In my mother’s shul there is a lady there who loves to sing the davening. My mother says she has a beautiful voice, and my mother sits relatively close to her so she can hear and enjoy her davening. To quote my mother, “listening to her makes my davening special and meaningful”.

Last Shabbat a visitor came to the shul, and at some point (though unclear to me when) he respectfully asked her not to sing so loud because it was affecting his kavanah.

The above is not the point of this post, so do not comment on it.

I’m writing about Eliyahu Faizkov, apparently a 20-year old falsetto of the Chareidi persuasion.

Now I’ve never heard the kid sing, so I can’t comment on his voice or capabilities, but he is causing quite a stir in the Chareidi community. His songs were played on the radio. He’s becoming a hit – though his own mother didn’t know that was he and his songs on the air that she was listening to.

Of course, “was” is the key word here because Eliyahu is a radio star no more.

It seems listeners have been getting confused when his voice stirred up something in them and demanded he be taken off the air – he sings like a (shhhhh) girl (which I assume is a step up from hitting like a girl).

Personally, I can’t stand the children’s choirs and backgrounds – a cheap imitation of the female voice (hate the accents too). But I guess for some it works. Though it didn't help us in Eurovision 2 years ago either.

Anyway, this seems kind of unfair.

Would you call the problem “Maaris Ozen”?