WHAT’S YOUR CHASSIDIC ID?

Dear Reader sh’yichyeh,

On Shavuos, we commemorated the yahrtzait of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidus. Many speak about the revolution that the teachings of Chassidus brought to the Jew’s service of Hashem. Today we will focus on another aspect of the revolution: Reviving the concept of Negina/song in Avodas Hashem.

From the beginning of the service of the Jewish people in the Beis HaMikdash, song has played a major role in the service of Hashem. The Leviim would sing accompanied by instruments the “song of the day” and other songs. This would arouse the Yidden to repent and serve Hashem with much devotion.

For many years the use of song in Avodas Hashem was lost. With the revelation of the Baal Shem Tov and the teachings of Chassidus, Negina was returned to Klal Yisroel. The Chassidic Rebbes, especially in Chabad, put a tremendous emphasis on Niggunim.

The tongue is the pen of the heart, but melody is the quill of the soul. A Niggun can pull one out of the deepest mire. A Jew is a human being in touch with his inner essence and possessed of the ability to unveil it and bring it forth. How does one connect with one’s inner self, one’s highest levels of soul, above all wisdom and comprehension, and then reveal it in a mundane, finite world? This can be accomplished through song.

The Rebbe writes (HaYom Yom 26 Elul): To make meat fit for consumption, the forbidden blood must be removed by the following procedure: [First the meat is] soaked, then salted, and then rinsed. The parallels in our Divine service are: Soaking — which means immersing oneself in the words of one’s Rebbe; salting — which means [meeting him at] yechidus; rinsing — which means [singing a] niggun.

A story recorded in Seifer HaNiggunim tells of the Alter Rebbe who journeyed to the city of Shklov, a bastion of Torah scholarship vehemently opposed to the flourishing Chassidic movement. Knowing that their guest was a gifted Torah sage, the eminent scholars of Shklov prepared an avalanche of questions with which to crush and defeat him.

Presenting himself before the congregation, the Alter Rebbe announced that prior to responding to their questions, he wished to sing a niggun. And so, plunging his entire being into the rendering thereof, he began to sing with a miraculous cleaving of the soul to G-d, creating ripples of righteousness and virtue that washed over and cleansed the vestiges of skepticism and scorn. As he did so, the minds of the scholars of Shklov became suffused with such a splendid and sublime clarity that all of their difficult questions were swiftly answered.

On 25 Tishrei 5696/1935, the Frierdike Rebbe wrote a letter to the Chassid Rabbi Moshe Yanovski. He was a brother of the famous Chassid, Rabbi Meir Shlomo Yanovski, the grandfather of our Rebbe. The family was very musically inclined and there are many Niggunim, the most famous being “Rachmana D’Anei,” composed by Rabbi Meir Shlomo Yanovski. Rabbi Moshe Yanovski was a businessman in the city of Cherson and he was collecting and writing musical notes of Niggunei Chabad. The Frierdike Rebbe wrote to him about compiling and producing a “Seifer Niggunim” – an official book of the notes and history of Chabad Niggunim.

The Frierdike Rebbe writes at length about the role of Niggunim by Chassidim in general and by our holy Rebbeim in particular. He writes, cited in HaYom Yom 25 Tishrei: “There are ten melodies, some of them merely melodic phrases, whose composition is ascribed to the Alter Rebbe. Those ascribed to the Mitteler Rebbe were composed in his time and were sung in his presence. He was not their composer, however. He had a group of musical young men who were known as ‘the Mitteler Rebbe’s choir,’ which comprised singers and various instrumentalists.”

The Rebbe Rayatz once related that the melody chanted by the Kohanim in Lubavitch communities was composed by the choir of the Mitteler Rebbe, under the latter’s guidance.

The Frierdike Rebbe continues (HaYom Yom of 13 Sivan): “The Tzemach Tzedek composed several niggunim. He would study aloud and melodiously. At times he would pause in the midst of his study, or in the midst of writing Chassidus or a halachic responsum, and would sing a niggun. My revered grandfather, the Rebbe [Maharash], related that from the tone of the niggun the Tzemach Tzedek was singing, he could tell the subject he was involved in at that time.”

The “Seifer HaNiggunim” project was put on hold for a while and finally, in 5709, the famous Chassid Rabbi Shmuel Zalmanov printed the first volume of Seifer HaNiggunim. Following the passing of the Frierdike Rebbe, and with tremendous encouragement from our Rebbe, he printed the second volume in the year 5718. His son, in honor of Yud Shevat 5750, printed a third volume from the notes of his father. In addition, in 5720, in honor of the 200th Yahrtzait of the Baal Shem Tov, the Rebbe pushed for recordings of Chabad Niggunim, under the auspices of “Nicho’ach – Niggunei Chassidei Chabad,” to be published.

Dear Chassidim!

When I read the words of the HaYom Yom, “My revered grandfather, the Rebbe [Maharash], related that from the tone of the niggun the Tzemach Tzedek was singing, he could tell the subject he was involved in at that time,” I was reminded of an amazing story that I heard from Rabbi Chaim Gutnick o.b.m. of Australia.

He related that he was once in Yechidus by the Rebbe when suddenly the Rebbe turned to him and said: “I am sure that if I saw any chassid, I could tell right away who is his Rebbe. Each Rebbe had their inyanim in which they ‘kucht zich – were passionate about.’ Obviously, a chassid is passionate about the things that his Rebbe is passionate about. Thus, by seeing the passion of the Chassid, it is a telling sign who his Rebbe is.”

Rabbi Gutnick seized the opportunity and asked the Rebbe, what the Rebbe is passionate about so Chassidim can get involved in those things as well. The Rebbe answered (it was in the earlier years of the Nesius) that it is not the “pinch” in the hat etc., but much more internal things. One of those things mentioned was, “Ich kuch zich in Bias HaMoshiach – I am passionate about bringing Moshiach!”

It is thus clear that, just as the Rebbe Maharash could tell the subject matter his father was studying by his Niggun, Chassidim of our Rebbe need to be “recognized” by their passion in bringing Moshiach. It is inseparable from Hiskashrus in our time.

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Negina also plays a role in bringing Moshiach. Chazal tell us that throughout history, the Jewish people sang nine songs to Hashem and when Moshiach comes we will sing a “Shir Chadash/New song” – the song of Moshiach. The Targum (Aramaic translation and interpretation) of Shir HaShirim begins with an enumeration of ten songs that are mentioned in the Torah. It then writes that the tenth song will be sung by the Jews when they leave the exile. The Targum quotes the verse: “This song shall be to you as the night of the sanctification of the festival, and the joy of heart like one who goes with a flute to come upon the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.” The Targum interprets this verse to mean that when the Jews leave exile, they will sing a song accompanied by musical instruments.

In the mystical writings of the Shaloh, he quotes the words of our sages, that “in the future, the Jewish People will sing praises… in merit of Abraham who believed in G-d.”

The Shaloh asks: What is the connection between the song of the future and the faith of Abraham? The Shaloh explains that our sages were referring not only to the song of the Redemption, but to the songs that we will sing even before Moshiach comes, out of firm faith and joy in the prophecy of redemption. In the words of the Shaloh: “It is the nature of the righteous, that as soon as they are promised something good, they praise G-d immediately, even before it is fulfilled. This is because of their great faith… In the future, when the Jewish People will be foretold of the Redemption, they will rejoice and sing immediately, out of full faith that the prophecy will be fulfilled.”

The Rebbe clearly said (Besuras HaGeula chapter 63): There is an additional and also essential lesson of the Song in regard to the Divine service of prayer (also described as hymn, done in a manner of singing). As is known, the Alter Rebbe used to pray out loud and with singing. Although song is connected with elevating from below to above, now there has to be (after all the elevations are completed) the song from a position of attachment and inclusion in the Supernal. This serves as a preparation and introduction to the “new song” of the time to come.

This applies particularly to the prayer for the true and complete Redemption, specifically after the declaration of my sainted father-in-law, the leader of our generation, that “all the appointed times have passed” already, and all aspects of Divine service have been completed. In addition to the desire, longing and yearning for the Redemption (until now), there must now also be an essential feeling of joy, borne out of the realization that the Redemption is actually coming at this actual moment.

Rabbi Avtzon is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Lubavitch Cincinnati and a well sought after speaker and lecturer. Recordings of his in-depth shiurim on Inyanei Geula u’Moshiach can be accessed at http://www.ylcrecording.com