The Nigun 3 Tenuos: Part 1

00:00 This evening, we begin, im yirtze Hashem, a short series on the nigun referred to as Gimel Tnuos or Gimel Bavis. Regarding the nigun of the three Tnuos, or stanzas, of the Ba'al Shem Tov, the Maggid, and the Alter Rebbe, the Rebbe said the following during a sudas Yom Tov of the second night Sukkos, tav shin lamed, late nineteen sixty-nine. The Maggid would sing two Tnuos, his own Tnuah, which is the second stanza, with that of the Ba'al Shem Tov, and the Alter Rebbe sang all three Tnuos, which implies the Rebbe's explaining how this nigun was developed. Originally, there was one Tnuah from the Ba'al Shem Tov. The Maggid added an additional Tnuah, a stanza, and then the Alter Rebbe completed it with the third Tnuah. On the night of the first, uh, day of Yom Tov, which is tav shin chaf zayin, late nineteen sixty-six, the Rebbe added, "Furthermore, the understanders," those who are the thinkers, "say that the second Tnuah is an explanation of the first Tnuah, and likewise, the third Tnuah is an explanation of earlier." That's how the Rebbe quotes from those who have a deeper insight about this nigun. During the farbrengen on the second day of Sukkos, tav shin lamed alef, late nineteen seventy, the Rebbe asked for this nigun to be sung, referring to it as the dreien diker nigun, which one of the meanings is the three-part nigun, referring to the three stanzas of the nigun. On the second night of Pesach, tav shin chaf vav, late nineteen

02:04 sixty-five, during the suda Yom Tov, which was also the Seder, there was a discussion about the three Tnuos of the Ba'al Shem Tov, the Maggid, and the Alter Rebbe, which appears in Sefer HaNigunim, edited by Rab Shmuel Zalmanov. The Rebbe said that he too had not heard this nigun before his arrival in the United States. On the first night of Pesach, tav shin chaf zayin, nineteen sixty-seven, which is also during the Seder, the Rebbe instructed Rab Yankel Katz, who was a Yid very close to the previous Rebbe and the Rebbe, and he would come every year for Pesach to the Rebbeim. He would be honored to sit by the Seder, ten years by the previous Rebbe, and twenty years by the Rebbe. The Rebbe instructed him to sing a nigun, and he began singing the three Tnuos nigun. When the Rashag, Rab Shmarye Gorari, the Rebbe's older brother-in-law, remarked that in Lubavitch they had not heard this nigun, the Rebbe responded, as mentioned above a year earlier, that he had too not heard this nigun prior to his arrival here. However, when Rab Shmuel Zalmanov published the Sefer HaNigunim during the lifetime of the previous Rebbe, he included this nigun along with an intro-introductory note, and the nigun was accepted by the previous Rebbe. This is what the Rebbe mentions, that it was accepted by his father-in-law, and therefore, this is a nigun that is accepted in Chabad. The Rebbe commented regarding the association of this nigun with the Ba'al Shem Tov, saying that aside

04:03 from this nigun, there is no other nigun attributed to the Ba'al Shem Tov. The Rashag then asked the question, "Why is it that the three Tnuos, this nigun, which includes the Ba'al Shem Tov, the Maggid, and the Alter Rebbe, are sung as one nigun, whereas regarding their Sefarim, Keser Shem Tov from the Ba'al Shem Tov, Etz Chaim from the Maggid, and Tanya from the Alter Rebbe, about which the Rebbe Rashab said that every home should possess them, and it is recounted that he would review these three Sefarim before pe-- receiving people for yechidas. The Rebbe Rashab stated that they should not be bound together as one volume." So the Rashag asked the Rebbe, "Why is it by the nigun, this nigun, all the three Rebbes are included in one, but when it comes to their Sefarim, they are not bound together?" The Rebbe responded, "I have not heard a reason for this. However, one could explain that regarding the Sefarim, the question arises as to how they should be bound. On one hand, Keser Shem Tov and Etz Chaim have an advantage in that they precede the Tanya. But on the other hand, the Tanya has an advantage since it was authored by the Alter Rebbe himself, whereas Etz Chaim and Keser Shem Tov were written by the students, therefore, they should not be bound together. Whereas regarding the nigun mentioned above, the three Tnuos are attributed to Ba'al Shem Tov, the Maggid, and the Alter Rebbe themselves. Moreover, the mevinim, as we mentioned earlier,

05:52 thinkers, explain that this nigun is woven together, that the second Tnuah is an explanation on the first, and the third one is an explanation on the earlier sections." The Rebbe concluded, "Based on what is known about the innovation After Petersburg, referring to the Alter Rebbe's release from imprisonment, which is likened to a deed contract that was challenged and upheld in court, so too in our case, since there was a kind of challenge regarding this nigun, it should now be sung once more. The Rebbe would on special occasions instruct to sing the nigun. The first time that we see it in the Sichos is Shabbos Shemini Tov Shingyud Beis 1952, as we will discuss it further. On Rosh Hashanah and sometimes during the festival of Sukkot, perhaps due to the Ushpizin on the first days of Sukkot, who are the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid, the Rebbe would instruct to sing the nigun. On Shavuot, the Yulul of the Baal Shem Tov and the acceptance of the leadership by the Maggid the next year, the Rebbe would occasionally instruct to sing this nigun. We will mention here various occasions of when the Rebbe asked for this nigun and how many times to sing this nigun. On Shabbos Parsha Bamidbar Tov Shingyud Beis, the Rebbe asked to sing the nigun. The second night Sukkot, at the conclusion of the Farbrengen Tov Shin Chof He, late 1964, the Rebbe asked to sing the nigun three times. Rosh Hashanah, Tov Shin Lamed Beis, late 1971, at the conclusion

07:49 of the Farbrengen, the Rebbe asked it should be sung three times. Tov Shin Lamed Gimel, the second night of Rosh Hashanah, at the end of the Farbrengen, the Rebbe asked it should be sung three times. The second day of Rosh Hashanah, Tov Shin Lamed Zayin, which is the late 1976, the Rebbe asked that the nigun should be sung twice. In Tov Shin Lamed Ches, the second day of Shavuot, the Rebbe asked that it should be sung three times. We will, im yirtza Hashem, continue in the next installment.