גודל הטקסט
Avraham Rosenblum was a professional guitarist in Philadelphia and New York who led bands of his own in the late 1960s. According to an article in Mishpacha from March 2026, in 1970 he set out on a spontaneous trip to Israel with his mother, and it turned out to be the beginning of his path in Torah. After a short period on a kibbutz he arrived in the Old City, and there another traveler directed him to the Diaspora Yeshiva on Mount Zion. The yeshiva, founded by Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Goldstein, is considered one of the first baal teshuva yeshivas, and it is located adjacent to King David's Tomb.
Not all sources date the band's birth the same way. Mishpacha and Wikipedia tell of a founding in 1975 and a debut performance on Hanukkah of that year at the Beit Ha'am hall in Jerusalem, by Rosenblum and Ben Zion Solomon. Robbie Harris, a band member, wrote in 2007 of meetings between 1973 and 1976 and of a formal founding in June 1977. It is likely that these reflect a gradual process, but the sources do not reconcile this on their own.
The band's lineup included Rosenblum on guitar, Solomon on violin and banjo, Simcha Abramson on saxophone and clarinet, Robbie Harris on violin, mandolin and guitar, Adam Wexler on bass and Gedalia Goldstein on drums. Harris describes a combination of rock, blues, country and jazz with Jewish and Yiddish tradition.
The real engine was the weekly performance. On Saturday nights there were performances near King David's Tomb, accompanying the Melaveh Malkah meal, to which came yeshiva students, soldiers, tourists and secular young people. Mishpacha notes that the performances gained momentum in the summer of 1976, following Operation Entebbe, and continued until the mid-1980s. Harris adds that the acoustics of the ancient building were excellent and that many of the performances were held with Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.
The most talked-about achievement was at the Hasidic Song Festival. In 1977 the band won first place with "Hu Yiftach," which Rosenblum composed together with Yossel Rosenzweig, and in 1978 again first place, with "Malchutcha," composed by Reuven Surotzkin. In total six albums were released. Harris's claim that the voting system was changed following the two wins, and that Jewish music can be divided into "before" and "after" the band, is the testimony of a band member, and should be read as such.
Afterward Rosenblum returned to the United States, worked in outreach and moved into business in Baltimore, and in 1998 he revived the band with a lineup of his own and with his son the drummer. One can return to the band's songs, many of which Rosenblum wrote, even today through its six albums.
Sources: Mishpacha; English Wikipedia (Diaspora Yeshiva Band); Jewish Magazine (Robbie Harris)
Image: MathKnight and Zachi Evenor, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.