This week on Friday, on 21 Adar, was the hillulah (yahrzeit) of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk. Sometimes referred to as the “Noam Elimelech” because of his book Noam Elimelech, Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk was one of the major thinkers of the chasidut movement, and was one of those who established chasidut in Poland. Rabbi Elimelech was an “Admor” and a chasidic leader in the third generation of the chasidut movement.
Rabbi Elimelech was the brother of the famous Rabbi Zusha of Hanipol. Together, they went to “galus,” on an exile of eight years from their homes. During their travels, they passed through villages and small towns, suffering cursing and other things. And finally after the years in exile, they were reportedly zocheh to achieve Ruach HaKodesh. During their travels they also did a lot of kiruv and made many people become baalei teshuva. There are many known chasidic stories about their years in the “galus.” Following the influence of his brother Rabbi Zusha, Rabbi Elimelech got closer to chasidut and began to travel to the Maggid of Mezeritch, and he and Rabbi Zusha became his students.
If you go to a typical chasidic tisch, you can perhaps spend the whole night listening to the stories about Rabbi Elimelech and his brother Rabbi Zusha. And they’re fascinating.
His book, Noam Elimelech is a collection of his Divrei Torah and is considered one of the first books of chasidut. The book was printed by his son, Rabbi Elazar, after Rabbi Elimelech passed away. Many Jews study the Noam Elimelech on Shabbat.
Many Jewish songs have been written and composed based on Rabbi Elimelech’s writings and tefillot that he composed. Rabbi Elimelech was also a composer and composed a few niggunim. Some of them are still preserved until these days, and over the years chasidic singers have released albums featuring Rabbi Elimelech’s niggunim. One famous niggun is the “Noam Elimelech Melody,” which is very touching.
But today I want to focus on one of the most famous songs of Rabbi Elimelech. A song that we used to sing while in yeshiva high school. A song which has not only a beautiful melody but also words that are powerful. And so relevant. The song is “Aderaba.”
“Aderaba, ten be’libeinu she’nireh kol echad maalat chavereinu. The song is actually a tefillah, a prayer that each of us will be able to see only the maalot, the virtues, the good things about others, and not their flaws.
Composed by Yossi Green, the song was introduced on the album of Avraham Fried that also carries the same name, Aderaba, which was released in 1990. It is a wonderful album which has some other beautiful songs on it. More than 30 years after it was released, some of the songs are still big hits. For example, “Kaitzad” (“Kaitzad merakdin lifnei hakallah”) which is still being played at weddings. Another song I was totally surprised to hear is still being played at bar mitzvot is “Hiney” (“Hiney mah tov uma na’im”). A friend who’s a singer told me recently that he still sings this song at many bar mitzvahs. I was surprised because I remember that I used to play it years ago when I was in high school and after, and I didn’t know it was still a hit. Now I’m considering adding it to my current repertoire.
Fun fact: As I’m writing the column and listening (again) to the songs on the album, something on the cover is catching my eyes. I have had this album for so long, and only now I noticed that after the credits to Yossi Green, the composer, and to Moshe Laufer and Mona Rosenblum, it says “Music by Neginah Orchestra.” Hmmm… Sounds familiar. Neginah. I’m going to check my old emails. Yes! Neginah Orchestra was the band at my wedding. (They did an amazing job. Highly recommend.)
Back to “Aderaba.” The song begins with an amazing piano solo that gets you into the song’s atmosphere. Then a soft strings solo with piano in the background, and then Avraham Fried enters with his special voice. As a keyboardist by myself, I’m always very impressed by this piano solo. The first and second verses of the song continue with the piano only in the background. Then a string and a flute join the piano. Amazing. I can just listen to this song again and again and again.
As I’ve mentioned in previous columns, the thing I like about Avraham Fried songs is that they cause my older son to ask questions. And then we can have a discussion in the car about the song, and after explaining it to him, we listen to the song again. “Aderaba” is an excellent song to explain your kids. And then listen to again. And again.
“Aderaba,” on the contrary, “ten be’libeinu,” please give in our hearts, “she’nireh kol echad ma’alat chavereinu,” the ability to see the virtues of our friends, “velo chesronam,” and not their flaws.
How easy it is to see the flaws in our friends. Our coworkers, etc. Everyone knows that this is perhaps one of the most difficult challenges for each of us. We are all human, after all. We all need the tefillah of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk.
“Ve’she’nedaber kol echad et chavero, be’derech ha’yashar ve’haratzuy lefanecha,” and that we all speak to each other in an honest and desirable way. “Ve’al ya’aleh be’libeinu shum sina’ah me’echad al chavero, chalilah,” and that we’ll not have hate in our hearts toward our friends.
“Ve’techazek otanu be’ahava elecha,” and strengthen us with love to You. Rabbi Elimelech asks Hashem to give chizuk, to strengthen our love for Hashem. “Ka’asher galuy ve’yaduah lefanecha,” because everything is revealed and known before You.
This song is always relevant. But perhaps in the last few years, this song is more relevant than ever. Political polarization. Arguments. Demonstrations and rallies. Often when two groups from different political sides argue, the argument easily slides to hateful speech and “cancel culture.” Both in Israel and outside Israel, the different groups in our nation often argue and disagree. From the judicial reform issue in Israel, to political polarization that sometimes splits friendships even in our communities, I think everyone should repeat again and again this very important tefillah of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk.
Even when we disagree, we should always try to see the virtues, the advantages of our friends. Of other Jews. And not their flaws. We should try to see the good things in other groups. In our communities, in our nation. When we see the good things in others, our speech changes. Let’s talk nicely to each other. We don’t have to agree. We can agree to disagree – but with respect to each other.
And most important: “Ve al ya’aleh belibeinu shum sina’ah me’echad al chavero, chalilah” – even when we disagree, we should not hate each other. We should keep hate outside our speech, outside our communities. Not only our communities – we should not hate at all.
Our power is in our achdut. When we unite, we are strong. We are powerful. No one can beat us. And the key to achdut is to see the good points in others. And perhaps we should also adopt this for our public speech and for social media. This tefillah should be our guideline for how to speak and express ourselves.
Aderaba.
