Jews in the Land of Disney: Michelle Anflick - Music is deep in her soul

This is a story about an orthodox wife and mother, a busy Bubbe, a retired schoolteacher and a full-time dental hygienist, who at a moment in her life, or so it seemed at the time, was Divinely inspired to compose music. At first, the lyrics came, and then the melody, resulting in her first composition titled "Please See." Since this time, she hasn't turned back and has written over 20 songs, with three that have been produced into singles.

Michelle Anflick, the daughter of Dr. Michael Fineberg of Temple Israel in Winter Springs, was attending a Torah class given by Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein, of blessed memory. He was the founder of Yeshiva Ohr Yitzchak, Ateres Naava Seminary for Girls, and Ohr Naava Women's Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y. Anflick's inspirational moment came during one of the rabbi's traveling lectures in Baltimore, Md., focusing on 'gratitude.' She was so moved by the rabbi's lecture that she had an overwhelming desire to create.

"I came home from the lecture, grabbed a pen and paper and the words of a poem that would be titled 'Thank You' just flowed onto the page. This was the first real poem I had written since middle school. A melody for these lyrics came along a few days later. I think it was my way of trying to encapsulate the rabbi's message in a way I could share it with others," Anflick said.

Rabbi Wallerstein helped teens and young adults navigate through tough and confusing times and helped many illuminate their own path to building a relationship with G-d. In her work, she felt that her music had to speak to those feeling down or to those who were confused or who were struggling. Creativity perceives the world in new ways, it finds hidden patterns and makes connections between seemingly unrelated things and produces new sounds or lyrics or solutions that didn't exist prior. Anflick's inspiration was ignited and her creativity was on overdrive.

Many professional musicians started playing instruments in their youth and Anflick was no different. Her great-grandmother left her a piano. She took four years of piano lessons and in a strange twist, she learned to play the drums in high school. She has continued playing music over the years, and her love for music has been, as she would say, "In my Neshama, or deep in my soul."

The music writing journey isn't always easy. The first thing a budding songwriter often does is play their music for friends and family. Anflick received positive feedback which motivated her to contact Nossi Gross, a very well-known musician in the Orthodox community in the Baltimore and Greater Washington area. "Nossi expressed that he thought there was something worthwhile in my music and suggested that I make a demo and then send it around," Anflick said.

Anflick approached her neighbor, Pinny Schachter, a vocalist in the Jewish Music World. She shared a few songs in very raw form and it was decided that "Please See" was to be the first demo to be created. Once the demo received more positive feedback from friends, family, and many of her dental hygiene patients, Anflick had to find a way to respond to the question posed by almost every listener, "Your song is so beautiful! What are you going to do with it?"

After asking advice from those in the field, she learned that the next step was to produce the song in the studio, which is exactly what she did. Since production costs can be pretty steep, $3,000-$5,000 per song, fundraising was the next part of this journey.

Frank Storch, Baltimore philanthropist and family friend, gave Anflick her first donation, the shot in the arm that was needed to get production off the ground. "I hired Moshe Siegel of Emes Studio. He and Pinny worked hard on the production of the song. 'Please See' was finally professionally produced and was posted on YouTube and Spotify. The recording did very well, Baruch Hashem," Anflick noted.

Roughly 10 months later, Anflick raised enough to fund her second recording titled "You with Me." The vocal was again performed by Schachter in Siegel's studio. It is promoted as an audio/visual journey that aims to provide the listener/viewer with an uplifting and inspirational experience.

The third song, "Mission to Live," was released just before Pesach 2022, as the war in Ukraine was in full swing. The song is "Dedicated to the rescue efforts of those who have worked selflessly and tirelessly for the people of Ukraine." The lyrics were written by poet Judy Landman, author of "Seasons of the Rain." Landman asked Anflick to write the music for the song as well as to edit some of the lyrics into song format. The song was produced by Jeremy Englander of Blue Door Studios in Baltimore. Vocals for the song were performed by Uri Meltzer and Yaakov Rosenblum and the video was produced by Yaakov Cotton, all of Baltimore.

Between Anflick's full-time job as a dental hygienist, and spending time with her four daughters and four grandchildren, she writes, composes, and produces music. How does a songwriter find the time and get a break into the music industry in today's world? Perhaps it's bashert, perhaps it's a smidge luck and perhaps it's a lot of talent.

However, we, as part of the Jewish Community could take note, as she exemplifies what can happen after you're touched by G-d's inspiration. After all, it's something you don't just shrug off. In order to make it, or fulfill one's destiny, you have to sacrifice, work hard, and struggle until you achieve your dream ... or G-d's will.

To listen or view Anflick's music, simply go to YouTube and search "Michelle Anflick."

She can be reached at 443-929-6016 or email to michelleanflick@gmail.com.