About a year and a half ago, I was asked to play at our local Chabad Purim party. As I was building the playlist for the Purim party with the singer, he suggested “Machshavot Tovot.” I told him I had never heard of that song. “Are you serious?!” he asked me. “It’s a big hit now in weddings both in Israel and in America!” He told me to find the song on YouTube and listen to it. And indeed from the first time I listened to it, I liked it. A very upbeat song, with a fun rhythm and a positive message – positive thinking. Simple, yet powerful. No wonder I wasn’t the only one who liked it from the first time I heard it.
That is how I was introduced to “Machshavot Tovot.” After hearing it, I started looking for the chords online. Motty Weiss, who is the singer behind the hit, is a very nice person. So he put on his website the lyrics and the chords to his songs. (By the way, if you want the original scale, you should look on websites such as tab4u, as Motty put an easy version on his website so everyone, even beginners, could easily play the song.) Since then, I have followed Motty and his music.
Recently he came out with a new album. So it was a good reason to reach out and speak to him about his music, about the story behind “Machshavot Tovot,” about the new album, and also about music in general. I always enjoy discussing music with other musicians. Often when I interview musicians for the column, I sometimes find myself getting into conversation about music beyond what I’m writing about. And Motty knows about music. He’s been involved it in for many years.
I asked him how he got into music. “You don’t choose music,” says Motty. “Music chooses you. Even when you try to switch fields, you always return to music.”
Motty was born and raised in a chasidic family. His father is a Viznitz chassid who went to learn in the Lakewood Yeshiva. His mother is originally from New York. She only wanted to marry someone who learned in Lakewood. After the wedding, they moved to Israel.
As a kid, Motty used to listen at home to the Kinderlach Band. His mom liked to listen to Yerachmiel Begun. Later, Motty started to listen to Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach music, Shuli Rand, and Ravid Plotnik.
When Motty was nine years old, he convinced his mother to purchase a keyboard for him. His mother told him that the music teacher is not interested in teaching boys because they lose interest after two days. They’re not serious. The girls stay with it longer. But the teacher agreed to give Motty a chance. Motty was serious and learned the keyboard for three years. Apparently, he was the only boy she took on.
When Motty was 12, he went to yeshiva. He was not allowed to play music in the yeshiva so he had to leave music behind. But in the end, the music won and somehow he was able, after a while, to continue to play. When he was 15 or 16, he realized that he wanted to pursue music seriously. That this is his passion. He switched to a yeshiva gedolah, where he was allowed to play music. He used to play from 11 a.m. in the morning until 11 p.m. at night (obviously with breaks for Mincha and Maariv). The only thing he was interested in was playing music. Then he started to play here and there at small events. People asked him, Why don’t you sing? You have the talent. So he started to play and sing at events, and people liked his singing. He started to really get into it.
Motty’s first single, “Yibaneh HaMikdash,” was released six years ago. The next single he released was the song “Ayin Tovah,” which would later become part of the song “Machshavot Tovot.” The next single was “Chai Chai Chai.” It was released toward the end of Covid, after a period during which he didn’t release any new songs and he took the time to stop and think about what he wanted to do. What direction should he take after releasing two singles.
At that time he also taught himself how to edit videos. He had a GoPro camera, and a car, and he decided just to record and film the video clips all by himself. He drove around picking up passengers. When they got into the car, he asked them if they wanted to be filmed for his new video clip and all they needed to do was sing one line from the song with him. The result was awesome. “Chai Chai Chai” quickly became a hit. The video got over a million views on YouTube. So far it has about 1.9 million views.
The tune of “Machshavot Tovot” is actually a famous Chabad tune. Motty was on a trip to the Philippines and has spent Shabbat at the local Chabad house. During Shabbat dinner, the Chabad shliach (emissary) started to sing “Hashgacha Pratit” in the tune of what would later become “Machshavot Tovot.” He asked every person at the table to tell everyone what hashgacha pratit (personal Divine supervision) they had experienced during the week. Everyone told their own story, and every time someone at the table finished his story, they all sang together “Hashgacha Pratit…Nai nai nai nai nai nai nai…”
When Motty returned to Israel from the trip, he continued to sing and play music at events, and sometimes used to sing the “Hashgacha Pratit” song, but with his own words. Instead of “hashgacha pratit,” he used to sing “machshavot tovot, diburim tovim” (positive thinking, positive speech). People started to ask him why is he not releasing it as a song? It’s really a cool song, they said. You should put it out there.
And the rest is history…
The song became a hit. You can hear it at weddings in Israel and the U.S. So far, it has about 8.5 million views on YouTube.
I ask him why these words – “machshavot tovot”?
Every time when people would compliment him, Motty felt uncomfortable. He just doesn’t really like it. So every time he felt uncomfortable, he convinced himself to think positive. He just repeated and repeated to himself in his head: Think positive. Think positive. And then he started to sing it.
I ask Motty if his music is “hits” oriented – for example “Machshavot Tovot” – or if he just wants to express himself. Motty says that his music comes from his heart. He writes about the things that are burning inside him. When he makes music, he’s not thinking about “hits” at all. He didn’t even think that “Machshavot Tovot” would become such a hit.
But besides expressing himself, he also wants to influence through his music. For example, his beautiful song “Lichvod Shabbat Kodesh” – back in 2019, he wrote to himself that he wanted to write a song with a message to people to go into Shabbat calmly. Who isn’t familiar with this feeling of stress on Fridays? We run around doing things and come to Shabbat at the last minute, almost breathless. Motty wanted to write a song which would cause people to think and approach Shabbat more calmly.
In the video clip of this song, he wanted to show that even if the challah burned at the last minute, the wine bottle from the grocery bag fell on the floor and broke, or something got dirty, it’s not the end of the world. That is also “Lichvod Shabbat Kodesh” – in honor of Shabbat Kodesh. The main thing, the really important thing, is the happiness of Shabbat. The atmosphere of Shabbat. This is the message he tried to bring out in this beautiful song. This clip got about 4.4 million views on YouTube.
Motty is also a handyman. You should watch his clip “Shavua Tov Yoter” to understand. Or to be more precise, you should watch the clip to see the manufacturing process of the unique havdalah candle which he made by himself. Even though the clip is in Hebrew, you don’t really need translation to be impressed by the manufacturing process of the candle.
In his free time, Motty is also a beekeeper. He does it for fun, as a hobby. So he wanted to link his hobby to the song. The inspiration for the shape and pattern of the unique havdalah candle in the clip is from his beehives (and he used his beeswax to make the candle). Don’t miss the results. You must watch it!
In “Shavua Tov Yoter,” Motty deals with his fears and inner feelings toward each new week. What is going to happen in the coming week? Are things going to work? To fail? The song is a way of dealing with the feelings of Motzei Shabbat. But it is also a prayer. A prayer that the next week will simply be good. Just better.
“Mi Yodea” (Who Knows) is a very personal and touchy song. Perhaps many singles would identify with this song. Motty wrote this song about a shidduch. He dated a girl and was very interested. But she was not interested. He wrote the chorus: “Mi yodea, ani lo yodea. Mi yodea, Hashem yodea” – Who knows, I don’t know. Who knows, Hashem knows.
He was sitting one day in the studio with Hanan Ben Ari and played him the chorus. Once Hanan heard it, he told him the song had major potential. He told Motty to write about his pain. Write what you, Motty Weiss, don’t know. What everyone thinks you know, but you don’t know. When the connection with the girl ended, when she told him she was not interested, he already knew what to write. And this is how he wrote the entire song.
“Who knows why it’s over? Usually, I’m not one who easily breaks. Actually, now when I had clarity. All my plans mixed up and disrupted. Who knows why it happened? What He plans? What He wanted? They say it’s as hard as parting the Red Sea. Who knows why the heart is cracked? There are no shortcuts, only dust. I’m looking at the skies and searching for answers. There’s one dream which is mine. And one melody waiting only for me. When the sea is stormy, I keep going and singing.”
I spoke to Motty about his new album “Hineh Ze Ba.” The new album is a mix of some upbeat songs and some more quiet, emotional songs. In one of the songs, “Boh Na’ase Niggun,” he collaborates with Aharon Razel. They were sitting in the studio, chatting. And then they decided to compose this song. The result is interesting and it’s worth listening to.
Motty feels a big responsibility to play kosher. Which means he tries to be a good person, a kosher person. I don’t understand what it means to be a “kosher” person and I ask him to explain. He says that when a musician works on himself and achieves a spiritual level, it will impact his audience. It extends from the person. If a person makes sure to always elevate himself, to work on himself internally, it will impact the people who listen to his music. The listeners will get it in the subconscious. Like in education – if you want to impact your student, you should be an example. Therefore, Motty always tries to work on himself. To be an example.
The song “Menagen Kosher” is a prayer, a yearning to be kosher on the personal level, so he can impact his listeners.
Motty performed recently in New Jersey at Kumzing Global, which is a project of his producer Shalom Vagshal. He’ll be performing again in the U.S. in August.
What’s next? I ask him. What are his plans for the future?
Right now, his only plan is to get married and start a family. (Motty is 33.) Meanwhile, he is working on new material, composing, writing, and performing until the next album.
