Yidstock

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, “Music is the universal language of mankind.”Ben-Tzion Berel Keller, of Blessed Memory, knew well of this unknown secret. For this reason alone he started Yidstock, a music festival geared towards young Jewish men and women. A festival unlike any other. A festival where Jewish Yidden could enjoy the beauty of their religion through the beauty of music. A festival where young Jewish souls could bask in the magnificence and splendor of authentic Jewish music. Bands from all over the world showed up for this amazing event, feeling blessed to partake in this joyous opportunity to inspire and change the lives of Jewish souls. Ben’Tzion was only 15 years old when he thought of this idea, 16 years old when he made this idea into a reality. He understood that only through music could he touch these young lost souls. He understood that only through the complex simplicity of music could he even think of sending a message across to the young people of New York. Benny apprehended the fact that music connects people; music is what unites the world. And he knew that if he wished to send a message of Judaism, a message of Jewish identity and pride to the young Jews in Brooklyn he would need to do something that related to them, an event that spoke to their souls, a festival of light and life, a festival of music.Ben-Tzion lost a lot of money making Yidstock. But he didn’t do it for the money, he didn’t care about the debt he knew he would plunge into. Because he knew he was doing something that would change lives, something that would live on. He knew he was making a change in the world, transforming the darkness into light. This is what made him truly happy.Ben-Tzion died suddenly this year on June 17. He has now moved to higher realms, he now sits upon high with the Almighty, basking in the music of the Heavens, the songs of the angels. He is looking down upon us, wishing and hoping that we can partake in the jubilance of Heaven. And we can. We can partake in the radiance, but only through music, only through the speech of angels, can we connect with Benny up above. He was a young man who gave up everything for other people, a young man who sacrificed his life for the lives of others. He was selfless, and hard-working, an angel sent down to earth to inspire and to love, to teach, and to change.And for this reason alone we wish to make Yidstock again year after year with G-D’s help. In order for Ben-Tzion’s legacy to live on we must keep up what he worked arduously to start. We must make Ben-Tzion’s dream in to a reality. We must make Yidstock a festival of virtue, a festival of radiance, a chance to feel united as a people in a time and place where we find our mere existence and our mere survival being attacked and threatened. This is our chance to bring warmth to a cold world, a chance to be a light unto the nations. We must make Yidstock happen evry year, for the sake of the young Jews who so desperately yearn for some light through this cruel, hard darkness."Where words fail, music speaks.” -Hans Christian AndersenNot all thoughts can be expressed through words, sometimes you need to go deeper and heed to the messages found only through the complex simplicity of music. Words sometimes go through one ear and out the other. But music goes through one ear, and enters the soul.