Neta Levin, a leading Chareidi music producer, announced on Monday that following consultations with Gedolei Yisrael, he has informed the production team that he is canceling the mega Chanukah concert featuring Shmulik Sukkot.
The concert, which was scheduled for Motzaei Shabbos Chanukah at the Jerusalem Arena, was to be held for men and women, but with a full mechitza.
The reason for the cancellation is pressure from Rabbanim to refrain from holding concerts for both men and women, even with a mechitza, due to the inherent michsholim.
Levin will incur a heavy financial loss, as he will have to reimburse 7,000 ticket holders.
In a post published by Levin, he wrote, “Just as one receives reward for acting, so one receives reward for refraining. After in-depth consultations and discussions with Gedolei Yisrael, the leaders of the community whose guidance we follow and in whose direction we walk, I decided to act and influence the event producers to cancel the planned Shmulik Sukkot concert at the Arena on Motzaei Chanukah.”
“We see ourselves as subordinate to their opinion, as dust at their feet, and we will act in accordance with their directives. Yehi Ratzon that we be Mekadesih Shem Shamayim in all our actions.”
He also apologized to the many thousands of ticket holders: “We apologize from the depths of our hearts to the thousands who purchased tickets (their money will be fully refunded) for the agmas nefesh. We are confident that the decision to obey the directive of Gedolei Yisrael is understood and accepted by the public.”
A concert by singer Naftali Kempeh, planned on a smaller scale at Binyanei HaUma, was also recently canceled for the same reason. Initially, only the women’s section of the concert was canceled, but after public uproar over the event being restricted to men, it was ultimately called off entirely.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
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30 Responses
We all have something to learn from this. Especially the commenters here who spend their lives saying and doing the opposite
Kiddush Hashem? More like Motzi La’az Al HaRishonim
“We see ourselves as subordinate to their opinion, as dust at their feet, and we will act in accordance with their directives.
So why didn’t they ask FIRST?
The end result will be that producers will make concerts for men only and women will never get a chance to go to any concerts. Is that acceptable?
!תבוא עליו ברכה
Should be canceled just by the fact that you have a secular singer dressed up as a charaidy
Why is this a Kiddush Hashem?
Call me a shegitz, but I am having a hard time seeing the kidush Hashem in all this.
Soo what didthe gedolei Yisrael say when this concert was first proposed to them? This is not the first concert made for both men and women. Were the others also not kosher? Was there some new revelation in 2025 that concerts are not good for the Jews ? Have they always been wrong? Something does not make sense.
Being a men who never attended a concert, can somebody explain the problem of a separate seating concert?
What has changed to make such events assur? In the past, such events were considered completely fine – now they’re forbidden? The vague “inherent michsholim” are mentioned s if they’re obvious to all – but they’re not.
Suddenly assering things that were previously considered completely muttar without a clear and understandable reason is not a good thing.
an Israeli Yid
What’s the big deal if there is a Mechitza? What would the problem be?
perhaps the gedolei yisrael can perform an even greater kiddush hashem and reimburse him for his losses?
The leftists don’t protect women’s rights, they violate men’s rights and gain nothing for the women.
Shloime, perhaps the Gedolei Yisroel should come to you for mussar? Apparently, you, sitting on your phone/computer commenting on Yeshivah World, are in a better place spiritually than people who dedicate every minute of their day to Torah and to Klal Yisroel.
So now we have a chumrah that is becoming a new standard. What has changed other than the need to show that someone is more frum than the next guy?
Obviously the rabbis have seen this play out before and they know that these venues tend to bring out the Hangouts, and many people in the other areas congregating without mechitza, and then those youngsters who will exploit the event to make it a frat party outside or whatever young people do. You could stick your head in the sand but the rabbis knew what they were talking about when it came to the internet and smartphones and they sure know what they’re talking about here too. Angry people will just pick on anything they say because they don’t want to follow the torah’s guidelines
frummer than thou narishkeit by wanna be be gedolim
These concerts (even men only) are really not a good thing adn should be discouraged.
All men? No mechitzah? You know how much Shidduch crisis of thousands unmarried, and increase of gays and molestations of boys is happening in Klal Yisroel due to this extreme separation?
Maybe we should be even more frum and have all-male neighborhoods
Maybe we should be even drummer, and have all-male country, and women should go to another country
I think this situation needs perspective. Most importantly, the producer deserves accolades, because he is following the leaders of Klal Yisroel and thereby incurring much potential loss to himself. He will definitely receive reward from Above for this. However, it’s hard to understand where our leaders are coming from. There is really no clear precedent, as noted by many commenters above. If the leaders had issues with a concert in the city of Jerusalem, that may have ancient precedent, but it still would need some explanation, since it is a custom that hasn’t been adhered to for many years. Perhaps they feel that the current matzav in eretz Yisroel is such that it behooves the tzibbur to accept more restrictions and chumros, but that is not likely given the way this entire chumra has coalesced. So, I’m at a loss to understand this. But kudos to Levin, that’s for sure.
we need a kol kora banning all concerts all the time, what is the makor for having concerts? Its not a Yiddisha zach, you have extra time? go to beis medrash, you think in Novardok they had concerts?
Whoever bashes the decision is basically saying they have no respect for Gedolai Yisroel.
Just because you don’t understand the decision doesn’t make it wrong. You might be used to sayings from Gedolim that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside – like “Torah Wellsprings” by Reb Elimelech Biderman – but guess what? Sometimes we need pushback. A lot of you guys would be the ones publicly denouncing Mordechai Hatzadik’s directive not to go to seudas Achashveirosh – yet now you agree with it! The fact that we are thousands of years later makes no difference – our mesorah is to listen to the gedolim – “asher yihiyeh bayomim haheim” (the gedolim that we have with us now).
So how exactly is singing at a Chasuna different than a concert with a mechitza?
myopin is right-if youre a humble yirei shamayim who professes to follow daas Torah, whom the Torah commands us to listen even if they tell you youre right hand is your left, apparently some of you are naive and dont understand what may be going on after or during the concerts between genders or some of the rotten or misguided apples not being tznius and causing a variety of stumbling blocks for males, particularly the males who are not yet sufficiently inspired to maintain kedusha or gedarim, or even looking for “trouble”
In other news, all shuls have been closed down as they too have a mechitza.
Shopping malls should be closed as well as men and woman walk amongst each other with no mechitza.
why could not they have a concert just for ladies?
Why study and learn so much if it doesn’t teach you how to live in this world ? If you are frum but can’t handle ever seeing a woman, then become a monk or a priest, because you have no tools to make you into a mensch that can handle life. If you are a man and need to be holding hands with men at all times and kept in severe control of you to lock you away from dealing with how to live in the world, then learning is useless for you
Leahleh,
There are two tools we use Asei tov and Sur Meira. It’s not enough to learn etc. and hope you’ll be fine. Without learning you have no shot -but it’s not enough. You still need to put in safeguards in order to have adequate protection. This is not my opinion – this is the way Hashem created the world – like it or not.