Tzudik – Av Hrachamim (Official video clip) צודיק – אב הרחמים

Tzudik Greenwald, grandson of Holocaust survivors, international singer and cantor of the Great Synagogue in Frankfurt, has released a spine-chilling clip in honor of International Holocaust Day (next Monday, Jan 27, 2104).

Tzudik and his son are standing in the Auschwitz concentration camp as Tzudik, in his awesome, trembling voice sings, “The holy communities who gave up their lives to sanctify God’s name, beloved and pleasant in their lives, unseparated in their deaths…”

The clip begins on the rail tracks leading to the death valley in which more than a million Jews lost their lives, and ends in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people.

As a grandson of Holocaust survivors, Tzudik grew up against the backdrop of his family’s horrifying story. Nevertheless, ever since he discovered his musical talent, he knew the day would come when he would produce a clip to express his feelings and faith in the eternity of the Jewish nation.

International Holocaust Day, next Monday, Jan 27, 2014, is also the day Auschwitz was liberated.

Yossi Green, the leading light in Jewish music, composed the melody especially for Tzudik, with arrangement by Raphael Biton and accompanied by the Angels Children’s Choir. The clip is produced by Mikud Productions, Tzudik’s agent.

Mikud staff tell that while they were working on the clip, Tzudik – who is also a volunteer in the ZAKA rescue organization – received a beeper call to deal with the body of a railroad employee hit by an oncoming train at the nearby station. “We all shivered. At the very moment we were editing a clip filmed on the railroad tracks at Auschwitz, Tzudik is called out to a man killed on the railroad tracks in Israel.”

The company adds that the unique Tzudik combination –  his pristine attachment to the world of cantorial music and song on the one hand and the heartfelt joie de vivre he displays every day, particularly in his music – is a shining symbol of the power and continuity of the eternal Jewish people.

 Merciful Father (holy communities)

 Composed by: Yossi Green

Recitative: Tzudik Greenwald

Arrangement: Raphael Biton

Choir: Angels Children’s Choir

Solo: Avraham Shimon Greenwald

Orchestration: The Mark Shaimer Orchestra

Mix: Zohar Zaltz, Eshel Studios

Filming: Yehezkel Itkin

Editing: Moshe Pardes

Production and sole representation: Mikud Productions Ltd