Abie Rotenberg | The Freedom to Sing [From the Archives]

For Parashat Beshalach / Shabbat Shirah, we’re pulling a fan-favorite from the archives: a wide-ranging conversation with Jewish music legend Abie Rotenberg — songwriter of classics like Acheinu, Mama Rochel, and Na’ar Hayiti.

But this episode isn’t only about music.

A.B. shares how building a serious career in business gave him something rare in the music world: freedom. Freedom to write at his own pace, choose what to release, and never treat music like a paycheck.

We also get into:

• His path from chinuch to the family import business (and what that transition really felt like)

• Why he sees songwriting as a real form of chinuch — and how melodies can open up the words of tefillah and pesukim

• The story and intent behind Marvelous Middos Machine, and the very real dilemmas of teaching values through songs

• Reflections on Acheinu returning to the world in a painful new way

• His Torah writing (sfarim on Eliyahu Hanavi and Rabbi Akiva) — plus a surprising third book: a baseball novel built for kiruv

• Baseball, balance, and the line between a healthy outlet and a distraction

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