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The
Baal Shem Tov, or Besht — the founder of Chasidism —
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Meditation song for ChanukahIt's a custom to meditate on the light of the menorah and it's also a custom to sing while meditating. Most of the usual Chanukah songs won't quite get you there—they are written for children after all. The nigun I learned to use for this comes to me from the great-granddaughter of the Skolyer Rebbe, and is attributed by some to the Besht (Baal Shem Tov). She learned this deveikes nigun from her grandmother, who would sing the entire prayer of Ana Bekhoach to this nigun sitting in front of the menorah while watching the Chanukah candles burn. Doing the whole prayer ends up being a pretty long meditation, since the Skolyer tradition is to repeat each word seven times, making a total of 42 stanzas. This recording goes through the first line alone. The recording was sung by Berkeley chevra in an impromptu recording. You can also listen to other renditions on the Ana Bekhoach page and other tunes. Print out the prayer here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
Design in progress © Rabbi David Mevorach Seidenberg 2019 |