The Nigun Tzom'o 5714 (1954) - Part I

00:01 We find ourselves in Parshas Kedoshim, which will be read in this upcoming Shabbos, im yirtzeh Hashem. This brings to mind an event which took place seventy years ago on this very Shabbos Parshas Kedoshim, tav shin yud daled, nineteen fifty-four. It was then at the farbrengen that the Rebbe spoke and elaborated on the nigun ‹Jeritze Chalbtzi›, which means we shouldn't worry, but we're gonna get to the inn, and then we'll be able to take off the load which we're carrying on ourselves and make our life easier. And right after that sicha, the Rebbe continues that although we are already in the present, in a spiritual sense, accomplishing what we need to accomplish in Torah and mitzvos, and eventually we will see it in a revealed manner, which is when we will get to the inn as it is used in the parable. But at this point, while we're still on the road, everything is concealed, and therefore we don't see these things in a revealed manner. So the question is: How could there be simcha? How could there be joy? So the Rebbe continues that the hitzaf for this is tzimoh and thirst. When there is a thirst, a yearning for the revelation of Godliness, this tzimoh, this thirst brings a partial relief because it picks up the person to a level to which he is thirsty. And as the Baal Shem Tov says, "Where the will of a person is, this is where he is found." And the Rebbe continues that this is what Dovid

02:05 HaMelech says: ‹Tzama lekha nafshi, koma lekha b'sori›. That he says to Hashem, "I'm thirsty to You. I'm yearning. My flesh is yearning." ‹Kim ba'kedosh hasicha›. And as the Alter Rebbe explained in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, ‹Kim ba'kedosh hasicha› means, Halevai, in the same sense that I'm yearning now for Godliness, likewise, I should have that yearning also when I find myself in a spiritual satisfaction. On the other hand, already while a person is-- finds himself in a very low level, but through this thirst, a person is uplifted to a higher level. And then the Rebbe concludes the sicha and sa- says that there is a nigun of the Alter Rebbe on this verse, ‹Tzama lekha nafshi›, and the Rebbe asked to sing the nigun. The people present at the farbrengen did not know the nigun. One of the people present began singing a nigun on this possik, and after he finished, the Rebbe said, "This is not the nigun of the Alter Rebbe." And then a segment of the audience began singing another nigun on this possik, and after they finished it, the Rebbe asked, "Is there someone that knows another nigun?" Which means a third, a third nigun. Somebody got up and began singing another nigun. ‹Noke, reka oya›. And the end, the words are ‹Tzama lekha nafshi›. But also after he concluded the nigun, the Rebbe continued asking if there is someone that knows a fourth nigun on these words, but no one responded. And then the moment came, the Rebbe

04:07 leaned on his ‹yad hagdasha›, on his hand, and he began singing bedveikus, ‹Tzama lekha nafshi, koma lekha b'sori›. As understood that the audience did not know this nigun, and the Rebbe repeated this nigun a number of times. And after that, the Rebbe requested that everybody should join in singing the nigun. But the call, the audience were not yet successful to absorb this nigun. The Rebbe then turned to the bochurim to help, but also they did not really grasp the nigun yet. And the Rebbe again sang the nigun. And then the Rebbe continued in the fourth sicha, speaking about the tichen of the nigun. And the Rebbe asked, "But what does one do when there is no thirst, there is no attraction and request to see Godliness, to connect to Godliness?" So the Rebbe says, "This is what we ask ‹B'rachamecha Harabim Racham Aleinu›, with Your great mercy, You should have mercy on us, because the person himself doesn't realize how much mercy he needs." And after the mayim, an additional sichas, the Rebbe again asked they should sing this, the nigun ‹Tzama lekha nafshi›, since they didn't really have it yet perfectly absorbed. The Rebbe then sang the nigun a few additional times, and before he began singing the nigun, the Rebbe related that the previous Rebbe once said that he won't be particular on a sixteenth- note of the musical notes. And the Rebbe says, "And now I will not be particular even in regards to an eighth of a note." One of the

06:20 people present said that part of the nigun, which is the verse , the audience is already familiar with it. They know that section of the nigun. But immediately someone silenced him, and the Rebbe then said that he is saying that they already know this section, and you're telling him to remain silent. After one of the people present began singing the nigun again, but still with some errors, the Rebbe smiled and sang the nigun an additional number of times, and after that the Rebbe added, "I tried my best." When the Hasidim were singing the nigun, the Rebbe was... If needed, he would, uh, enter corrections, and after that the Rebbe explained what is the contents of the nigun. The nigun fully till the third section is in a mode of elevation, uplifting oneself, uplifting oneself from the environment around him. The first two t'nuos, including the is basically an expression of thirst, yearning, request. that hoping already that he will be able to connect to Elokus. And therefore the t'nuos are very smooth, without a polish, without a crease, as it is a request which comes with a certain sincerity. On the other hand, the third section, the words is already another phase, and that is means yes, yes . Which this was the first nigun that the Rebbe taught Hasidim. We will continue in the next installment.