End of an Era on “HaMevaker”: Natanel Leifer Says Goodbye, and the Next Star to Watch
Music critic Natanel Leifer is saying farewell to the program “HaMevaker” after seven and a half years and more than 400 episodes, as he hosts veteran media figure Kobi Sela for an in-depth conversation about Jewish music. Watch the full episode (HaMevaker)
End of an Era on “HaMevaker”: Natanel Leifer Says Goodbye, and the Next Star to Watch
After seven and a half years and more than 400 programs, music presenter Natanel Leifer is bidding farewell to the culture and music program “HaMevaker” on the “Kikar HaShabbat” website. In the festive final episode, Leifer hosted veteran radio broadcaster and media personality Kobi Sela in the studio, where he has been broadcasting music charts for 32 consecutive years. The two delved into a fascinating in-depth conversation about the evolution of Hasidic and Jewish music, comparing the music industry of the past with that of today.
Sela noted that in the past, producing an album required enormous financial investment, which served as a kind of filter for the quality of the material, unlike the ease with which songs can be produced today. “Today it is really, really easy to make music, and there is a price for that,” Sela explained. “When it is very easy to do and you do not have that dramatic filter of the $50,000... then you come across a lot of material that will not hold up for the next 30 years.”
The conversation also turned to the dramatic change in the audience’s listening habits. The panel nostalgically recalled the days when buying an album was an event in itself, involving a trip to the store, buying a cassette or CD, and listening all the way through. Leifer described it by saying, “Back when an album came out, you would go, take the cassette or... that CD, put it on the system, play it over and over until you knew every sound... sitting with the lyrics booklet and reading.” Sela, by contrast, pointed to today’s hectic streaming culture: “I heard it on Spotify, and there... you listen to what you want and very quickly you move on to another song.” In their view, this quick transition results in less respect and appreciation for the work itself.
Toward the end of the program, Sela praised Leifer for the significant mark he left on the sector’s music industry and for the platform he gave artists at the start of their careers. “When I brought Akiva onto my program, or Shmuel... nobody knew them, they had one and a half songs out,” Leifer said about his ability to identify new talent. “I recognized something in his vibe and said, this is a guy who can succeed, and there are quite a few like that whom you could really see grow over the years.”
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Sela, for his part, summed up Leifer’s work and emphasized the professional standard the program set: “Your angle at Kikar HaShabbat and the finger you placed on all kinds of artists... and that standard you actually established and maintained, it made sense to a lot of people... You left a mark on this industry, and I also want to thank you for all these years in which you helped music grow, develop, and reach places it had not reached.”
When Sela himself was asked about a future musical promise worth watching, he pointed to singer Aviram Shukron as someone with “everything needed to be what you and I mean.”
Leifer closed the program on a personal and moving note to the site’s readers who accompanied him over the years, through pandemics and wars. “Thank you for being with me for more than 400 programs. Corona, war, another war, another war... we were there the whole time, and באמת thank you for being with me,” Leifer said, and he asked to reassure his viewers about the future: “Thank you to the people of Kikar HaShabbat, thank you to all the many producers who worked with me over the years... I am not going anywhere. God willing, you will see me here and in other places too, Kikar HaShabbat is my home.” Watch the full program at the beginning of the article.
