Song "Shliach" Chabad Telethon 5766

 A Shliach Through Song

When the Jewish people came out of Egypt and saw their salvation; they
raised their voices in unity and sang a song of praise to G-d. Beyond
prayer, that song, Shira (in Hebrew), was a harmonious choir that at
that moment brought together the Jewish people in recognition of their
creator.

The modern redemption from the Soviet Egypt and the Russian prison of
the iron curtain with its gulags and red banners, it too has a choir
that raises its voices in song and brings the culture and melodies of
the Jewish people to them.

If in Egypt no Jewish man or woman changed their Jewish clothing or
their Jewish names, it was the adults who could raise their voices in
song; from the Russian exodus whose generations of adults had Judaism
snuffed out by successive persecutions and oppressions, it must be the
children who sing their Shira.

M Generation represents that generation of children. The children that
are returning to the Judaism so foreign to their parents and its name,
M-Generation stands for Moshiach's Generation. The generation of the
final exodus to come, and will leave all exiles behind forever.

In 1988 the Lubavitcher Rebbe told Rabbi Hershel Okunov of the
overwhelming number of Russian Jewish immigrants that had no background
in Judaism and were too ashamed to come to a Shul. They needed a place
to turn, a spiritual center, the Rebbe said. That haven, a once
declining shul, now serves as the primary Jewish center for Russian
Jews in Brighton Beach. It later became the birthplace of M Generation.

Though in 1988 the group's members who range in age from 5 to 12 were
as yet unborn, in 2003 they debuted as his youngest shluchim,
messengers of the Rebbe spreading yiddishkeit in song. The group's
song, Shliach, attests to that.

Rabbi Hershel Okunov, as the vice president of the FREE organization
serves as the Rabbinical Director along with Baruch Rukiter, the art
director who organizes and works tirelessly on the group. The original
lyrics and musical compositions set M Generation apart from other
children's choirs, resulting in M Generation's first place award at The
Golden Menorah international competition.

Singing in Russian, English, Yiddish and Hebrew, M Generation went from
Brighton Beach to Berlin and Dusseldorf and even Gracie Mansion
represented by New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg. Their audiences
vary; they performed at the Chabad Telethon along with top Hollywood
stars as well as to communities of elderly Russian immigrants around
the world. The old familiar folk songs such as Oyfen Pripichik sung by
Jewish children, brought tears to their eyes as they wept. They
rejoiced, seeing that despite centuries of Russian oppression Judaism
is thriving, especially among the children. Blending original
compositions with classic Jewish melodies, original lyrics with
timeless words, M Generation can be summed up in their performance of
Uvau HaOvdim, the return of those lost in the land of Assyria. It is
symbolic of the return of those Jews who had lost their Jewish identity
in the Soviet Exile.

Where words fail to make an impact on the intellect, it being so far
removed from its Jewish roots, music reaches the heart, the heart of
the exiled Jew returning home.

Thus the song itself becomes a shliach, a conduit. The harmonious and
poignant melodies of children, the Rebbe's youngest shluchim reach out
and touch the heart. They bear the Rebbe's message and carry it forward
for all eternity.
Rabbinical Director Rabbi Hershl Okunov

Article by Nechamah Sarah Shwartz