Streaming the best music, talk and Torah 24/6 from an undisclosed location, deep inside Nachlaot - Jerusalem's coolest neighborhood - to the World!

Nachlaot is the Greenwich Village / Haight Ashbury of Jerusalem - rhymes with "rock the boat, skin the goat"


ZOOM: The Leader in Field Recording Excellence

ZOOM: The Leader in Field Recording Excellence
As Aretha Sang: "Who's Zoomin' Who?"

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Darkness At The Edge of Town

Shavua Tov ... we didn't get a chance to post about this last week, and it's not our "usual" subject matter, but it needs to be discussed and shared. The word "Nachlaot" is, unfortunately, not ONLY related to good and groovy things such as our radio station, but in fact has been in the news a lot lately because of the discovery of a Pedophile Ring that has been operating in the community here. Over 100 children (mostly in the Charedi sector) have been affected, families are traumatized, the community feels violated and vulnerable, and the police and social services have been remarkably inept. Last Thursday there was a public demonstration on Betzalel Street of some concerned citizens, demanding that the "authorities" step up and do something - become more proactive, do more to educate the community, address the particular needs of the Charedi community with cultural sensitivity, etc. We were there and recorded an interview with the protesters: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AND LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW AT THE PROTEST. 
For those who want to "do something themselves, a few different individuals have stepped up and initiated ideas that they've put into action. Chana Jenny Weisberg (www.jewishmom.com) is collecting donations to help pay for therapy for the children affected, and she's also trying to organize a field trip / tyule for these kids, all of whom are too traumatized to play outside anymore and basically stay inside all day. Rabbi Moshe Pesach Geller (rebmoish@gmail.com) is organizing a community watch and calling for volunteers to help "shadow" the 8 Pedophiles currently NOT in custody (four have been arrested and are still in jail, the other eight were arrested but released because of "tainted evidence" - mostly due to bungling by police and social services not correctly instructing the parents what to do when discovering their children had been molested). You can get in touch with either Jenny or Reb Moishe to help in those particular ways.
Most of all, we need help for the children of this community, and we need our streets to be safe from predators. The Charedi community is particularly vulnerable because of the gentle and trusting nature of the Charedi children (many/most of whom have never even seen television) and the reticence within the community to speak of things considered outside the bounds of "modesty," which would include anything sexual. Parents need to know in a practical way HOW to educate their children - without frightening them or exposing them to ideas that would upset them beyond their capacity to absorb - about the fact that there are bad people "out there," who might approach them, and what to do. This isn't easy - but it has to be done. We'll continue to report on the subject as news emerges - and now back to our regularly scheduled programming, folks!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

ZOT CHANUKAH!

It's Day 8 - "ZOT CHANUKAH" - all our lights are lit - what happens next?
What do we take away from this Chanukah season, what stays with us after all the lights finally go out?
We're playing Songs About Light all morning on the radio.
At 1pm we'll have a live in-studio visit from our friend HESHY ("The Hesh, Inc.") who is visiting Jerusalem and performing at the Off The Wall Comedy Basement (King George & Ben Yehuda) tonight (stop by and see his show, starts about 8pm).
At 7pm Brian Blum's BRAINWAVES is all about "darkness." Hmmm. Should be interesting, a contrast to his show last week which was all about light.
9pm - Maya's Music of the Night - she says "It's Threesome Night." We're not sure exactly what that means: like a triple-play? Three songs from each of her favorite bands? Songs about emotional triangulation?
It's all part of the process - light, darkness, conflict, resolution. Tevet (the month we've just begun) is all about Tikkun Anger - let's remember wherever anger is, the Presence of G*d isn't.
So let's keep calm. The best way we know how to do that is - hanging out with us on the radio!
It's the safest place we know!
Bring down the light, people. We've lit our candles, now let's BE THE LIGHT for everyone and everything around us.
Happy Zot Chanukah!

Monday, December 26, 2011

It's Mon-Day 6 into Night 7 of Chanuka, and it's Rosh Chodesh!

That's right everybody, today is not just any ordinary Monday. And we're going to celebrate Rosh Chodesh Teves and Day 6-night 7 of Chanuka with a lazy Monday Morning Music which will become a special edition of Israeli-Soul all afternoon featuring divrei Torah by Shlomo at 12:15, and by Rav Daniel at 4:00. We'll also play the entire new Shlomo Katz CD: "Live in Melbourne" right after Rav Daniel around 5:45, and then, tonight, December 26th between 8:00 and 10:00 PM we'll bring back our first Father-Son DJ team as we continue with our special Chanuka progamming and bring you:
Hanukkah - ROCK OF AGES with Mark and Ilai Lazar!
That's Right. Rock with Black Sabbath, Queen, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, The Doors, Pink Floyd, The
Byrds and more as the thematic scheme of the kosher “chag” is musically explored!

You're not going to want to miss a note!

So, Light my fire...baby

C Ya on the Radio!!!!

Chanuka and Rosh Chodesh Sameyach, Everybody!

Sunday, December 25, 2011

It's Sunday Night which means it's time for

SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE!

That's right, tonight, Live from Studio B, Steve and Lorelai and Benzion will be together from an undisclosed location deep in the heart of Nachalaot... so deep we can't even tell you where we are...and joining us for this 6th Night of Chanuka and the beginning of the 7th week of Shlomo will be Steve and Lorelai and Benzion. That's right - due to the unfortunate last minute cancellation of our previously scheduled guest, tonight Lorelai and Benzion will interview Steve.  He did know Shlomo, you know... Of course Benzion will play some music and we'll all carry on just like it was Sunday Night Live on the radio!.After all, it's Chanuka and we should be getting together and having a party - just like the man on the record says.

....and to continue with our special Chanuka progamming, tomorrow night:

Hanukkah -  ROCK OF AGES with Ilai and Mark Lazar!

Monday night December 26th from 8:00-10:00PM! 

Rock with Black Sabbath, Queen, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, The Doors, Pink Floyd, The
Byrds and more as the thematic scheme of the kosher “chag” is musically explored!

 Light my fire...baby!


Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Two Candles - Two Great DJ's Tonight on Radio Free Nachlaot

Two of our BRIGHTEST, most SHINY DJ's bring you their special gifts tonight on Radio Free Nachlaot! Brian Blum's BRAINWAVES at 7pm lights up the night with songs about light - and our DJ MAYA at 9pm brings you music to get you all glittery and sparkly. Light two candles tonight - listen to two great DJ's tonight - celebrate Chanukah, the Festival of Lights tonight with us on Radio Free Nachlaot!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

It's Erev Chanukah - Get Ready for 8 Crazy Wonderful Nights!

 We've got a GREAT "Erev Chanukah" Israeli Soul Afternoon for you on Radio Free Nachlaot- music from Shoshannah Piano, Seth Breitman, Sasson and Sasha Butterfly Rose, interspersed with special Chanukah Torahs recorded at Sulaam Yaakov Yeshiva in Nachlaot last year by Rabbis Aaron Razel, David Swidler, Gedalia Mason, Yehoshua Coren, Dovid Sperling, Adi Friedman, and Ami Silver - at 5pm we'll hear Rabbi Mottle Wolfe on "Chanukkah: the Art of Radical Amazement," and some great Chanukah music to listen to while you're watching your lights.  
At 6pm we'll bring you Benzion Eliyahu Lehrer's continuing series "Developing Your Neshama Through the Jewish Year" (with a special focus on Chanukah), at 7pm it's THE HOMEGROWN HOUR (did you send us your homegrown Chanukah songs yet? Email us at: radiofreenachlaot@gmail.com already!), after Homegrown it's the Newgrass/Bluegrass Show, followed by Steve Levine's "That's Rock 'n' Roll" show - yay, Tuesday on RFN! Yay, Chanukah!
This little light of ours ... we're going to let it shine! Shine on with us all week long on RFN!
 

Monday, December 19, 2011

Everybody's Talking About ... HAIR

HAIR. Everybody's talking about it - sparked by the recent "Beardgate" incident last week. What happened? MATISYAHU, declaring "No more Chassidish Reggae Superstar!" shaved off his beard (and cut his hair and peyos as well, just for good measure).

The buzz on the Internet is astounding - hair, hair hair! What does it mean? Good Jew, bad Jew, no Jew, new Jew?

As Lorelai wrote on her Facebook page last week: "What is hair, why are we obsessed with it, why are we defined by it's length, visibility, style ... why should we or shouldn't we cut it, cover it, dye it, fry it, why we freak out when some ultra-visible person shaves their beard or changes their hairstyle, etc. As for me and my radio partner Steve Levine it's obvious by looking at us where we each hold - (Steve is ALLERGIC to the word "scissors" and as for me, I've only had one tiny trim in the last year and even that was traumatic - and now I'm facing impending marriage and the emotionally stressful decisions of how/why/when/what to do with my beloved "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman" look)."


We're going to explore that question and more tonight at 7pm on the "Not for Drag Queens Only Show Tunes Show," we'll be featuring the full-length Broadway musical HAIR - followed by a discussion about what's REALLY going on with hair -  plus the audio of an interview Matisyahu did on WNYC shortly after the breaking of "Beardgate" which is very insightful into his mental and emotional state and why he shaved in the first place ... and more - right here on Radio Free Nachlaot.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Is it live, or is it

Sunday Night Live ?

Well, it is Sunday Night, and we will be "live" in Studio "B" to start off Week #6 of the 9 Weeks of Shlomo. Tonight Sunday Night Live features some "memories" from previous 9 Weeks of Shlomo interviews, a real, live interview with Rena Meriash-Levine and then, somewhere around 9:30  PM (Jslm time) we will do the one thing we can't do during the 9 Weeks of Shlomo: conduct a live interview with Shlomo.  Well, we have one on "tape" and that is what we'll hear. Shlomo on Shlomo. 

...now, let's not forget that it's almost Chanuka, so we may learn some Shlomo on Chanuka, as well.

It should be a great "live" evening, so why not join us!

C Ya on the Radio!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

The Immigrant: Working Hard, or Hardly Working?


My mother and father's parents were immigrants.  My wife's mother and father were immigrants.  Guess what folks, we (and all of our aliya - olim brethren) are immigrants, also.  It's kind of like what goes around comes around.....but the fact is that this is the (unstressed, unpublicized) Aliya experience. Moving from somewhere, ostensibly some home-land, and now trying to integrate yourself in a new society.  Ok, so we know why we're here, and that goes a long way.  Emigrating on one's own instead of being expelled is a bit different but still, especially when your parnassah (cash to survive) options are a no match to the younger-native population. Doctors, Chemists, Information System Anaylsts, accomplished professionals often "give it up" to come and work as telemarketers, clerks, underpaid professionals, and even security guards and maintenance men. (Some people even start internet radio stations, but we know that's not for profit!). So, I have joined the ranks of the immigrants. And now I've even joined the ranks of the gainfully employed (bli ayin harah)immigrant, physically working for a living.  And you  know, even if it's manual labor, I'm happy to be able to contribute to the rent.  But suddenly, with achy muscles and chapped hands i realize that I am an immigrant. How do I feel about that? I don't know yet -- it just hit me (4 years later) -- but i think it's worth exploring.
You want to explore with me?  Cookin' for Shabbos is the place to be -- Tonight, Thursday at 10:00 PM, let's leave home and arrive at the Promised Land, together.

C Ya On the Radio!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

It's Wednesday. We're all going to be in Studio B - do you know where you'll B?

That's right.
Tonight, Studio "B" will be rockin' - I hope the Neighbors like music!!!!

Not only will we be having an all day Wednesday Jazz Fest sandwiched between a couple of  Grateful Dead show, but tonight we will bring you Brainwaves (and Son of Brainwaves) between 7:00 and 9:00 PM live from Studio "B". Yes, Brian and his son Aviv, taking the queue from Mark and Ilai Lazar, will bring us Aviv's favorite music, between 7 and 9.  Hmmm, I wonder if he likes the same stuff as his Dad?  Maybe he'll surprise us and play 2 hours of Jerry and the Dead!!!! Probably not, but we'll just have to wait and see.

And then at 9:00, the Best of the 90's with, none other than Maya.  I mean, who else will play the best of the 90's on Radio Free Nachlaot. I mean, who else remembers their music by decades? Hey, i've got too many decades (bli ayin harah, poo poo poo) to keep track of, but the young'uns, I mean how many decades do they have to worry about????  Well, don't worry, Maya won't be playing the music from Titanic, Boy Bands or Britney Spears. Don't we feel better already?!!!
Of course we do. And why? Because it's Radio Free Nachlaot, that's why. The best Music, talk and Torah, coming at you 24/6 from undisclosed locations in Jerusalem/ Tzfat, and even Nachlaot!!!!

C Ya on the Radio!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Fantuzzi, Birthday Surprises, Week 5 of the 9 Weeks of Shlomo, and More!

It's Sunday, December 11th - it's Lorelai's Birthday! She's 9 for the 6th time - because she only believes that a person goes from one to nine, over and over again. Do the math, people! L'kavod "The Happiest Day of the Year" (at least on the Solar calendar - her Hebrew birthday is 18 Kislev) we're having a wild and wonderful day of special programming.

Lorelai is going to play some of the albums that were the "most-listened to" during the previous "9" years of her life - the lineup goes like this:


9 (9 for the 1st time) – 1966 – The Beatles Revolver
18 (9 for the 2nd time) – 1976 – The Grateful Dead “Europe ‘72”
27 – (9 for the 3rd time) - 1984 – Carly Simon “Hello Big Man”
36 – (9 for the 4th time) - 1993 – Jerry Garcia Band “Garcia”
45 – (9 for the 5th time) - 2002 – Norah Jones “Come Away with Me”

Not only that - around 3pm, FANTUZZI is stopping by "Undisclosed Studio Tzadik" in Tzfat to hang out with Lorelai and Benzion, play some music, chat and enjoy "Birthday Afternoon." How lucky can we get? Fantuzzi is one of the "Reshonim" of the Rainbow Gathering chevre, a musical force in his own right who has been bringing light, love and music to folks all over the world for decades. Join us LIVE around 3pm for FANTUZZI - LIVE from Benzion's Returning Light Healing Center (a.k.a. our Northern Israel broadcast location!)
Not ONLY Fantuzzi - but tonight is Week 5 of the 9 Weeks of Shlomo - and our special guest is SHMA YISROEL WITT, who will remember Reb Shlomo with us LIVE at 8pm Israel time. Yes, another Witt - but if we had EVERY Witt child on we'd have to do the 14 weeks of Shlomo! It's all good, it's all great, it's all HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEASON here on Radio Free Nachlaot!
-

Thursday, December 8, 2011

It's John's Yahrzeit.







We'll honor John after 9:15 PM (or so ) - right after Lorelai's interview with Rabbi Moshe Schlass at 8:00 PM, and right before Steve's "Cookin' for Shabbos" show, at 10.
John, we miss you!

 
8pm Jerusalem time tonight - our interview with Moshe Schlass - original "flower child," founder of The Cauldron (NY's first-ever Macrobiotic restaurant), confidante of beatnick icons Kerouac, Ginzburg & Ferlinghetti, lifetime VIP backstage pass-holder to the Fillmore East, traveling companion of Baba Ram Dass, the prototype wandering Jew and finally - peerless Chassidic guru-to-the-gurus of Jerusalem's Old City. Fascinating AND historical! 8pm tonight - then, the John Lennon Yartzeit tribute show, and then ... "Cookin' for Shabbos" with Steve Levine ... it's THURSDAY NIGHT, LIVE! Only on Radio Free Nachlaot!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Wednesday's Here, Catch it before it's gone!


I know how Wednesday's just kind of sneak up on us, and then, next thing we know, it's Thursday.
Well, I think you just have to Stop, Look and Listen to Radio Free Nachlaot extra carefully on Wednesdays, just so you don't miss out!

We started after the Rock and Roll Show from studio "B" with the Grateful Dead --> Jazz --> Lorelai driving the bus from Tzfat --> Back to Studio "G" for Steve at 6:00, Brainwaves at 7:00 PM with Brian Blum and then at 9:00 PM, Maya, leading us into the world of Night Music until sometime before Thursday A.M. we go back to Studio "B" with Steve to take us through the day until our special interview with Moshe Shloss at 8:00 PM, and then "Cookin' for Shabbos" at 10 -- you see what I mean... it's like one big game of catch.... or maybe tag, yea, that's the ticket -- TAG - You're IT!
Hey, so who's driving the Magical Musical Bus?

C Ya on the Radio!!!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

It's a Boy!


Announcing New Release:  Coren Version 4.0!


Yes, indeed.  A new grandson has been born into the Coren Family / Levine Family which means that the Radio Free Nachlaot Family has a new grandson, as well! Yeah Nava and Yehoshua! Way to go.
...and yes this is a Great Grandson, as well as a nephew and Great Nephew and brother and cousin --
so wonderful that a new Neshama has entered the world and is a YERUSHALMI!  That's right. Born right in Yerushalayim - Deep in the Heart of Nachlaot - Mamash! Home Birth and everything!!!!

Well, needless to say, we're going to celebrate the birth --
first - Torah from Benzion Eliyahu Lehrer and Lorelai from Tzfat at 6:00
Homegrown (talk about homegrown!) at 7:00 which will morph into the NewGrass/BlueGrass show which will become "That's Rock and Roll" Show around 9:30 PM which will play music all about, you guessed it, births, babies, etc. -- at least one elongated set......

So, stay tuned for baby updates, Torah, and of course Great Music, all day and all night long!
C Ya on the Radio!!!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Shavua Tov

It's a new week! Shavua Tov, Shavua Tov.Predictions? Directions? Where will be going this week?  We all know that even though Steve and Lorelai drive the Radio Free Nachlaot Bus down here in this world, this is only part of the picture.  And what the Master of the World has in store for us?  Right now, we don't know.....however... we know that we're going to keep bringing you Music, Talk and Torah from Yerushalayim, Ir Hakodesh, 24/6 Im Yirtzah Hashem - As long as Hashem blesses us to do so!

Having said that, this week's schedule looks like this:

Motzoei Shabbos - Melave Malke meets Saturday Night - dedicated to  our dear friend R' Yitzchak Aisenstadt who left the world before Shabbos.
Sunday Night Live with Sharya Witt
 Monday Night  - Rabbi Trugman on the video side and the Show Tunes show on the radio side
Tuesday Night - Benzion, Homegrown, Newgrass/bluegrass and That's Rock and Roll
Wednesday Night - Brainwaves and Maya
Thursday Night - Cookin' for Shabbos
Friday - Not for Kids Only Childrens' Hour and Going Down the Road to Shabbos

Not bad  -  hey, after 2 years we have a schedule.  Time to make some changes? You never know - stay tuned!!!!

C Ya on the Radio!