbonei Anash, adding a stipulation that the approval is for this story/dramatization alone, and should there be a continuation of the series in the future it should be shown to them for review as well.

I raced with his approval to Rabbi CM Hodakov’s office, giving him a copy along with the script. Rabbi Hodakov appended his approval on behalf of Agudas Chabad (attached) and wished me luck.

Cleared for production, I wasted no time. Those days recordings were still mostly done on analog tape. I had my own cobbled together amateur recording studio with a Tascam 8-track audio recorder. This marvel allowed one to record one track at a time, followed by layers of effects and music on the remaining tracks (see pic). This was before computers made this process much simpler. I invited some friends and family over to record the voices for the parts (namely, Levi Osdoba, Yossi Smetana, Chaim Fogelman, Yanki Goldstein, C.G. Goldstein) and then set about adding the sound effects and music (thanks to my father, Rabbi Yosef Goldstein (“Uncle Yossi”) OBM’s, reel-to-reel library from his “Story Time with Uncle Yossi” days). Eitan Kantor (of Hyperstudio) mixed the audio and helped me prepare the master for the duplication facility.

I remember my father hiring the renowned artist Zalman Kleinman to create artwork for his recordings of stories which were in their time released on vinyl records, four stories to a volume, and the images depicting the story were displayed on the album cover. So for kicks I went to Zalman Kleinman’s house to see if he will create something for this project as well. At first he said no, he has too much work, but after hearing the flow of events how this project came to be he decided to create something for it. Unfortunately, Kelinman’s artwork was delayed for quite some time (eventually he completed it – see attached), so in interest of getting the project out in time for the summer season, I created a jacket cover in Corel Draw which I ended up using for the final production (attached). I ordered an initial run of 500 copies for the Jewish music outlets but quickly had to reorder. Over the next year, several thousand cassettes were distributed through stores and schools.

Looking back, it was a fun project to do. I sure learnt a lot about writing, recording, and distribution (and diplomacy!) which served me well over the ensuing years. And the kids got to learn about Geulah and Moshiach in a fun and entertaining way.

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