Monday, August 15, 2011
'Leiby Forever' song helped me cope with son's death, Nachman Kletzky says
Nachman Kletzky, 39, called into the Jewish radio show "Talkline with Zev Brenner" on WMCA (570 AM) early Sunday while Hasidic singer Lipa Schmeltzer was on the air talking about his ballad "Leiby Forever."
"Every time I hear this song, every time I see this, it brings me back memories," Nachman Kletzky said about the seven-minute music video, which features a montage of home movies showing Leiby grow from a toddler to a third-grader.
Leiby was killed last month after he was abducted off a Borough Park street. His dismembered body was later found - parts of it inside the freezer of accused killer Levi Aron.
Schmeltzer, 33, turned the tragedy into a song called "Leiby Forever." It made its debut last week, selling for $3.99 on TopJewishMusic.com, on iTunes and at Jewish music stores in Brooklyn. A portion of the sales will go to the Leiby Kletzky Memorial Fund.
"You brought Leiby to life," Nachman Kletzky told Schmeltzer.
Schmeltzer later told the Daily News that the father's praise countered the naysayers blasting him for trying to make a buck off the gruesome case.
"I served my purpose," Schmeltzer said. "To see the reaction of the father, to see how it helped him cope. It paid off for me."
