War On Gravity - Poem

Dear Reader,

The following introduction to this weeks poem is quite lengthy. It is this way, just so you have as much background as I could give you, for you to understand the concept behind this weeks poem.

I hope you enjoy the reading of both of them,

Yitzy Schweitzer


This past Sunday, the world of Jewish Music welcomed the debut album of Chananya Rotenberg. If that last name sounds in anyway familiar, it should. Chananya is the son of the legendary singer, composer, lyricist and author Abie Rotenberg, one Jewish Music's most recognizable, respected, admired and beloved personalities out there. Think of the Dveykus albums, the Journeys productions, the countless performances on the HASC Concerts, and even for younger listeners, the Marvelous Middos Machine albums, Abie Rotenberg has achieved legendary status for good reason.

Now, we welcome the next Rotenberg. The next trailblazer, a new carrier of the torch, if you will.

Chananya Rotenberg made his debut as a composer in 2020, on the comeback third volume of Abie Rotenberg & Shlomo Simcha's well-known Aish series by composing the song "Kishoshana". He than wrote and composed a number of the songs for the comeback fifth volume of Abie's "Journeys" series, which were "Journey at Sea", "My Little Town".

Now, after years of hard work, dedication and care, Chananya finally has just released his own album of original lyrics and compositions. Featuring an all-star cast of singers alongside Chananya, this album, titled "War On Gravity" is well-worth the listen. It could even be said that this project could very well be a sixth volume of Journeys songs.

The writing and compositions on this album really remind me of a "Journeys Volume 2" Abie, while also adding some new flavors to the mix, by taking inspiration from some of the top songwriters out there today to create a new, fresh and exciting listen that will surely leave you inspired.

With all of that, however, I want to turn your attention to the album's title, which, as I mentioned is "War On Gravity." While there is no song on the track list named such and there is no mention of the phrase in any of the songs, the reason Chananya gave for why he named the album this way is because of gravity being the way people describe the battle between the Yetzer Hara & Yetzer Tov - a constant war between the pulls of good and bad.

It is this picture I wanted to capture while writing this weeks poem, which finally after this lengthy introduction I now humbly invite you to read.

I hope you enjoy it,

All the best,

Yitzy Schweitzer

War On Gravity - Poem

I am feeling compelled to go in the ways of my past,
Towards the ways of the person I was before I changed,
I feel the pull of the rope of sin urging to me to move,
But I know the rope snap, leave me stranded and ashamed.

I am feeling the warmth of the light that I know well,
A path of the soul, where darkness is but just a dream,
I feel the call of the goodness, my real self is whispering my name,
This is a choice tearing me apart, nothing is what it seems.

This is a war of good and evil, one we fight every day,
We have a chance to climb higher, or to fall down and fall away,
We have a choice to cling to His rope, to the path where all is clear,
Or we can let go and slip from His grasp, into a land of hurt and fear.
This inner battle rages within us, every side pulling the chord,
A splendid sunrise mixed with merciless rain and terrifying storms,
This is a war between the pull of goodness to the pull of evil and lunacy,
We fight each day, to keep hold of our rope, in this war on gravity.

Illuminated hallways, beckon me to come closer,
While diamond-laden roads wish to me travel upon them,
Portraits of the holy ones, promise to guide me towards greatness,
But the shine and sparkle of weapons so sharp, entice me towards them.

I feel the balloon I am holding to rise towards infinity,
But the forces are working against it, I sense a fall soon will come,
The air is calm, the breeze peaceful, the world feels right,
But all it takes is one wrong move, for clouds to cover the sun.

This is a war of good and evil, one we fight every day,
We have a chance to climb higher, or to fall down and fall away,
We have a choice to cling to His rope, to the path where all is clear,
Or we can let go and slip from His grasp, into a land of hurt and fear.
This inner battle rages within us, every side pulling the chord,
A splendid sunrise mixed with merciless rain and terrifying storms,
This is a war between the pull of goodness to the pull of evil and lunacy,
We fight each day, to keep hold of our rope, in this war on gravity. 

This war is one our forefathers waged before us in time,
We will not be the first ones to fall, nor the first to rise,
We understand the tests are true, reality does not tell falsehoods,
Its up to us, to do what we can, to do all we could.