12. "Ki hinneh kahomer"

^{Shalom Brochstadt, Kefar Habbad, 1 December 1966.}

For lo, as the clay in the potter's hand,
If he wishes, he will expand it, and if he wishes, shorten,
So are we in Your hand, Who extends kindness,
Look to the Covenant and turn not to our [evil} inclination.

For lo, as the stone in the stonecutter's hand,
If he wishes, he will hold it, and if he wishes, cut,
So are we in Your hand, Who restores to life and kills,
Look to the Covenant and turn not to our [evil} inclination.

A niggun of the Lubavich Hasidim by Shalom Kharitonov (1886-1933) of Nikolayev Ukraine. Shalom and his brother Aharon among the leading Lubavich menagnim and composers were active under the Rebbes R. Shalom Ber and his son R. Yosef at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries (Zalmanoff vol. I no. 66 and "Index of 'niggunim'" p. li-iii lv lviii). The niggun was composed in the pattern of the Hasidic Waltz niggun with the Classical structure A-B-C-B. It was originally sung without words but in Israel Lubavich 'ba'alei-teffilah' sing it to the words of the piyyut "Ki hinneh ka-homer" on the eve of the Day of Atonement. This practice has also been adopted in Israel by National-Religious circles. The melody also became popular during the 1920s among non-religious circles in the Land of Israel when Immanuel Ha-Russi wrote words for it- a lullaby entitled "Shekhav beni shekhav bi-mnuhah" (Aldema-Shahar vol. II p. 70). In this recording only the first two stanzas are sung.