200,000 listeners to the religious Kol B’Rama radio station hear R’ Ami Maimon every day, during the afternoon peak listening hours. He passes the time with Torah quizzes, parsha material and Chassidic songs. From Ami’s perspective, the radio program is a tool for hafatzas ha’maayanos and a way to publicize the Rebbe’s messages. * His programs are upbeat and include thoughts from the HaYom Yom and ideas from the Rebbe’s sichos. They have inspired many people to learn the daily Chumash as the Rebbe wants. * In this interview with Beis Moshiach, Ami tells about his shlichus in the media and about his sick son.
Israeli radio broadcaster Gabi Gazit visited the religious radio studio of Kol B’Rama in B’nei Brak recently. Quotes from Gazit have filled many a headline in the religious newspapers, for he sees himself as an anti-chareidi (anti ultra-Orthodox) warrior in the war against chareidim.
However, this visit was conciliatory, which is why the directors of the station invited Gazit during the broadcast of the program Chidodon with Ami Maimon. They were convinced that Maimon, with his personable style, would be able to melt the tough Gazit. Within minutes, Gazit was working along with Maimon and appearing on the broadcast in the middle of the program.
This visit was just another example of the success of one of the most popular radio programs in the religious sector. Regular listeners to the program know that behind the microphone sits a Lubavitcher Chassid, who considers his work in radio as shlichus. Maybe that is the secret to the success of the program that has earned high ratings, even bypassing some of the best programs on Israeli radio.
SHLICHUS IN RADIO
Ami Maimon is an unusual figure in the world of religious broadcasting, and certainly in the world of Israeli broadcasting in general. Despite his dizzying success which translates into hundreds of thousands of listeners every day, he is unwilling to allow this to affect his life one iota. If you were to ask him, his work is his shlichus.
When I asked him how he got to such a prominent position, he told his story and explained that it all came from his being a Chassid who wanted to do his shlichus.
“We lived in Bat Yam, outside of the Chabad community, but my parents gave each of my brothers Lubavitcher names like Shneur Zalman and Menachem Mendel.”
His parents are mekuravim of Chabad and he was sent to Chabad schools. He went on to Tomchei T’mimim in Kiryat Gat and became a full-fledged Lubavitcher. When he finished the yeshiva program he wrote to the Rebbe that he had a nice shidduch offer even though he was only eighteen, as is customary among Sephardim. He said that he had met the girl whom he liked and he asked if he should get married.
A few days later, R’ Groner, the Rebbe’s secretary, called him and conveyed the Rebbe’s answer: Haskama and bracha and don’t postpone the wedding.
Two months later the happy couple stood under the chuppa. They went on shlichus to a moshav in the south where they opened a Chabad House and devoted themselves to the people in the area. They were successful and started a series of shiurim, but after two years they were called back to Ami’s hometown to help with the shlichus in Bat Yam. After consulting with mashpiim and friends, the Maimons packed up and moved to Bat Yam where they are part of the nucleus of the Chabad community there.
Ami organized the Chabad House’s major events and the idea came up of starting a musical production which would also support their shlichus activities.
“I wrote to the Rebbe through the Igros Kodesh and I opened to an answer with the words ‘marbin b’simcha’ (increase in joy) at the top of the page. The letter was all about good news and the words ‘mevaser tov’ (bearer of good tidings) appeared a number of times. I decided to get to work, and I called the recording studio that I set up Mevaser Tov.”
Ami continued thinking about how to get the Rebbe’s message out on a national scale. Religious radio stations were developing at this time and there were many devoted to Torah lectures. Ami offered a daily program to one of the stations for the bein ha’z’manim (intersession) period, with Torah quiz games. They accepted his suggestion and he got to work. Tens of thousands of listeners loved the program.
The listeners did not necessarily know that most of the questions asked in the quiz were taken from the Rebbe’s teachings. For example, questions the Rebbe raises on Rashi in Chumash starred in the program with B’nei Torah from all over the country trying to resolve the questions. At the end of the week, the answers were given from Likkutei Sichos.
“I started saying how important it is to learn Chumash every day without saying that it’s a horaa from the Rebbe. I would say ‘as our Rebbeim the N’siim say,’ and mention things from that day’s Rashi. I soon received a lot of feedback from people who began absorbing the message that we are instructed to learn the daily portion of Chumash with Rashi.”
PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR OPTIMISM
After the ultra-Orthodox pirate radio stations (which the ultra-Orthodox tend to refer to as “Arutzei HaKodesh,” the sacred stations) were closed by the government, Kol B’Rama started four years ago. Ami was invited to join the staff. He says that when he went for an interview and the manager discovered that he was a Lubavitcher, he asked, “Are you a Meshichist?” When Ami said yes, the manager said, “You’re hired.” He didn’t even ask for the usual pilot program.
“I brought the concept from the radio program that I had done Bein Ha’z’manim. We started a program that combines Torah concepts, but it’s presented in a fun, light way. My goal is to make people happy; people enjoy the upbeat style. After a few weeks, I was called by the manager who told me that the program would be given two hours instead of one hour.”
Ratings jumped and showed that people enjoy a quality program that presents material in a cheerful way.
“Every listener knows the line from the HaYom Yom: ‘A neshama descends to the world for 70-80 years in order to do a favor for a fellow Jew, etc.’ It’s a key line that I always repeat and try to live. I decided to start the program with the goal of making people happy. That is all I wanted. So this program is the happiest one on the station. I constantly try to encourage people and bring them simcha. Listeners are regularly exposed to ideas from Chassidus about simcha.”
The TGI poll shows, time after time, that the program beats out the programs on the official Israeli radio channels.
I asked Ami how he continues to view this work as a shlichus despite the praise. He said, “I’ll give you an example of what the program is like and you’ll see what I mean when I talk about shlichus. The Rebbe spoke often about there being six constantly obligatory mitzvos (cited in the introduction to Seifer HaChinuch). Someone told me that the Rebbe mentions this in fifty sichos and I had to bring this to the awareness of my listening audience.
“I thought about what he said. We decided to do a serious production and invited all the leading Chassidic singers to record 27 compositions on this topic. We did a huge performance and produced a CD with the songs. Throughout this time, any listener who called in was asked ‘What are the six constantly obligatory mitzvos?’ and whoever knew the answer got a ticket to the performance or got the CD. It was a hit which really excited the listeners and got the Rebbe’s message out.
“The daily program is full of thoughts from the Rebbe. Every week, questions are posed from Rashi sichos. I am shocked to discover learned people who don’t know these simple answers. Then there are the Lubavitchers who know what I’m up to and they look up the answers in the sichos and answer correctly. There is a rosh kollel from B’nei Brak who always calls to respond to questions. He enjoys the Torah discussion that takes place on a high level. Over time, he became convinced of the importance of learning Rashi and today he encourages his talmidim to learn it too.
“There are other ways to bring the Rebbe’s message in a broadcast. For example, if there is a halachic question about the international dateline, then I say, ‘For example, if someone flies to the Rebbe…’ In conversations with listeners too, they often get to hear what the Rebbe has to say along with Chassidic thoughts. I know that thanks to the segment Rosh B’Rashi, which is about that day’s Rashis, many people have begun learning Chumash daily.”
WHY DON’T YOU SAY THAT YOU CHEER PEOPLE UP?
“This program is meant to bring joi de vivre to people and that is why it’s successful,” says Ami. He said that one time he wrote to the Rebbe about some personal matters and opened to an answer in which the Rebbe wondered why he did not say that he cheered people up. Ami told me about a lot of feedback from the general public who are not religiously observant, who tell him that they listen to his program every afternoon. The reason, he thinks, is that people relate to positive messages and enjoy the general atmosphere.
“I try to see to it that everyone will have a point in the program that he can relate to, and it’s all infused with the Rebbe’s shlichus. There is always an emphasis on positive messages, on the topic of Ahavas Yisroel, on ideas from the parsha from the Rebbe’s teachings to repeat at the Shabbos table. There is also an emphasis on the topic of shleimus ha’aretz. I often dedicate songs to politicians who defend shleimus ha’aretz in order to support them.”
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Today, the listening audience consists of over 200,000 people every day. They include public figures, people in the media, and rabbanim. Ami is convinced that the program’s success is thanks to the Rebbe’s shlichus. “It’s like the Rebbe is saying to me, you do hafatzas ha’maayanos and I’ll take care of the rest; and it works.”
In addition to Ami’s regular broadcasts, he tries to convey Chabad values in special broadcasts that take place on special days in the Chabad calendar when he hosts mashpiim for farbrengens on the air. Each of these farbrengens deals with the message of the day. He regularly invites Chabad musician Avi Piamenta and R’ Avishai Efargun along with mashpiim and guest lecturers who create a farbrengen in the studio.
Even the programs for Yemei hilula for those who are not Lubavitch are connected with Chabad. For example, in the broadcast for the hilula of Baba Sali zt”l in Netivot, the emphasis was on the special relationship between Baba Sali and the Rebbe. For last year’s hilula of the Arizal on 5 Av, Ami brought on the air Chabad activists involved in good works and spreading the wellsprings, who spoke about publicizing the teachings of the holy Ari. These programs are immensely popular, cause a great Kiddush Hashem, and show the special connection between various tzaddikim and the teachings of Chabad.
THE WAY TO FIGHT AN ILLNESS: ADD MORE SIMCHA!
When you meet Ami Maimon, you meet a happy Chassid who puts a smile on hundreds of thousands of faces every day. You still see the simcha and smile even when he talks about his son who is suffering from a rare illness, and has been undergoing difficult medical treatment for years now. He speaks about this with the same simcha and emuna.
Of his 18 children, one of the younger ones was diagnosed with a terrible illness when he was four and the doctors have not been able to cure him. The illness causes foods not to break down in the body. The child stopped eating as a result, and IV and other treatments have been used.
What did you think when you found out about your son’s rare disease?
“Just simcha,” said Ami unhesitatingly. “We knew that there is just one way to heal him and that is through simcha. The illness developed in stages. At first, he began limping a little, and then he stopped eating, until he was finally hospitalized. After a number of weeks of being in the hospital, the doctors did not find a cure. They told me one day, as I was broadcasting, that the doctors said he is on his deathbed. I told my listeners that there is a very sick boy in the hospital and I described his condition. Then I said it was my son.
“I told the listeners that I wasn’t asking for any money since, unfortunately, there is no cure or operation that can save him. I asked them to rent the heavens with their prayers. I began to enlist volunteers to undertake the saying of T’hillim, all this being done live.
“Two weeks later, my son was released from the hospital. He suffers from partial paralysis, he does not speak and cannot eat normally, but we know we have a great gift. He taught our family an enormous lesson. I watch my children, see how they care for him and how they treat him, and I know he is a gift.
“During the many weeks we were in the hospital, we turned the department into a mivtzaim center and a place of simcha. We intended to strengthen others but were strengthened ourselves. We did activities with children, Shabbos meals, farbrengens, menorah lighting, and more. We put t’fillin on with all the staff members and sent all the mezuzos in that department to be checked. Throughout this time, we continued having him wash his hands at the bedside, daven three t’fillos a day, and do all the things a parent would do with a Chassidishe child.”
The child was released after three months, but Ami did not forget the other children in the ward. Every Yom Tov he does a live broadcast from the pediatric ward of Tel HaShomer hospital, and hosts singers and entertainers to cheer the kids up.
“When my son was in the hospital, many people asked me how I managed to live in two worlds, i.e. doing upbeat broadcasts every day and then going to the hospital to sleep at his bedside at night. I explained that I don’t have two worlds, because we brought this simcha to the hospital too. I think he feels this love and it gives him the ability to fight the illness.”
Ami became aware of the work of Yad L’Yeled HaMeyuchad of Aguch in Eretz Yisroel. He was amazed by the services they provide families with children with special needs and decided to get involved. The main thing Ami does is arrange the musical events for the special-needs children, which include programs with the biggest names in Jewish music. Some of the events were broadcast live to hundreds of thousands of listeners. One of these events is the annual Simchas Beis HaShoeiva that the organization does.
In Ami’s office are many plaques given to him in recognition of his work for various non-profits. A significant portion of his broadcasts are dedicated to acts of chesed and extending a hand to the seriously ill. In one case, he was able to raise money on his broadcasts to cover all the expenses for a Lubavitcher who was stricken with a life-threatening illness and had to be flown abroad for a complicated operation. The man is now a happy father who works in spreading Torah and Chassidus.
THE POWER OF FAITH
Over the years, R’ Ami has made connections with many Israeli cultural icons whom he convinces to increase in mitzvos and learn about Judaism. There is a singer by the name of Kobi Aflalo who said, while on Ami’s broadcast, that he was committing to keeping Shabbos and putting on t’fillin every day. He was simply won over by what was said. In other cases, journalists who went to the station for the purpose of writing up a negative article were charmed by the program and ultimately wrote a flattering article.
How do you explain your success in conveying messages that don’t always go over so easily?
“The greater the emuna a person presents, the greater his impact on others and the likelihood that the other person will accept what he has to say. If a person is confident, and he presents what he has to say confidently and with emuna, it will be accepted. I have many listeners who are B’nei Torah and when they meet people who speak their language there is no reason for them not to accept what he is saying. I have often brought up Moshiach-related topics and I have presented the halachic angle of the Rambam. When it is done with expertise in the material, the listeners are receptive. People hear that you are a rational person and hold a respected position, and it makes them receptive to what you have to offer. I often have discussions about Moshiach on my broadcasts from the halachic perspective, and it makes people realize there is whole world here for them to learn.
“For example, I once asked a question that the Rebbe raises in a sicha: Who gives a king a haircut? The king must have a haircut every day, but nobody is allowed to give him that haircut. People walked around with that question for days until they finally found the answer. The answer is, someone from the Malchus Yisroel would give a haircut to the king from Malchus Dovid, and someone from Malchus Dovid would give a haircut to the king of Malchus Yisroel.
“What stood out in this discussion was that we will imminently merit the Geula and so the question is a practical one. It got people to see that there is a whole range of Torah topics that relate to Moshiach and Geula.”
Another aspect of Ami’s success has to do with the many Chabad niggunim that have gone main-stream.
“One day, I remembered a niggun from the Chassidim of the Tzemach Tzedek and I played it. People loved it and I began playing it on every show. I wanted people in the religious world to recognize the niggun. Today, nearly all the religious radio stations play it and people are dancing to this Chabad niggun.”
Ami has siyumim every day during the Three Weeks, as the Rebbe says to do.
“People at the station know that I don’t go on vacation at this time, because it is important to me that there be a siyum every day. The listeners take part in the siyumim and fulfill the Rebbe’s horaa.”
Ami started it and now other religious radio stations have broadcasts during the Three Weeks. It has become what people expect at this time of year.
In conclusion:
“It is time that we brought the Rebbe to every single Jew and we have the ability to do so. It’s a question of wanting to and putting in the effort. If you really want it, you can bring the Rebbe’s message in a most dignified manner. We have a message to convey to the world. Let’s not sleep on the job.”