Wednesday, March 25, 2020

A Coronavirus Lament: Nobody Comes to the Minyan No More



Getting a quorum of ten every day for early morning or evening services has always been a problem and a subject for discussion in too many synagogues.  Since most shuls have been closed until the coronavirus crisis passes, the situation is affecting many more worshippers.

Now we have a song to add a humorous musical dimension to this unfortunate situation. It's Country Yossi's 2011 song Nobody Comes to the Minyan No More, a parody of Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), one of Harry Belafonte's most popular calypso songs in the 1950's.  

It was written by Joseph Toiv, known professionally as Country Yossi, an American Orthodox Jewish composer, singer, radio show host, author, and magazine publisher. A pioneering composer and singer in the Jewish music genre, Toiv has to his credit three albums as a member of the group Or Chodosh ("New Light") circa 1971–73, seven albums under the name Country Yossi and the Shteeble Hoppers, and a series of six albums for children called Kivi and Tuki. He also released "Country Yossi's Classic Calls" a humorous collection of actual on-air phone calls to his radio show.

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