Abie Rotenberg
Quick Facts
Biography
Abie Rotenberg (Hebrew: אברהם יום טוב רוטנברג) is a prolific Orthodox Jewish musician, composer and entertainer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has been producing music since the mid-1970s with a style which has been described as "soft and sweet" with a strong folk influence.
Rotenberg grew up in Queens, New York, surrounded by other up and coming religious Jewish musicians, including Eli Teitelbaum, who directed the first Pirchei boys choir, as well as Rabbi Baruch Chait and Label Sharfman who attended yeshiva with him. Rotenberg studied piano and taught himself guitar at a young age.
Musical career
Rotenberg has cited the musicians Rabbi Ben Zion Shenker and Shlomo Carlebach as strong influences.While his folk-inspired sound and inspirational lyrics are strongly reminiscent of Carlebach, Rotenberg's soft and sometimes melancholic voice, however, contrasts with Carlebach's ecstatic style. Rotenberg has collaborated with other Jewish musicians including Mordechai ben David, Avraham Fried, Yehuda Schechter, Yaakov Shwekey, Moshe Yess and Shlomo Simcha with whom he co-starred in Israel National Radio's Miracles 18 concert.
Rotenberg has also been a main fixture of the annual HASC A Time for Music concerts. He has produced a children's audio series called the Marvelous Midos Machine comprising four volumes, with all original material. Rotenberg said that wanted to raise awareness of different traits inherent in each child through this series.
Writing career
In September 2015, Rotenberg published his first novel, The Season of Pepsi Meyers, a book about an 18-year old Jewish boy playing for the New York Yankees, set in the future (Feldheim Publishers).
In November 2016, Rotenberg released Eliyahu Hanavi, under his full name Avraham Yom Tov Rotenberg, an in-depth analysis of the life of Elijah the Prophet (Mesorah Publishers). Later, it became apparent that this was a mistake in publicity, since most people did not associate him with his full Hebrew name Avrahom Yom Tov, and thought it was another author.
Discography
- Clei Zemer - Ki Lecho Tov Lehodos (Composer and Vocalist) (1971)
- D'veykus: Volumes 1-6 (1973, 1975, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2001)
- Journeys: Volumes 1-4 (1984, 1989, 1992, 2003)
- Lev V'Nefesh: Volumes 1-2 (1990, 1998)
- The Golden Crown (1989)
- The Lost Treasure (2015)
- Aish: Volumes 1-3 (with Shlomo Simcha) (1997, 2003, 2020)
- A Time to Laugh (1988)
- The Marvelous Middos Machine: Volumes 1-4 (1986, 1987, 1988, 2011)
- Kol Salonika - Songs of Shabbos (1977)
- The Place Where I Belong
- Shlomo Carlebach & the Children of Jewish Song sing Ani Maamin (Vocal Arranger) (1975)