Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Yiddish rap stirs controversy in Israel


Album by Bnei Brak rappers featuring Yiddish versions to pop songs by Madonna, 50 Cent prompts boycott by rabbis, despite enormous popularity



Two haredi musicians from Bnei Brak recorded a Yiddish cover album giving international hits a strictly-Orthodox twist by using lyrics that bear a religious meaning.

Two haredi musicians from Bnei Brak recorded a Yiddish cover album giving international hits a strictly-Orthodox twist by using lyrics that bear a religious meaning.

The album, titled Rap in Yiddish, was recorded in the United States and quickly became a smash hit among the community

Covers of Madonna's "La Isla Bonita" and 50 Cent's "In da Club" can be found on the album. The Bnei Brak boys did not leave out Israeli creation and the piece "Tnu lo chance" (give him a chance) by the local trio Ma Kashur can also be found in a more religious version.

On a front-page ad published in the haredi newspaper Hamodia over the weekend, rabbis spoke out against the album and praised distributors who had agreed not to sell the record in the Holy Land.

"It has been brought to our attention that a CD has been produced in the United States that is slowly penetrating the Holy Land by CD burning and other methods," the announcement said.

Since the disc contains melodies that are very foreign to us, and that should not be allowed to enter our realm, under Yiddish and Hasidic cover, we have contacted our Yeshiva students and informed them that according to our holy Torah, they are forbidden to market this disc and must put an end to its distribution immediately.

However The orders in stores have already reached nearly 10,000, and many teens have obtained the album in MP3 format. The

(Source ynet) news

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