Avraham Fried performed at the Richmond Hall in Toronto where he uplifted the crowds and danced with a young chosson who was drafted right before his wedding.
It was a sold out crowd at The Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts as the Richmond Hill and greater Toronto communities came out to celebrate the seventh night of Chanukah with a spirited “United in Song” Avraham Fried Concert.
The event was produced and organized by Rabbi Shlomo Vorovitch, sponsored By Chabad Romano Centre, Laurie Kroft and Mayor David West of Richmond Hill.
During the concert, Avraham Fried spontaneously invited an individual in the crowd to join him in singing the next song, “Aderabeh.” To everyone’s surprise, he selected Avi Balter from the crowd, unaware of the remarkable story behind Avi.
Just a few months earlier, during Chol Hamoed Sukkos, Avi had survived a life-threatening accident. Despite the challenges, his passion for singing and his dream of sharing the stage with a star like Avraham Fried persisted. On Shabbos Chanukah, a Kiddush Seudos Hadoah was held in Avi’s honor, where he quoted a line from Avraham Fried’s song “My Fellow Jew”: “The greatest miracle of all is a fellow Jew.”
While Avi’s father was thinking of arranging a surprise for his son – a duet between Avi and Avraham Fried, he decided not to proceed. However, in a twist of fate Be’Hashgacha Pratis, Avraham Fried spontaneously chose Avi from the audience to join him on stage and fulfill his dream of singing a song together.
Another beautiful moment at the concert was when Avraham Fried shared a touching story about an IDF soldier named Ben Shahin.
Ben’s engagement plans were disrupted when he was drafted after the October 7th massacre. A volunteer’s idea led to a wedding on base near Gaza on November 5th. Later, a wedding ceremony in Toronto hosted by Chabad Romano was planned when Ben returned home for a few weeks.
Avraham Fried danced with Ben at the concert to honor him and all IDF soldiers.
The audience was enthusiastic and excitedly sang along with many of Avraham Fried’s hits including “Abba” and the popular song “Kol Haolam Kulo” As the concert reached its ending, Avraham Fried sang his beautiful song “Tanyeh” with the local Chazzan Chaim Freund.
The success of the event was a testament to the collaborative efforts of Chabad Romano Centre, led by Rabbi Mendel and Toby Bernstein, Rabbi Shlomo and Ella Vorovitch, and Rabbi Yossi and Mushka Bernstein.
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