A Niggun in Three Movements

We begin this niggun with the mediative voice of Rabbi Zalmanov from an old recording which contrasts with our very contemporary interpretation. One can measure the huge gap separating those who were brought up in the Lubavitch tradition and those in our group, who were brought up altogether differently. All of the songs on this CD may be considered an attempt to bridge this gap.

The niggun itself is most interesting. A small number of bold and decisive notes are unremittingly repeated. Instead of opening up, there is only a transposition of the core notes at different pitches. The third movement also contines in the same vein bestowing on the niggun a hypnotic atmosphere.

According to the Lubavitch tradition, the three stages on the ladder by which man can ascend to union with God are symbolically expressed in the niggun as three individual figures, all different and the same. The first one is the founder of Hassidim, Rabbi Israel Ba'al Shem Tov (the Master of the Good Name) who is represented by the first section. His spiritual heir, the Maggid (precher) of Mezritch, is represented in the second section while the founder of the Lubavitch movement, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyady, figures in the third section.