It was going to be the biggest night of Lipa Shmeltzer's musical career.

The venue was reserved months in advance, thousands of tickets were sold, and hundreds of thousands of dollars had been funneled into organizing what would have been the largest haredi music performance yet.

The "Big Event," scheduled to take place on March 9 was to feature the popular haredi performer live at Madison Square Gardens singing hits from albums such as "Gam Zu Letovah" (This, too, is for the best) or the more recent "Lipa Baderech" (Lipa on the way).

Shmeltzer's albums have gained tremendous popularity within the American Hasidic community due in part to his innovations in fusing traditional Hasidic music with contemporary music styles. But for that very reason his
music has also been criticized and rejected by more conservative elements in the community. Some say he relies too much on the outside world for inspiration, others suggest his music pokes fun at haredi life. But above all haredim are fundamentally suspicious of entertainment for its own sake, because it goes against the very essence of what it means to be haredi.

Rabbis were consulted, and preparations were made to ensure the event was "kosher." Attendees were guaranteed exclusively separate seating for men and women. And the intermission was nixed to avoid unwanted mingling between the sexes.

But despite these precautions, just weeks before the event, two community leaders who oppose this kind of entertainment, Asher Friedman and Avraham
Shor began circulating a petition to ban the event for "lightheartedness" and "immorality." In the end 33 rabbis stunned the public with an announcement, published Feb. 20 in the religious daily Hamodia, prohibiting the concert.

The blogs and radio talk shows were hotbeds of discussion, as people weighed in on whether Shmeltzer and the producer Sheya Mendlowitz should cancel the show. The community was split. Some urged Shmeltzer to continue despite the ban. Many were hesitant to criticize the rabbis but questioned the timing of their announcement and the way the prohibition was handled. Vos Iz Neias (What's New?), a popular religious blog, held a readers poll earlier this week on whether Shmeltzer should pull out.

"In today's GOYISHE world its better to have a concert like the BIG EVENT rather then a real GOYISHE concert RM"L. Don't you think so?" one person wrote on the site.

Another wrote: "If people would taste even just once true spiritual pleasure they would not even entertain the thought of going to such a concert. In today's world every one is pursuing PLEASURE but the true rich pleasures of life are in a daf gemara."

Late Saturday night Shmeltzer signed a pledge that he would not perform, and soon after the concert was officially cancelled. But the decision was not easy. Seventy five percent of the over 5000 tickets were sold, and the show
was expected to sell out.

"I was supposed to make more money from this than from any show I ever made in my life," Shmeltzer told the Hamodia. But "When 33
Rabbanim from different kehillos sign something, it means that Hashem is telling me, 'Lipa stop this concert; I don't want this concert." On a voicemail message on his cell phone Shmeltzer stresses that "Everything is
bashert."

Shmeltzer's response made him even more popular than before, and some went so far as to call him a hero for so quickly catering to the rabbis wishes.

But the brouhaha has continued well into its second week. Many are wondering why the prohibition came at such short notice, and who is to be held responsible for the hundreds of thousands of dollars accrued in losses.

Some suggest that the rabbis were dragged into signing the ban by Friedman and Shor, who petitioned them to sign the document without ever contacting the singer or the producers of the show to express their concerns.

"In the end it narrowed down to two people that went and obtained signatures in a very slimy and shady way, two very dangerous people," said Mendlowtiz, the producer of the show, who has been involved in the haredi music scene for almost 30 years. "If he (Friedman) had a problem with it, he knew about it more than two months ago, he should have called us to discuss it like a mensch, not caused so much chaos and loss of funds."

Mendlowitz says he is owed roughly $700,000. Initially Friedman offered to pay part of that sum, but under the condition that Mendlowitz sign off concerts forever. "Who's he to tell me not to do concerts, this is absolutely ridiculous," said Mendlowtiz. "They want to shut down the Jewish concert business, because they don't feel it's the proper place for their
followers."

Though listening to live concerts with instrumentation for pleasure's sake is technically prohibited in the last section of Hilchot Tisha Be'av, it has never been strictly followed and live performances happen on a weekly basis.

Some say it is Shmeltzer's popularity, and the success of the Big Event that eventually sparked the harsh response. Popular singers are relatively new to the haredi world, and Shmeltzer has become a star in ways never before seen. The popularity he has earned is typically reserved for rabbis, and some think that's where it should remain.

His popularity is also criticized because many of his fans are men and women who grew up haredi but have chosen to stray slightly from the hard-line approach. They may wear their beards a little shorter or keep their sidecurls hidden.

Also at issue is the music itself, which sometimes borrows from non-Jewish sources, and has been perceived at time to poke fun of haredim. Following the ban Shmeltzer agreed to stop singing these songs. "In the end I think
this kol korei (public announcement) gave me an opportunity to turn over a new leaf," Shmeltzer told Hamodia.

It is his pious attitude, and the fact that Shmeltzer is himself haredi, that makes him more threatening than other less haredi singers who have come before. The fear is he is managing to legitimize music and entertainment
many think should remain off-limits.

"I see what I do-performing and helping Yidden besimcha-as a shelichus and I use my talents from Hashem to bring joy to people's lives," Shmeltzer explained in a recent interview with Hamodia. "Obviously many in the frum community don't need me to make them besimcha, but many do. That's whom I speak and sing for."

Some suggest that the cancellation of the Big Event will significantly impact the future of the haredi music scene, but Medlowitz is confident concerts will continue as they have up till now. "There are many rabbis, and I respect all of them, but I have enough to rely on for what I'm doing."

Rabbinic prohibition of chasidic music concert here — 'sin, ribaldry, looseness' — causes furor.

<*>Lipa is sealed: Orthodox singing star Lipa Schmeltzer can't have a Garden party, rabbis decree.

by Hella Winston
Special To The Jewish Week

Did the haredi rabbis go too far this time?

That's the question being asked in some circles after a ban issued by 33 fervently Orthodox rabbinic authorities forced the cancellation of a major charity concert slated to feature chasidic singing sensation Lipa Schmeltzer this week at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

The offense?

That the planned March 9 program — featuring separate seating for men and women and widely billed in Orthodox neighborhoods as ''The Big Event'' (intended to support an all-volunteer organization that funds weddings for Israeli orphans), would cause ''ribaldry and lightheadedness'' and ''strip the youth of every shred of Fear of Heaven and [lower] them into a pit of destruction,'' according to the ban.

Published in Hebrew on Feb.
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20 in the fervently Orthodox newspaper Hamodia, with language lifted from a decree against such events in Israel, the ban also took aim at the ''organizers and singers'' for ''causing the multitudes to sin,'' and warned that they should not be invited to perform at ''any joyous gathering or public appeals for charity,'' imperiling their livelihood.

The ban came as a shock to the event's organizers and performers, who claim they secured rabbinic approval prior to the show's planning, and it led to Schmeltzer feeling pressured to breach his contract and back out, forfeiting his reported $100,000 fee.

Schmeltzer's withdrawal, in turn, forced the event's producer, Sheya Mendlowitz, to cancel the show, which had sold more than 3,000 tickets, incurring losses ''in the realm of $500,000,'' he said, a ''good portion'' of which was fronted to the producers by the charity.

The whole affair has left many in the haredi world perplexed and others angry, prompting a raft of questions about the genesis and execution of the ban itself, and what it might portend for the future of musical entertainment in the community.

It has also caused criticism of the rabbinic leadership, who, it appears, may have been duped into signing the ban, and who, some people believe, are woefully out of touch with their communities.

''How can they do this?'' asked Miriam Hertz, a Brooklyn Bais Yaakov student, on hearing the news. ''What about the poor orphans who need this tzedakah money to get married?''

When approached by The Jewish Week, a Flatbush resident who would identify himself only as Mendy, commented: ''With all the problems our community is grappling with — teens leaving in unprecedented numbers, prominent yeshivas accused of knowingly employing pedophile teachers, chasidim rioting in the streets of Borough Park while their rebbes engage in public court battles over succession, I am astonished that this is the issue these 33 illustrious rabbis have chosen to tackle.

''Our children need an outlet,'' Mendy continued, ''and what could be better than a frum concert? Riots are OK, concerts are ossur [forbidden]?''

The Schmeltzer incident is not the first attempt by rabbinic authorities to raise the barrier between their community and the wider culture, and it seems to highlight the tension in the haredi world over how to deal with elements of modernity seeping into their culture. Bans have been issued against the use of television, the Internet, secular newspapers and certain Jewish books, including one that seemed too close to a Darwinian reading of evolution.

Regarding Schmeltzer, Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is Orthodox, noted, ''there are questions that people have raised. Does this mean the end of concerts? It's not clear. What are the rules?''

He added that it is important for people to have entertainment outlets, ''to enjoy things that are kosher.'' And for a community that worries about losing children to a secular culture viewed as hedonistic, many see the popular chasidic music concerts as a healthy outlet.

But not, apparently, leading rabbinic authorities from the Agudath Israel Council of Torah Sages, Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, the Lakewood Yeshiva, various chasidic sects and others among the rabbinic authorities who signed on to the ban.

Schmeltzer, who lives in Monsey, earns his living primarily by performing at weddings, but his albums have gained widespread popularity among chasidim in large part because he sometimes sets his own Hebrew or Yiddish lyrics, as well as liturgy, to pop music melodies.

His live performances and videos, available on YouTube, often involve dancing — male only — and humor, both of which have drawn the wrath of critics who feel he is ''too goyish.''

His own rebbe's name — The Skverer Rebbe, David Twersky — did not appear on the recent ban.

How did the others come to sign on to it, and without warning Schmeltzer or the concert organizers?

A spokesman for Mendlowitz, the event's producer, said that he believes the rabbis who signed were ''bamboozled'' by extremist activists who disapprove of Schmeltzer's use of non-Jewish melodies and onstage ''antics'' that ''drive the crowds a little wild,'' and who ultimately want to ''stop all concerts.'' 

Such concerts are big business for performers like Mordechai Ben David, Avraham Fried and others.

The spokesman specifically cited Asher Friedman, a Brooklyn resident who heads Nechomas Yisroel, an organization that pays yeshiva tuition for children who would otherwise be forced to go to public school, and Avrohom Schorr, a Flatbush rabbi, as the instigators of the ban. Mendlowitz's representative believes that Friedman, with Schorr's backing, obtained the signatures by using some manner of deception to get the first few rabbis to sign on, and then used those signatures to persuade others to add their names as well.

Numerous calls to Friedman went unreturned, and Schorr, when reached at home, told The Jewish Week that he was ''not available to answer questions over the phone.'' When asked if he would answer questions in person, Schorr said that he was going out of town for ''a couple of weeks.''

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky, rosh yeshiva of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia and one of the signatories to the ban, admitted that the rabbis who signed it did not consult with one another. When asked about the ban's origins, Rabbi Kamenetsky was vague, saying only that ''it seems there was some input from Israel.'' He added that he did not think this ban would affect other concerts, because it was issued specifically ''for a certain looseness.'' 

His assessment seems to be contradicted by an advertisement published on Feb. 27 in Hamodia, signed by eight of the 33 rabbis, praising Schmeltzer for backing out of the New York event and another one planned in London, and supporting a ban on all future concerts. Indeed, radio show host Zev Brenner told The Jewish Week that he is ''hearing through the grapevine that this ban is chilling any future concerts [and might] seriously affect the Passover entertainment and concert scene.''

Numerous other signatories were contacted but would not comment or did not return calls.

There are those in the fervently Orthodox community who believe that, while the rabbis might have been misled about some of the specifics, they were well aware of what they were doing when they signed the ban.

Binyamin Jolkovsky, publisher of JewishWorldReview.com and a close observer of the haredi community, said he believes the rabbis intend to ''put a stop'' to ''the cultural trend'' within the Orthodox community that emulates secular society, complete with music ''superstars and concerts and Madison Square Garden and billboards.

''It's one thing when you have the music on when you're eating dinner, or while you're driving,'' he said. ''It's another when you're on Avenue M [in Brooklyn] and see this chasidic face with curly payes staring down at you. It's enough. If there is anyone whose picture belongs on a billboard to literally look up to, it should be a rebbe [not] a chasidic singer, and they're putting an end to it.''

While legal issues regarding the concert cancellation are sure to go on — and the rabbis are now urging ticket holders for The Big Event not to request refunds so that the charity will receive the money — one observer of Jewish life noted that, ironically, the whole affair might boost Schmeltzer's career.

Marc Shapiro, a professor of Judaic studies at the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania, pointed out that previous rabbinic bans, like those against certain books, have spurred increased interest, and sales, for the books.

''I think 50 percent of the people went out to get them just because they were banned'' and the other half adhered to the prohibition, he said.

But Schmeltzer doesn't seem to feel that way. Interviewed on Zev Brenner's radio show, he said he felt he had no choice but to obey the ban. ''I have a career,'' he said. ''I have a wife and kids to support, I have a mortgage to pay. I have to get out of the fire.''

Hella Winston, a sociologist, is the author of ''Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels.''