Guest Review: LiPA Faith

By:  Dave Sharpner               

 

Before I begin, I would like to make one small confession and that is that I am a very big fan of LIPA and therefore it’s probably not possible for me to be completely impartial or objective. But on the other hand maybe it’s a good thing that you’ll read a review from a big fan, because at least you know it’s coming from someone who has a passion and really believes in what he’s writing and is not just doing a cold and impartial review.

 

  First I will start off with a small introduction to the world of Lipa Schmeltzer, and how he came about. Elazar Lipa Schmeltzer started off as a small time Chassidish singer and entertainer in his hometown of New Square New York at the young age of 20. Lipa had just gotten married. And naturally he turned to singing and entertaining at local chassidish   weddings as a means of livelihood. He quickly earned a reputation as a natural performer and singer bringing joy to many new Chassanim and Kallahs. With his trademark colorful bekkeshes big round glasses, and unique curly payos, he immediately grew in popularity as a most sought after entertainer. Very shortly after his wedding, Lipa decided the time had come to release his first album. The album was a huge success garnering accolades and praise from many top names in the music industry.  Then exactly one year later in the year 2000, he released Shma which was once again an unbelievably successful album. Shma like Nor Basimcha was beginning to show signs of what a Mega talent Lipa would later grow into. A lot of interesting things were beginning to take place. Things that would set Lipa apart from other singers in a very unique way. For one thing there was the emotional depth and feeling of each song which was something that could be actually felt in addition to being heard. But even more than that. Each album was already an experience. There were the beginnings of unique musical shtick and other special touches which gave each song its special flavor. But even more it was Lipa’s unique personality shining through each word and tune. Then came his third album Letovah which firmly cemented him as a staple in the Jewish music world. Then after came the next album Bderech, which included the Mega Hit gelt. Lipa made a music video for that song which sent his popularity through the stratosphere! Which followed by Leeilu Keneinehora Hallel and A Poshiter Yid. At that point Lipa had reached a crazy height in his career. I mean his previous albums were good. But nobody, not even Lipa I suspect was ready for or expecting A Poshiter Yid!! It was like a huge alien spaceship just dropped out of the sky one day and just started pouring forth with nourishing flavorful soul satisfying water all over a quiet and poor suburban neighborhood. The people had no clue where it came from. Or what it was doing there. But it was there! And it was giving off sweet delicious and nourishing water! And so the people came and drank! One after another, every single song was just hit after hit after hit!! Who can remember ever having an album like that come out?! Then came Non stop Lipa which was Lipa’s first wedding album which came out shortly after the Mumbai massacre. And the song Moisheleh on that album is one song which I try not to listen to too often. It’s very hard not to cry when listening too. On the video Lipa is crying. And who can even think about such a tragedy? There are simply no words. Then came Meimka Dlipa and the second wedding album Lipa 24/6. And finally a single called Leiby Forever which I listened to completely only once in my life for the same reason. In fact even that one time, I shut it off in middle. And it’s not just because I had gone in to Brooklyn to search that I felt so emotional about the song. But it’s because I believe that Lipa is a genuinely deep and emotional person on a level that most people simply aren’t. I don’t believe there’s any singer who can sing with such raw feeling and emotion as Lipa. Not that I have ever heard at least. And that is what sets Lipa apart and puts him in a whole different playing field. And that brings us to the newest album just released called LiPA Faith.

 

Oh and by the way. One last thing. Before I get to the songs themselves, there’s something I feel must be mentioned.  Just like you wouldn’t expect to buy a precious diamond while driving the car in one hand and texting in the other, so too it’s impossible to really hear the music and appreciate its worth if you’re listening while driving or texting. Or shopping for that matter. But I find this especially true on a LIPA album due to the many complexities and things going on. There’s so much of value in each song, that it’s just impossible to get it all if you’re not really listening. So find a quiet time. Put down the phone. Park the car. And Sit down on the couch and listen. Really listen to the album. You’ll be shocked at how much you really missed. Okay, Now on to the songs.

 

1. TRUMPETS  This song composed by Lipa, starts off naturally enough with a single trumpet blowing. To me at least it sounds like a lone animal in a forest of predators letting out a soft but high-pitched howl which sends all the wild predators scrambling!   The lone trumpet is then followed by an array of trumpets and other horn instruments blowing one after another. This in fact is one of those interesting things that I find on every single Lipa album. The music is never repetitive. There is always something different and interesting going on which guarantees t you will never know what is going to happen next! In fact, this song caught me completely by surprise when at 18 seconds in the music took a completely different direction. First I thought it would be some kind of march based on the whole trumpet intro. And then at eighteen seconds in, just as the trumpets build up to a crescendo and your half expecting the president to pull up in his royal limousine  we get a nice  chord progression with a fast beat. At thirty seconds in the song has just reached full throttle as a second more invigorating chord progression comes on. At this point we know it’s a hora. And then Lipa comes on singing the low part “BYOM BYOM”. “BYOM SIMCHASCHEM”!! And in completely shocked. It’s really amazing how every single time I hear Lipa he sounds different. I’ve heard Lipa a thousand times before. I think I’ve heard every single album and song he’s ever put out. I’ve heard him live at countless concerts. But still I am so shocked every single time I hear his voice singing a new song! The energy and emotions that he comes on with can be compared to a spring of fresh crystal clear ice cold water pouring forth and invigorating everything in its path.  At 1:20 LIPA comes barreling forward with the high part “UZKATTEM BACHATZOTZROS!!!” And once again I’m caught by surprise. I knew this was gonna be a hora. But the high part is so good and so energetic that it completely caught me off guard. Passion is the key word here. Passion and unparalleled energy! WOW!!! I seriously can’t remember hearing a hora like this in a long, long time. As an interesting side note by the way. When I first heard the preview, it sounded to me like LIPA was saying “I got them Bachatzotzros.” I thought it was like a battle call and Warning to the enemy that “Don’t mess!!” because “I got them trumpets blowing strong!!” As the song goes on Lipa’s passion and energy level rises. He says the words “UZKATTEM BACHATZOTZROS”  21 times. (Yes, I counted) and each time gets a different twist and a further buildup of power! Finally at 3:48 the cool techno stuff starts happening. It’s at this point that the shtick and harmonies and sound effects are really let loose. It’s amazing how LIPA never fails to pull out all the stops in his shtick! After such an energetic song LIPA delivers that final icing on the cake which leaves us completely satisfied and running to hit that repeat button! And then there’s more! Lipa calls out in Yiddish “Vee Vee Vee zenen der Fasas?!” (Where is the fasas?) I’m not sure what “Fasas” is, but if LIPA wants it, then it must be something good!!

2. LOLAM. This song is different with a capital D. But before I explain let me say this. Ever get that feeling that you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed? You know the kind of morning when everything is just going wrong. The sky is dark. You overslept. Missed shul. Late for work. There’s no breakfast in the house. And to top it all off everyone is growling at you! Now imagine that not just you, but in fact the whole town just woke up late and everyone is growling and complaining and generally just walking around miserable. Well this is just the song for such a morning! Imagine now LIPA in his colorful behkeshe twirling and waltzing around the entire town singing this song in his trademark cheerful way! Well, that’s exactly how I would describe this song! It’s a cheery happy go lucky Waltz, which will instantly put you in a much better mood! The music starts off with cheery little tune which reminds me a lot of supermario.  Lipa then comes on singing “Hi! Good Morning!!!” And you can actually hear his smile coming across! This is what I like to call a “feel good song”. The song itself is short. But it delivers in spades. The theme is greeting people. So Lipa goes through different greetings in different languages. Now as I said before, this song is different. It’s completely out of the box, yet very simple and cheery. And that is another thing that I feel sets LIPA apart is his uniqueness and out of the box originality. He took what could have been an ordinary little waltz and he made it into an entire happy go lucky LIPA experience! Finally he ends off “SHULOM UVRACHAH!!” “YO!! WUSSUP BRO!!” clearly a chassidish man just met a cool hipster man. Or maybe that man is really one and the same? Maybe it’s just two of the many faces of the multi-faceted LIPA?! Who knows? Just one last thing on this song. I love those four little boxes with pictures of Lipa to the left of the song!! HA!! As we’ve seen already in the LIPA Haggaddah and many other posed pictures LIPA is clearly a talented actor in addition to a singer!

3. YIGDAL. This song is the first slow song on the album. And it’s pure heart and feeling. As I mentioned earlier. Lipa is one of those few singers who I believe sounds more like a soul singing than a mere human of flesh and blood. The beauty of this song is so astounding and emotionally deep that I feel like I’ve entered into another realm of deep spiritual yearning. But another thing I find striking about Lipa in general and this song in particular is the clarity and simplicity with which Lipa enunciates every single word. He is feeling every single word that he sings with such a raw emotion that we forget completely about the tune. The voice. The vocal range. The music. Or any other small and trivial thing. Sure their all-important to a song. But when the feeling is there to such an extent as it is in this song you can’t even think about anything but the words themselves. I must say. I do believe this is a very rare thing for a singer to be able to sing like that. But LIPA does it. It is very obvious to me that this can only be done if it’s real and coming from a very, very deep place. You can train voice. Vocal range. Etc. But you can’t train heart. Another thing I find striking about this song is the simplicity. No unnecessary music. No unnecessary background vocals. No unnecessary vocal tricks by Lipa. All you get is LIPA pleading to Hashem from the depths of his soul. Now don’t get me wrong. There is music in the background. And there is in fact a beautiful choir of superstars. Yoeli Falkowitz, Sruly Green, Yoeli Greenfeld, and Beri Weber. But the music and choir are both used exactly where their needed and never a drop more! The little niggun he then sings after the high part is so breathtakingly beautiful that it’s impossible not to feel a tear welling up while listening to it. You want soul? Well, this is it. I can promise you, it doesn’t get any more real than this.

4. KVODO. This is the first electronic disco beat on the album. The beat is awesome. The song itself composed by the great badchan Pinky Weber  is a lively freilich. It is both catchy and very easy to sing. And it’s got a yeshivish feel to it. I would say it is the type of song I would imagine dancing to in BMG on Simchas Torah. What I find most amazing is that even though it’s a very repetitive song with the same high part being repeated over and over LIPA  keeps finding a  new twist. A different way to sing it. Once again this song plays the fine line very well. The shtick is always played down to just the right degree so that it enhances and never takes away from the actual song. And also once again we have a superstar choir of Tzali Gold and Yoli Greenfeld.  And a beautiful children’s choir by Moshe Kraus. One final observation towards the end of the song when LIPA says Zeh Lazeh. He sings it exactly like Michoel  Pruzanskys  Zeh Lazeh on Avodas Tzedakah and MP3. Not sure if it was done on purpose. But it’s a cool shtick either way!

5.VEYHI BINSOA. I will be very honest with you. I am very hesitant to write an article about this song. It’s much too deep, and certainly much too holy and lofty for me to put it into words. I’m sorry. But I’m simply at a loss. As I listen to this song I can literally feel LIPA climbing to dizzying heights. I honestly can’t remember the last time I ever heard a singer get so deeply emotionally involved and caught up in a song. I can’t even begin to describe to you the powerful feelings and emotions this song evokes. I believe this song should be considered a follow up song to Vizarakti. Clearly this song is an exact definition of what purity sounds like. The way LIPA clearly enunciates each word throughout is so pure. The tune also, aside for being very haunting and deep is also very pure. And then there are the lyrics. Such pure heartfelt words. The pasuk speaks about when klal yisroel carried the aharon through the desert and Moshe tells them Hashem will get up and spread out your enemies and then it speaks about how the torah goes out and hashem blessed us all by giving us the torah in his holiness. The words are just so fitting. First we start off with a simple and beautiful piano ballad. After LIPA sings the low part once which follows by the choir which is made up of Moishy Eisenberg, Berry Weber Yoeli Falkowitz and Yoeli Greenfeld sing it. It sounds a lot like a shul choir. Such deep rich voices!! WOW!! Then LIPA does the high part. Again, there really is no way to describe LIPAs singing on this song. I don’t recall even LIPA himself EVER singing like this before. I mean LIPA was always really good. But this is a whole new level. Then as the song ends off at 3:38 LIPA does a soft humming murmuring thing which reminds me a lot of Carelbach. A beautiful ending to a hauntingly beautiful song. Bottom line this is one of the purest most powerful deep heartfelt songs that you’re probably going to hear in a long, long time. Listen carefully. Part of Lipa’s soul is bound up in this song. Okay I really can’t say anything more. This song will speak for itself far better than any of these words can. So sit down in a quiet corner and have a listen.

6 .HANG UP THE PHONE. This funky but meaningful song like most of the songs on this album was composed by LIPA. Please correct me if I’m wrong. But I believe this is the second song (that I know of at least) that LiPA composed English lyrics to. The first one being Leiby Forever. I must say I really, really love this song! It has all the elements of an original Lipa song! It’s funny. It’s different. Very out of the box. Really cool and ingenious funky lyrics. And of course it has a very powerful and important timely message for all of us! We are living in a society where cellphones and all manners of technology for that matter have started interfering with our daily lives. And as you can clearly see Lipa is doing in the picture, we hold our children but get so caught up in our phones that we barely even notice them. Another funny picture on the booklet shows LIPA trying to give a shiur to four of his shul members (at least I’m guessing that’s who they are) on the grass outside. But the guys are so busy with their phones that they clearly are not paying attention. Now I personally find that very funny. Because when I use my phone I usually use it to either watch a new LIPA  YouTube clip, or to checkout if LIPA tweeted anything new.(Its @LipaSChmeltzer by the way)So the fact that LIPA is giving shiur to them live in person and they’re not interested is simply mind boggling!! I mean like “HELLO!” What more can you ask for? A LIPA SHIUR!! Anyways back to the song.

The song starts off with a digital synthesized beat which sounds a lot like the beat in JUST DO IT from Yonatan Scheinfeld’s second album. Then LIPA comes on singing the hilarious lyrics. In listening to these lyrics you can clearly see the genius in LIPA. The lyrics are both really funny and meaningful at the same time! Here’s a small sample from the beginning. “I didn’t see you in ages. It seems to me contagious. You going through some stages. The phone makes you outrageous. It locks you up in cages. Unlike our sages.” Then in the middle of the song the lyrics switch to Yiddish. He sings something about his father not having a computer. And some other interesting things. And then it’s back to the Chorus. OH OH OH!!  Can you hang up the phone?! By the way, an interesting aside. Dovid  Moskovits the winner of A Jewish Star this year is the kid’s voice you hear on the background of the chorus singing along with Lipa. Anyways, so the song goes back again to the final English lyrics. “Instead of searching Google, I am busy making Kugel. Instead of searching Email, I lift my hands to Himil (sky) then it’s back to Yiddish again. Then at 2:40 the choir comes on singing a very yishivish sounding Niggun, which they somehow actually manage to blend in. But it’s still really, really funny. Sort of like a Zebra in an elevator full of well-dressed business men. The Zebra might fit, but it’s still extremely funny. I believe that in this song we can see the full extent of Lipa’s humor and creativity. I believe that LIPA decided that he’s gonna take one song on the album and push it to its limit in terms of out of the box shtick and comedy. And this is it! Now it might be just me. But when he sings the Kugel part and again a bit later I believe you can hear him laughing while he’s singing. Maybe I’ll ask him the next time I see him. Also another thing I really enjoyed was the digital shtick purposely gone crazy on this song! As I always tell people, Lipa is definitely a funny person, but he’s also very appropriate. Which means he knows when to be funny, when to be wacky and crazy. But he also knows exactly when to be very serious. Songs three and five called for a serious approach with no shtick whatsoever. But this song which is about technology and cellphones needs all the digital shtick, voice changing, auto tuning, and beeping possible. And that’s exactly what he does on this song! And not only that, but all the humor and shtick is all just the icing on the cake. The real content of the song is the powerful message that technology has gotten in the way of our daily lives! Wow! That’s a lot of things for one song!

7. VIDABKEINU. This is another Yeshivish styled freilich. It reminds me for some reason of Hema Hema on Avraham Fried’s  latest album KEEP CLIMBING. Maybe because it’s got the same beat.  Great for dancing in circles at weddings or yeshiva parties. In fact if this song doesn’t take off in the Yeshivas I would be very surprised!

It starts off with the typical instruments you would hear on these kinds of songs. Horns and drums. Followed by the choir singing the low part a very yeshivish sounding melody. Then LIPA comes on and also sings the low part followed by the high part. It’s interesting even though it’s a catchy and fast paced song there’s also an aspect of yearning and pleading in the tune. The song gradually builds up in both speed and intensity. Then at 3:21 something very cool happens! LIPA almost makes it into the world records. Only kidding! But seriously it’s very cool! He finishes off the word Alein stressing the last syllable eiyn for seven seconds straight!! They actually put like five seconds of that on the preview clip. Again the reason I’m mentioning this is to show how it’s these little touches that make LIPA so original!! I mean up to that point the song was fairly straightforward. So that powerful lone “ALEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!” really gives the song such a powerful punch! Then the choir comes on again and sings what sounds to me like a different song entirely! And again whatever they were singing. It really fits in. The choir by the way on this song completely outdid themselves! The harmonies and backup vocals are simply mind blowing! Then finally its back to LIPA again. He finishes off the song by singing the high part VCHOIF ES YITZRIYNIY really, really fast! Almost beat boxing, but not quite. Really amazing!! This song may just make it really big!

8. YELED KATAN. For those of you fans who like Israeli music this song is for you! It’s a slow and moving ballad sung completely in Hebrew with a Hebrew accent and pronunciation! The song and lyrics were composed by the multitalented Yishai Lapidot. It’s interesting because I always found that LIPA and YISHAI have a lot in common and are similar in many ways. Well apparently they hit it off. Yishai also sings a guest duet solo on this song. And I just saw a clip recently of LIPA performing in Israel with Yishai. So I wouldn’t be surprised if there is much more future collaboration in the works! Anyways getting back to the song. The song is about a young child who faces different hardships and trying circumstances. He can only see the dark clouds and pouring rain. The chorus is that” I’m like a young child who just looks up to god and asks AD MASAI?! Lipa actually went down to Israel to record this. And so the choir is made up of three Israeli singers. Yaakov Rottblatt, Sinai Barmatz, and Moti Rotler. Finally the song ends off with the beautifully uplifting message that despite the dark stormy clouds the sun is still there behind waiting to shine! Once again, another really simple and beautiful heart pulling song.

9. LEAP OF FAITH. This song is once again a brilliant mix of both English and Yiddish. It’s a very deep and meaningful yet fun song! The song itself was composed by Yossi Green, the English lyrics are by Moishe Lax and the Yiddish lyrics by LIPA (of course!) The song itself refers to Nachshon Ben Aminadov and the message is that when life seems very challenging and you have nowhere to turn, sometimes you must just take a leap of faith and jump into the raging waters. Then G-d will see that you tried and he’ll rescue you.

I just love by the way the music selection on this song. It starts off with a nice saxophone intro followed by a bit of electric guitar work. Then some horns. And LIPA comes on singing the first part in Yiddish. As usual the energy and feeling that LIPA brings to this song is CRAZY!! The next stanza is in English. WOW! In some ways I think LIPA sounds even better singing English songs than Yiddish! So far I only heard him sing two songs completely in English.(Not including those that were translated over into English) Carry on, and Leiby Forever. I only hopes he makes a English song only album! That would be awesome! Also the background vocals on the chorus are very tastefully done. The booklet doesn’t say any names, only that it was arranged by LIPA. But it sounds a bit like a kid. I’m wondering if maybe its Dovid Moskovits again? Who knows? It’s interesting also but I find LIPA sounds a lot like MBD in this song when he sings the English lyrics. Not sure why that is. Did anyone else find that also? And if so, is there some kind of reason? Or maybe just coincidence? Then at four minutes in the song really starts getting interesting. LIPA starts harmonizing and doing a duet with himself! I have two speakers. And I don’t know how they do this in the studio. But basically at this point I’m hearing two LIPAs singing! One from each speaker! And they keep playing off against each other like crazy! This is where he starts also doing all kinds of insane vocal shtick! LIPA one is screaming “JUMP!” then LIPA two is screaming back at him “JUMP!” Then at that that point I hear what sounds like Four Lipa’s singing at once!!! HEH!! I’m just picturing LIPA in his studio now! He must’ve had a really good time with this!! My speakers right now are both looking very confused. Finally Both LIPAs finish off together in perfect unison “Jump with me the leap of faith!” And back to one LIPA(Not sure which one) singing EMUNAH EMUNAH!!” Man! This was one fun song to review!!

10. ROCHEL. Another great slow song. This song was composed by somebody I never heard of before. M.Morgenstern. This song strikes me as a very MBD style song. The song starts off with soft violins playing. Then LIPA sings the low part in his deep rich voice with all the feeling that’s possible once again sounding very much like MBD. This follows by an amazing emotional high part. The high part is actually LIPA praying. No. Not just praying. Begging. Pleading. Pleading from the depths of what is an obviously very very deep soul. A soul that has experienced its share of problems like everyone else. But a soul which sees Hashem and is pleading to our dear mother Rochel to pray and seek mercy on our behalf.  As the song builds up one can hear LIPA getting more and more emotional. Finally at 4:20 LIPA sings the words of the high part Yotzos Rochel with such feeling that it’s just shocking! It’s really at this point that we get a small glimpse of LIPAs incredible vocal range. His voice takes on an urgent and intense power as he soars to a scary height using every ounce of energy he possesses. All I can say is WOW! It’s impossible not to be a changed person after hearing such an impassioned emotional plea to Hakodosh Baruch Hu. All I can say is this. LIPA I can only imagine the zechusim in heaven you are accumulating through the people you inspire with these beautiful songs! And I have no doubt that Hashem will reply to your heartfelt plea for Rachamei Shamayim! May it be his will!

11. MIZRACH. Get ready to be fooled!!  Listen to the first ten seconds of this song. A nice slow piano piece. Sounds like someone just learned to play his first piano song. Then all of a sudden….   “ HUH?!!!” you’re scratching  you’re head at this point and wondering, Is this some kind of joke or maybe just a big mistake? ! Heh! A joke maybe. But certainly not a mistake! Yup. That’s right. what started off as a nice classical slow piano piece has now suddenly turned into a full blown disco beat! And a really really cool beat at that! I’m imagining it took them a while to get this beat just so.at 19 seconds LIPA comes on and starts singing in a purposely out of breath excited  sounding voice.(I wouldn’t be surprised if he did a few jumping jacks or something before starting to sing)  Mizrach Maariv Doorim Tzoofin. The build up at this point is incredible as he goes straight to the prechorus  VIKABBETZ NIDACHENU AYAYAY!! Then at 1:02 LIPA comes on singing the high part with the kids choir in the background. MEARBA KANFOS HAARETZ !!HAARETZ!!Then at 3:04 you hear LIPA loudly exhaling as he catches his breath “.Woooohhhhhooouueeeww”!!! Then “OOOWWWW!!!!” Haha! When I first heard that I was cracking up! It’s really funny! Then at 3:50 the song gets really   funky. It’s just electronic music playing all kinds of funky sounds now. Basically it’s the base, synthesizer and electric guitar. Finally finishing up at 4:27 with Mizrach Maariv Tzu Tzu Tzufin!

This song by the way is really incredibly fun to dance to! I was at a LIPA concert recently and LIPA asked for people to come on stage for this song. I went on and it was just amazing! LIPA had prepared beforehand with his own dance moves for this song! You point up down right left and also move in the direction of the words. Who needs dance pads?! And finally by Mearbah Kanfos everyone spins around!! What fun!!

12. LIPA’S SHUL. This song composed by LIPA is about his shul. But really it’s not about his shul. It’s about so much more than that. It’s about the concept of building .Building through hardships and troubles. It’s about how strong klal Yisroel is despite the many problems we are now facing on so many sides. LIPA is in effect pleading with Hashem, “Please!! Father!” “All I want is to build a place where we can serve you with simplicity and purity! A place where all can come in and feel comfortable serving you and praying to you together as one! What a beautiful message to end off this album with!!

SUMMARY AND BOOKLET REVIEW. In summary, I believe this is by far one of if not the best albums I’ve heard in a long time. LIPA once again has gone all out in creating this album. The time and effort, the sweat and tears that LIPA has literally invested in this album I can only imagine! And the result is a masterpiece of an album the likes of which comes along very, very rarely. Every single song one after another is solid, meaningful and highly enjoyable to listen to! There is literally something on this album for everyone! LIPAs vocals are much stronger and more heartfelt than ever. The choir work and arrangements are a work of pure genius!  Naftali Schnitzler is nothing short of brilliant! And finally there’s the booklet itself which as of course everyone knows from previous albums is always a piece of art in itself. But on this particular one I believe LIPA has taken the booklet art form yet again to a new level! I’ll admit as a visual artist I tend to notice these things more. But still. this booklet is breathtaking! The basic color theme is Black white and orange. With little splashes of bright color here and there. This booklet has taken a very different approach than UMKA DELIBA in that there are much less words and more of just empty white space and simplicity. I believe there’s a reason for this. The theme of the last album was depth of heart. And to reach the depths one must go through a lot. A lot of words. A lot of pictures. A lot deep blackness like the depths of a deep hole. This is also why the last Booklet was Black. To bring out that depth. But this booklet represents simplicity and purity, fitting with the theme of simple faith. So it’s white to represent the purity, and few words to represent the simplicity! Once were on the topic of booklets by the way. LIPA in an effort give something back to his fans has spent hours every night numbering and signing the first thirteen thousand booklets! The winner will be entered into a raffle to win one of his bekheshes that he wears at shows, or a chance to have him sing at your Simcha! So in short there is no reason in the world to run out to your local Judaica store and grab a copy while you can!