Journeys/Journeys 1/The Ninth Man

Track: 5

Running Length: 4:15

Additional Information
This song was later redone in A cappella form by Lev Tahor, and has a sequel.

Lyrics
When we were young yeshiva boys, way back in '65

We were known throughout the city as the bums from the east-side

In school we never studied, all we did was laugh and play

No rebbe ever lasted long, they all just ran away

Rebbe tried to teach us Torah each and every day

But we just closed our eyes and ears to everything he'd say

And all we'd like to do was sit and watch our TV sets

We'd talk about the Yankees, and the Dodgers, and the Mets

The principal brought the new rebbe in on the first day of the term

And he said to him "Show discipline, be strong and tough and firm

Don't think these youngsters run the school," he said with a big frown

"And by the way, for the next few weeks, I'm going out of town"

This here rebbe he was strange, he never lost his cool

He just kept on teaching while we broke all the rules

And though we hadn't even learned a single word all year

It was Pesach time already, and the rebbe was still here

Rebbe tried to teach us Torah each and every day

But we just closed our eyes and ears to everything he'd say

And all we'd like to do was sit and watch our TV sets

We'd talk about the Yankees, and the Dodgers, and the Mets

When Lag Ba'Omer came around, it was time to play that game

Against those boys from Brooklyn, how we prayed it wouldn't rain

All nine of us got on the bus, with our gloves and bats

Rebbe also came along in his jacket, tie, and hat

Right from the start, we all could see things weren't going right

Some big, strong kid from Bensonhurst had hit one out of sight

And just when things were looking up, the tide about to turn

Our catcher went and broke his leg while sliding into third

"It's a forfeit!" cried the other team, "you've only got eight guys"

"No we don't!" a deep voice said, much to our surprise

"Since I am their rebbe, well the fair thing it would seem

is let me be the ninth man, the ninth man on this team"

Rebbe went, picked up the bat, faced the pitcher with a smile

Knocked the cover off that ball, went about half a mile!

He flew around the bases, scored the winning run

We danced and cheered until he said "now boys, you owe me one"

Next day in the classroom no one moved and no one stirred

Rebbe started teaching, and his voice it could be heard

We all said "hey, it's interesting, the man he is no bore"

The legendary east-side bums were gone forevermore

Rebbe used to teach us Torah each and every day

We opened up our eyes and ears to everything he'd say

And no more did we sit all day and watch our TV sets

We talked about the Rashi, and the Tosfos, and the Mets