One of my favorite things on Shabbat – you know me already – is the music of Shabbat, the “Zemirot shel Shabbat.” Some would call them the special spice of the Shabbat meals. They add another dimension to the seudah and also make it fun and interactive, especially for the kids – not only letting their energy out, but also getting to demonstrate their singing capability and skills.
The beauty of the Zemirot shel Shabbat is that you don’t have to be a musician or professional chazan or a singer. No matter what type of voice you have, or whether you know or don’t know how to read notes, it always sounds beautiful. It’s the music of Shabbat.
Growing up, we always used to sing zemirot at our Shabbat table. And now, I teach my own kids the melodies I learned from my father. Which he learned from his father, my Saba z”l. I asked my father if the zemirot he sings every Shabbat are all from his father, or whethered he pick up some melodies and tunes during the years while he was in yeshiva. He told me, “You know I’m not a musician, so I couldn’t really pick up anything from the songs in yeshiva. It’s all from Saba.”
I then asked him if his father learned the zemirot tunes from his father. Turns out my grandpa’s father passed away when my grandpa was three years old. Later, my grandpa was sent to the Klausenberger Rebbe’s yeshiva. There he probably learned the melodies and tunes which he taught my father and his siblings, which my siblings and I sing today on Shabbat to our kids. After my grandpa moved to Israel after the Holocaust, he remained his whole life a “chasid” of the Sanz-Klausenberger Rebbe. Even though living a dati–leumi (Modern Orthodox) life on a moshav, he used to travel often to Kiryat Sanz in Netanya to spend time with his Rebbe.
Zemirot shel Shabbat have a big part in hasidic music. Many of the great singers have zemirot in their albums. We are going to review some of them.
Now, here’s the thing. As mentioned above, I still make sure to sing mostly the tunes and melodies my father sings. But at the same time I also love and enjoy listening to the new versions, new tunes that the different singers perform on their albums. But the melodies from the albums stay in the car, or wherever I listen to music. At the Shabbat table, I like to stick to the good old melodies and tunes I learned from my father. Which he learned from his father. And I ask you – I plead, I beg of you: If you have a masoret, a tradition, from your father or grandfather, please – stick to these beautiful melodies and tunes that you learned at home. Enjoy the new melodies and tunes while listening to music. In the car, at home, etc. But to your children, please pass on the melodies and tunes you learned from your father.
If you do not have a masoret of singing zemirot at your house – start now. With all the new melodies and tunes from different albums. Bring this joy and beauty to your Shabbat table. Teach your kids zemirot.
In my house, when we come back from shul on Erev Shabbat, the first thing we start to sing is “Shalom Aleichem.” Avraham Fried has a beautiful and powerful performance of “Shalom Aleichem” from his show with the Israel Symphony Orchestra live in Breichat HaSultan, 2019. You must put it on high volume on YouTube on Friday before Shabbat. It will get you easily into the atmosphere of Shabbat.
By the way, the whole show with the Israel Symphony Orchestra live in Breichat HaSultan is just beautiful and powerful. Unfortunately, it’s only available on YouTube. I tried to search online for the album, but could not find it. (As I’ve mentioned before, I like to purchase albums after listening to the music on YouTube. It’s higher quality and also supports the artists.) So I recommend you find it on Avraham Fried’s YouTube channel and listen.
Once my older kid somehow listened to Avraham Fried’s “Shalom Aleichem” (I don’t remember if he was in kindergarten or at home), he started demanding to sing “Shalom Aleichem” in this tune sometimes on Friday night. The compromise was to sing the first verses in the good old tune that his Saba still sings, and the last verse (Tzetchem LeShalom) in the tune of Avraham Fried.
Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach also has a nice version of “Shalom Aleichem” which you can find on YouTube.
After “Shalom Aleichem” and before “Eshet Chayil,” there is the special piyyut (liturgical poem) that some say, “Ribon Kol Ha’olamim.” (My father told me it’s mostly a hasidic custom to say this and “Atkinu Seudata.”) It’s not part of the zemirot, but one of my favorite songs by Avraham Fried is “Adon” from his album Chazak. The song is a small part of the piyyut before “Eshet Chayil.” I usually say this piyyut quietly, but when I get to the part “Beruchim Hem Malaachecha,”for a few seconds I raise my voice and sing it in the tune of Avraham Fried from “Adon” and then continue saying the rest to myself.
Next comes “Eshet Chayil.” There are many perushim and opinions about which woman this song is about. I once heard a shiur from Rabbi Baruch Rosenblum which explains that “Eshet Chayil” was actually written by Avraham Avinu as an hesped (eulogy) for Sarah. Rabbi Rosenblum said that “Zamema sadeh vatikache’u” refers to Sedeh Hamachpela. There are other opinions in the mefarshim which I also encourage you to learn and study, and then share with your kids during Shabbat meals.
I like the performance of “Eishet Chayil” by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, and the one of Gilad Potolsky with Shalhevet Orchestra from their Zemirot LeShabbat Ha’osef album. In this album (as the name suggests), they perform Zemirot shel Shabbat. Beautiful album. As I am writing, I already feel the taste of the chicken soup in my mouth. Another performance of “Eshet Chayil” is the one by Yehuda Glantz in his album Rak Litzok El Hashem.
“Ka Ribon Olam” was written by Rabbi Israel Najara, who was a student of the Ari HaKadosh. He was also the Rabbi of Gaza. I hope that soon Am Yisrael will be able to sing “Ka Ribon” in Gaza again, in Jewish Gaza. The song is written in Aramaic and is very popular. One of my favorite performances of this song is that of Mordechai Ben David from the album Moshiach.
“Mah Yedidut” is a piyyut about the physical pleasure of Shabbat. “Levush bigdei chamudot” – wearing our nice garments. “Mi’erev mazminim kol minei mataamim, mi’be’od yom muchanim, tarnegolim mefutamim” – from Shabbat evening we eat all types of delicacies, prepared already the day before, fattened roosters. “Shetot yeinot mevusamim” – we drink good wines. (I personally also like, in addition to good wine, to drink my favorite Glenfiddich whiskey on Shabbat.). “Sheshet yamim taabodu, u’bashevii nagilah” – you should work six days, and celebrate and be happy on the seventh day.
When I was a kid, we used to point at each other as a joke when we got to the stanza “Vetinok lelamdo sefer” – and you should teach a baby (child) how to read. Later, when I grew up, “Hirhurim mutarim u’leshadech habanot” changed to “u’leshadech habanim” – implying, “Nu nu, find a shidduch!”
“Hilucach tehe benachat, oneg kera laShabbat, vehashena meshubachat” – walk slowly on Shabbat, there’s no reason to rush; call the Shabbat “oneg” – and the sleep is excellent. And honestly, what is better than an afternoon rest on Shabbat? After a good cholent and Glenfiddich whiskey…
When it comes to “Mah Yedidut,” I like Avraham Fried’s from the album Chazak.
One of the most special and beautiful Shabbat songs is “Ka Echsof” which was written by Rabbi Aharon the Great of Karlin. There are many performances of this song. My favorite is the performance of Yitzchak Meir from his album Neshamot Chadashot. Besides “Ka Echsof,” there are more Zemirot shel Shabbat on this album. Another beautiful performance of “Ka Echsof” is the one by Yosef Moshe Kahana.
These are all Friday night zemirot. What about Shabbat day?
“Ki Eshmera Shabbat” is a beautiful piyyut written by Rabbi Abraham ben Meir ibn Ezra. One of my favorite performances of this song is by Yehuda Glanz from his album Na’ale. On this album, Yehuda Glanz also has another song for Shabbat, from the morning tefillah, “An’im Zemirot”.
At seudah shelishit, I like to sing “Yedid Nefesh” with my kids. This song is also sung before Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday afternoon. There are many performances of “Yedid Nefesh.” One of my favorites is the one by Avraham Fried from the album We Are Ready!
Shabbat Shalom! And let me know what are your favorite Zemirot shel Shabbat!
