חדר אומנים – פרק 4: ר' אהרל'ה סמט

Artists’ Room with Moi, songs, friends, and stories. Welcome, Gut Moed to all the listeners and all the viewers. Thank you very much for joining us this Chol HaMoed Sukkot for the wonderful and great podcast, as much as I can say, Artists ’ Room. Today I have the privilege, really quite rare, one could say, because he almost never speaks and almost never gives interviews, but in honor of the holiday of Sukkot and in your honor, we are doing a special episode on the topic of Simchat Beit HaShoeiva. What does this joy mean? Why Sukkot? A symbol of joy and dancing. And if we are talking about a symbol of joy and dancing in Simchat Beit HaShoeiva on Sukkot, I am happy to say Gut Moed to the true singer of joy for the People of Israel, Arle Samet. So, first of all, I will say the name of the holiday. So I don't stumble. Various things, may we have Siyata Dishmaya. You said, you started with " Gut Moed," just a note: in Vizhnitz they say "Gut Yom Tov" all of Chol HaMoed. That’s how I saw it by my Rebbe, I think that in Vizhnitz he took it from the Maharit, who said… Your Rebbe is, of course, the Rebbe of Toldos. Who studied in Vizhnitz. He is Vizhnitz-Toldos, he does everything just like the Chaim. At your place, they say "Gut Yom Tov." Very nice. So, Gut Yom Tov to you and all the viewers. Listen, we have known each other for many years. We’ve stood on many, many , many stages—of all kinds: weddings, dinners, Torah scroll dedications, Siyumei HaShas, singing for the sick, and everything. But truly, one of the things I remember the most are the Simchat Beit HaShoeiva celebrations we did together. And it could be said that , you know, you asked not to talk about you much, we will talk about Simchat HaShoeiva, but you are a symbol—not just of Simchat Beit HaShoeiva, but the symbol of Meron and the symbol of Siyumei HaShas and Torah scroll dedications. But really, Simchat Beit HaShoeiva is something that can be said to have come from the area you came from, from the area where you grew up, whether it was Toldos Aharon or the others later. I think there is no one better than you to give us a bit of the flavor of the Sukkot holiday, how you grew up and where you came from, compared to where it has reached today, where basically Simchat Beit HaShoeiva (in almost every synagogue) wasn't like that when I was growing up; when I was a child, there were only a few here and there. True, maybe tell us from your perspective as a child: Do you remember how it actually was in Mea Shearim, where you actually grew up? I’ll start, let's talk about Toldos and the …That I remember, like you said, there was nothing. Nothing like today, where every street and every small synagogue—everyone is doing a Simchat Beit HaShoeiva? I remember it was only in Toldos, after Maariv. So, it seems to me that it already started with the Shomer Emunim, back with the Alter Rebbe and the Rebbe Reb Aharon. Yes. Yes, and the Rebbe wanted the boys not to go to all sorts of other places here and there, so he held a Simchat Beit HaShoeiva in his synagogue. It was very intimate, but it wasn't really intimate because people would come to the area of Mea Shearim, even in those light years, I'm talking about 38, 37 years ago when I was a child. When you were a child, do you remember —I remember the 20%when all the chassidim arrived and danced in this neighborhood and came to see the Rebbe to see how they do the Shiras, it was quite a sight and it was and he... Wait, let's start for a moment, you mentioned the Shomrei Emunim. Yes, I wasn't around in the times of the Shomrei Emunim but... So I cannot speak about those times. I remember at the Divrei Emunim when I was a little boy, many, many years ago, it was a celebration for our own public , but a huge, huge crowd from the outside came to watch. I don't remember , I can't say, it seems to me there was only—perhaps only one night. The Breslov chassidim did one night and the Masmidim did it as well inside the neighborhood. Ah, Breslov is actually the yahrtzeit of Nachman, right? Could be they did it on that same night . Where? In their shul as well? Yes, and I think they did it in...I don't remember which night it was. I remember I told my father, I wanted— there wasn't something like every night , every... No, only in Toldos Aharon, it was in Toldos Aharon that there was the innovation, the first time that actually every night, every night—and you say it started from the Rebbe, right? Yes, yes. That it was actually something he innovated and he... It seems to me, it seems to me, I can't say it for certain, but it seems to me ... Here we see him here, in the... Yes, that is the image of the Shomrei Emunim Rebbe. He actually founded the way of the Divrei Emunim. Which is the Rebbe, ztz "l, the Rebbe. The Rebbe, ztz" l, Divrei Emunim, who is the father of the two Admorim, Toldos Avraham Yitzchak and Toldos Aharon. With him, actually, Rabbi Dushinsky, no ? That is Rabbi Dushinsky, it seems... Yes, there are almost no photos of him, these photos are very rare, yes. With him, actually, you say the custom of Simchat Beit HaShoeiva was established. It seems to me, yes. And from there it actually passed to the Rebbe, ztz "l, where you were already... I was there, yes. Why did they actually do it every night ? Why? Why, why don't they do it just one night? Because he didn't want to. I think I heard that he didn't want the boys to go around to all sorts of places. Ah, so there wouldn't be all sorts of places, but you know, what would they do? It could be that it actually connects to the chassidus and what was in the times of the Gemara, in the times of the Beis HaMikdash, where it is written in the Gemara that they did torches and danced, really all night, and the Shiras followed the Shiras. They took a break every forty-five minutes and recited three Shir HaMaalos . That is actually the Rebbe whom I also remember when I was a child. Actually, I was also there as a child a few times , I came to Toldos Aharon to see the joy, back then it was still possible to get in, today... Yes, today it's... Yes. Wow, look at another picture—this is when the Satmar Rebbe arrived in the country, psh, wow. So that is inside the synagogue in Toldos Aharon, I remember it, I was there in the... Clearly, all the Admorim arrived. So he arrived to...I remember this picture as if it were live. Like you say, truly in the Gemara, wonderful and exalted things are written about Simchat Beit HaShoeiva, where we play and sing every night, but actually it is...The things written about it, why it is called Simchat Beit HaShoeiva, because from there they drew the Holy Spirit—ah, that is an interesting topic in general. I don't remember exactly what is written in the Gemara, but there was the water libation, and they danced because of it, and because of that... That's exactly what—yes, that's what I was about to say regarding the water libation, that they actually go to draw water every night. From the Shiloah spring to pour them onto the altar, and it became the greatest joy of the entire year. I saw in one of the books that he writes that one should find joy in the simplest things in life. A person takes water for granted. What is water? It's like grace—it's like being at a spring where he can go and drink. Yes, and precisely from this water libation, they made an entire holiday out of it. An entire holiday, essentially, as it is also written in the Gemara that there, on the holiday, they are judged regarding the water, as mentioned in the Mishnah. Essentially, it is the Day of Judgment for all sustenance, for all the beautiful abundance of the world. It's amazing how this thing stays with us. You know, someone once told me that the Rebbe of Pittsburgh told him, his predecessor, that the only thing we have left from the Holy Temple is the music, because for sacrifices we only make a memorial, and for the incense a memorial, but the music is the only thing...one could say that you rejoiced . He told him that the Levites would play , and it reached the whole world, and that is what really remains. True, we do it today, even today, 15 songs—yes, yes, amazing. It's truly wonderful to see how something that started in a very small place, in a very small Hasidic sect, exploded and became something global with these songs from back then. Do we perhaps have a clip? Maybe we can see a... Small clip from the celebration. That's actually from Toldos Aharon, not Toldos Avraham, but there it is—yes, you can see the Rebbe here, I don't know... Because they made it popular, the songs they sang—every song 10 minutes, seven minutes, not song to song. These are truly the songs we sing today , even in the Litvish world, and in the whole world, essentially, they sing Simchas Beis Hashoeiva; these songs, they also actually came from here, that they made them popular and... And you said..." Oisgefullt di yomim, "" Hashem Melech, "—is that from there too? Not from there, that's not the melody of Toldos, but these are the authentic songs. You taught me something new, because I know that I heard it in the Yeshiva world; in my eyes, this song is a symbol of Yeshivas. Yes. It says," If I am not for me, who is for me? "and" If not now... " But look, they made" Melech "and" Yehuda, "" Mizbach "—one could say that today there are entire sets of dances that they even sing at Siyumei Hashas. Yes. It actually comes from this world of Simchas Beis Hashoeiva and the Ushpizin . You mentioned" Haderes V'haemuna, " they made it popular. And from Shiloah they used to sing it, at Yosef, Yosef," Yisra-el, "and" Haderes V'haemuna, " they say it during Ushpizin in the Sukkah. So the whole Ushpizin is about Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, and Moshe, Yosef, Aharon, Dovid. So at Yosef, they say" Haderes V'haemuna, "so they used to sing it, and they would sing it for almost three-quarters of an hour, the" Haderes. " This piyut. Yes, three-quarters of an hour, I remember, nearly an hour, and the Rebbe would sit at that Ushpizin inside the synagogue. He doesn't sit the whole time, that's four hours, almost every night. He arrives... He arrives, sits for an hour or an hour and a quarter. The Rebbe would also sit . The Rebbe at our place, in Toldos Avraham, has been doing it for years, years. This is not a good tish; it’s not like it was at his father's, but let's go back. When they would dance, they would dance to" Hamolcho Vehamoshlo "for 40 minutes. I mean, the entire Darcho Yemino, they started with Darcho Yemino, they would stop at Hamolcho Vehamoshlo, they would sing it for 40 minutes, but it was Hakafot. By the way, by the way," Auzer Dalim, " was there something, because in many Hasidic sects" Auzer Dalim "is... Actually in Toldos, in Toldos, no, I don’t remember. Because you know in Belz there is, and in Vizhnitz there is. Oh, yes. How many melodies do we know just of the Hakafot, really all the Hakafot? How does it go, huh? Yes. It’s more in the Hakafot and not in itself, and that is the Hakafot of Satmar. Of the Hakafot, yes, which is... And it’s also a continuation of the Mitzvah Tanz of every Rebbe, that every sector, every Hasidic sect has its Rebbe, that he dances Mitzvah Tanz, it’s also related to the Hakafot. Oh, you mean it’s the same melody that basically at weddings he also dances Hakafot? Yes, conversely, what he dances at the Hakafot he dances at the Mitzvah Tanz, you understand? By the way, you should know that... In Belz, they are straightforward. That’s the Belz way, you understand. Beautiful. I, by the way, now that you’re talking about it, I remember reading somewhere...let’s talk for a second and then really return to history, like, Simchat Beit HaShoeiva and these Hakafot—as if they are two separate things, but listen to something interesting that I read: basically, what is Simchat Beit HaShoeiva? Where did it come from? In the Gemara it says that it's from the six days of Creation at all, it's a commandment even before they received the Torah. What is the simple meaning of that? It’s just something side-note that Adam HaRishon, he was commanded by the Holy One, Blessed be He, to work it and to guard it, and until it rises from the earth, he was actually commanded to pray for the water, to pray for the livelihood, and therefore it is written in the Gemara that this is actually what we do, the water libation is akin to that work of Adam HaRishon, which was the first commandment that... Before the Temple, like, no? Yes, in the water libation, it essentially reconstructs the work that Adam HaRishon was commanded, to pray for sustenance, to pray, it's not" until it rises from the earth, "but water doesn't come down, it waits for your prayer, it waits for the water libation. But what I wanted to say about the Hakafot, that the Hakafot is Torah, it is around the Torah. Yes. I read something very interesting. Listen to a big revelation: how is it related to Simchat Beit HaShoeiva? Actually, the first Simchat Beit HaShoeiva was in the Holy Temple. The first time that King Solomon inaugurated the First Temple, it was on the holiday of Sukkot, and it sits upon the joy that he had at his father's, King David, peace be upon him, when they brought up the Ark; and it was written that David leaped and whirled before the Lord. Meaning, from there this thing started. Of joy, but that goes beyond its boundaries. Because there David leaped, even though it supposedly didn't look good that a king behaves like that before them. And also in Simchat Beit HaShoeiva, you see this element, it is written in the Gemara that the righteous and the Sanhedrin had all kinds of movements or ... Things that, like, go out of the comfort zone. With the torches of light, and it is written about Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel that he would fall on the floor, and things that you see are like a kind of going out of the comfort zone. To be honest, we should have brought a Gemara and studied the topic of what is written in the Gemara for deep thought, because... Amazing. Because... Yes, I actually read something just before Yom Kippur, and I suddenly remembered seeing in the Gemara that even Jonah the Prophet... Yes. It says that he would receive his divine inspiration through the joy of the water libation. Look at how profound that is. So we, we are doing things today that are based on... What took place in the Holy Temple. The Holy Temple is rooted in the first man, which connects everything—the awe with the joy. Here, the site...what water, it’s just all together, it's amazing. But I wanted to pause for a second on this point of stepping out of your comfort zone. We, as people who... you, I believe the number of events you’ve done—well, not the number, the variety—from performing at the most prestigious occasions to performing for someone sitting in prison, heaven forbid, or a patient in a hospital—it always takes you out of your comfort zone. You don't always come to sing, and you want to do the song, but sometimes you just don't have the energy. There’s something to this point, I’m truly asking you. Yes, I understand what you’re saying. That you, even from a place where you aren't that happy, you sort of force yourself and step out of your comfort zone, doing something a bit strange, something you’re not used to, and that actually brings the joy. That’s how I feel from these Gemaras. Exactly like that. Do you have a story, something where you suddenly realized that something you did really changed someone’s life completely? I can tell you that, thank God, but unfortunately, we—both I and all my friends in this field—go a lot to cheer people up in hospitals. Yes. So when you arrive at a hospital, you don’t always encounter a person who is happy; it’s often the opposite. You come to a person who is very down, very, very worried and such, and you need to lift them up. Yes, so first of all, when you arrive, you just touch the organ or whatever, you just open your mouth, and you see—you see with your own eyes that their vitals change for the better. It’s that, and then you get a call from the family:" You don't understand, the person was in such a different mood for the next two days. "Do you understand? Because people, people come all the time to visit. To give something, to come and talk, but it’s not the same as when we come there. So, what can you... Since I’m not on the other side, I can’t explain it to you, but I come from this side: we see that the vitals change, we get a call from the family saying it really changed the patient’s mood, and the doctors tell us—you understand? So what else, what more can I say? It’s the music, it’s the singing. What more can I add? Amazing, amazing. Here we see what we are doing—meaning that, essentially, in the Simchat Beit HaShoeivah, beyond the fact that the water libation was a big deal, the music too, according to what you’re saying, was an event in itself. Beyond the water, also this topic of the music ...you see how much the Gemara insists on explaining that there were also cymbals, a harp, and trumpets, and all the time detailing the choir. And by the way, I saw somewhere written that because it wasn't really the Temple, the Simchat Beit HaShoeiva, then anyone who wanted could take a harp and join the Levites. Yes, just a regular person. Yes, just a regular person. It's written that the youngsters also had some part in the choir, yes, I didn't know that. In Simchat Beit HaShoeiva or in general ? I don't know at all. But it's written specifically about Sukkot, I saw that there it's as if anyone who wants can come and take part , of course not just a simple person; I saw that the Rambam rules that at Simchat Beit HaShoeiva, it is forbidden for a simple person, rather the heads of the Sanhedrin, the Torah giants, and the leaders are the ones who had to dance and hold torches, which shows that the music itself, the melody... Was part of the event, the event itself , the dance itself was...was... It's possible to understand what was essential about it. So I'll return to, if we go back to this, you see here the unity of truly all parts of the Jewish nation, that basically it coalesces into this thing that, on a daily basis, they wouldn't enter Mea Shearim, but suddenly at Simchat Beit HaShoeiva, you see them dancing shoulder to shoulder. Unbelievable. Ah, Misnagdim and all sorts of other people, and they dance for three hours together with the Chassidim, the yeshiva boys, who during the year there are frictions, is it a state, not a state, yes, you know, Neturei Karta and all of them together. This is something I noticed, and I also remember this as a child, the fact that you enter the Toldot and you don't just see stripes, like this, yes, you see everything of everything, and this is a great innovation. And I think it was the first, and after that, it really, it burst out, and it reached, I think, Karlin did it once, we said before, and Breslov did one night. The masters. They are masters, this is at the Yeshivas, you know, can you show the public? This is from I don't know how many years ago, who do you see in the music? One minute, first of all, there is no singer here. It's amazing to see. Look how many Misnagdim, look. This is from 50 years ago at the Har... Probably. That's what it looks like. Pesach Koshwesky, Moshe Berlin, who is this? Oh, it really looks like Moshe Berlin, it's amazing. On the drums, who is that? Pesach Koshwesky, he was a drummer at my wedding. Legendary. Yes. Ah, he played drums at your wedding? Yes, 30 years ago. Amazing, this is a video from 50 years ago, yes, 50 years, yes, masters. You see all the, but I want to tell you the truth, today it doesn't, it doesn't look that different to me, if you had told me it was from five years ago, I would have believed it. No, but there is no singer here. Ah, this is music only. Yes, today you won't see that, except, for example, at Har Hamor, at the yeshiva, at the Kopyczynitz, where they dance for eight or nine hours. There they dance in circles. I told my wife: I'm begging, I'm asking her not to let me go even once to the Kopyczynitz so I won't have to work. I want to be at Har Hamor, but I have to come in disguise, so that, so that... Because I have to be there for several hours: both Belty who plays there, and also Duvid Efrat who plays there. You ...have to see it, everyone is singing, who needs a choir? The whole crowd is singing, there is no, there is an orchestra of the, an orchestra. It's like, it's like in the old days. Like in the old days, when the crowd sang. Ah, that is to say, actually there was no need for a singer because the crowd itself was singing. It’s so beautiful and that's eight, nine hours of Hakafot Shniyot. Yes, eight, nine hours. Yes. Wow, by the way, then maybe you can make it. No, but if I finish at the Matmidim at 8:00 AM I can't, right? Yes, but wait, really, the Matmidim is ...is... Maybe this year I'll do it. Yes. Maybe. But the Matmidim really is something of the Hakafot. I was at your Matmidim when I was a child. I, the Matmidim, is actually stronger at Hakafot Shniyot, right? It's... At the Hakafot, yes, yes. That's, I really, it's... They start at 12:00 at night, Matmidim until 5:00 in the morning, yes. What, tell us a little, a few years ago , was it Rabbi Mintzberg who started this, is it... I think Rabbi Mintzberg, yes, it was still at Ungar's, and then I was privileged. To Hakafot Shniyot. In Mea Shearim it was less, it was more Simchat Beit HaShoeiva, and he took it to the place of Hakafot Shniyot a bit. I don't know how to say that, but... In Toldos Aharon there were Hakafot Shniyot too. Was there music at the Hakafot Shniyot? I don't remember, no, there was no music at the Hakafot Shniyot. It was only singing like, like Simchat Torah. Ah, there were almost no Hakafot Shniyot because we didn't have Hakafot Shniyot, so yes, something that... What I remember from when I was a little kid is that there were concerts, they would do them at Kikar HaShabbat, down below, the concerts they did, it wasn't a central event, yes. A central event by the municipality, of that... That I... When there were fights to close Kikar HaShabbat. Something like that, yes, yes, but they didn't do it at the Hakafot Shniyot. So the Matmidim, I, the Hakafot Shniyot that stays in my mind is really the Matmidim, you and Meir... Yes, how many years, Meir and Nissa. We even have, I think, some clip from maybe a few... It was still Rabbi Leib Mintzberg, may he rest in peace. The memory of a righteous and holy man for a blessing. That's Meir. Do you see Meir? You can see how you're like giving the crowd here, cheering? Yes. I don't know how many years that is, a few years ago. Wow. The famous move that became a trademark. Yes. How, how they stand, looking and bowing on their knees, it's also something like the Temple, I remember it was just like sometimes you felt that you were inside some human caravan, you have no control, you actually enter and exit with the caravan, both in Karlin and in Toldos Aharon, and the dances there are very much like snakes like that. Yes. Um, like trains like that, I don't know exactly. There was also a part in Toldos Aharon where they did Shiras, that is, it was three hours almost, non-stop. That also comes from...I think, or is it from Karlin, no? It's a Debka, it's a known Debka. It's not Hora, not Debka, just Shiras, you can show the public. You see on the side that the Litvish boys are doing Hora. Yes, they are dancing Hora and you are dancing Shiras. Shiras. It's so beautiful to see that. What is the source, by the way, of the Shiras? What is the source of it? Do you know? I don't know. Could it be from Meron, or is it unrelated? I don't know. I don't think so. In Meron, they danced to, you know, the Arabic dabke and that stuff. That could also be something Arabic. No , it's not. No. No. Avi is playing here, but there is also the song" Telid Layla. "As it remains in Islam, all those songs were sung during Hakafot, you understand? Ah, but what was the point? Was there a special focus regarding the Hakafot? No, they wouldn't switch, like. It’s like something special that suddenly happened. Also, the children were on the side of the synagogue and they did Hakafot with them alone. Ah, meaning they introduced—they prepared, like, there are the men, yes, I have an uncle. Ah, who is a Melamed, just a Melamed, he would spend years with the children for the Hakafot, teaching them how to do it. Amazing, amazing, amazing. Yes. So, actually, let’s go back for a second to the Masmidim; is there some kind of energy there? How many hours is the event? Five hours, until 5 in the morning. It starts at 12 midnight? Yes. Until 5 in the morning. Yes. To this day, to this day. Unbelievable, what—how do you explain this energy? It's not something you see everywhere. We talked earlier about these being forces, ah. But also at the Masmidim, do they do the seven Hakafot? I mean, do they stop ? Yes, yes, they stop, they stop and do the seven Hakafot of Simchat Torah, or some prayers to Hashem and all that stuff. And they walk around the Bimah or— So at the start, the first hour, they do the Hakafot; every quarter hour they stop. Ah, so it starts with the seven Hakafot and after that they continue with the singing and the rest. Ah, nice, because in— Later on, it even reaches—not even the Hakafot, the public does the Hakafot for the American crowd, like, it's the" Second Hakafot "for the American crowd. Ah, yes. What are the" Second Hakafot "? Come on, enlighten me. The second day for the Americans, they do" Second Hakafot "for them. By the way, I already made a blessing earlier, yes. Nice, I haven't made a blessing yet here, I'll do it—so, so they do the" Second Hakafot "for the Americans. What's the meaning? Why is that? Because it's a holiday for them, and they also need to do Hakafot. Ah, Israel, ah, I didn't know that. I really never knew what" Second Hakafot "were. So why don't they have a" Second Chanukah, "like? Exactly," Second Hakafot "for all this. Oh, nice, ah, because there is a commandment to" rejoice in your festivals. " Could be, I don't know. Interesting, because actually they also do a second day of Passover and— But we are already in the Sefira period , exactly. Ah, nice, so that’s actually where it was born from. Supposedly. Wow, but how that is— So they do all the—not the ceremony, they do all the Hakafot, they say all the hymns of the Hakafot, nicely for the Americans, if there are Americans there or not, I don't know, but. But in the Yeshivas, for example, really, each set, let's say they do one Hakafah for 40 minutes, then they stop and do another 40-minute Hakafah—the four, three, four, five hours are spread out, all seven Hakafot are spread over that time. You're saying that here they do it at the beginning at the Masmidim, and then it just continues? Actually, in recent years at Rabbi Droug’s Yeshiva, he does do the Hakafot, and after that, he does—he does it like the Masmidim, he does. An hour, an hour and a quarter, an hour and twenty, and it's finished. Why? Because we dance with the Torah scrolls , and then, you know, later on we don't dance anymore; we put the Torah scrolls back, return them, and then continue dancing—wow, amazing. Yes, so there I try to sing songs about the Torah, and after that, I just sing regular songs too. Let's talk for a second, really, about this thing, about these Sukkot songs that we all know, that we know are only connected to Simchat Beit HaShoeivah and are almost never sung anywhere else . I don't know, for me it's" Tzvi Tzvi "or maybe Karlin songs that are sung without words. For example. Ah, you know, they do sing it at weddings too, but less so today; they used to. Or Chabad, without words, uh. By the way, there is a" Vesamachta " from Karlin that I know is about" Vesamachta, "di-di-di-di." Vesamachta "is from...that melody is from... No, no. No, from Karlin, ay-ay-ay-ay. Yes, but no. It's not" Vesamachta. "Ah, I didn't know that. But listen, for us it's" Tzvi Tzvi "and" Ashrei Yedidecha, "and all those songs of Simchat Beit HaShoeivah, which are actually identified as Simchat Beit HaShoeivah to this day. For example," Tzvi Tzvi " —it hasn't found its place at a Siyum HaShas, you know? Like... Even at weddings, if there isn't some Rebbe who arrives who happens to love a specific song, you won't see it. For instance, the one you mentioned earlier . It’s—it’s very interesting, there are songs that are stuck in our minds. That are... That are only for Sukkot, and it’s like there’s no legitimacy to sing them anywhere else. It’s interesting because... There are songs, for example," Kevashpagodoni. "What, you don't know that? It’s a song from the West...a song, they sing it in Vizhnitz, an amazing song. From the holiday, you know, all the way from Kosovo. You know it? No." Mechabed. " Ah, I know it without the words. Very nice, so there's a Karlin one too, it's a bit different, it starts the same way. It’s also interesting that many songs from Karlin and Chabad... Yes, Chabad together, and everyone took it, received it differently over the years, so everyone sings it differently . There are so many songs. By the way, regarding" Nusach, "you are also very well-versed in" Nusach, "you release the" Hagigim "every year—that's Vizhnitz. Yes, no, but I'm asking, are there also things related to Sukkot with" Nusach, "with" Nusachim, "no? No, but the Vizhnitz" Nusach "that you did, and which actually became popular everywhere thanks to you, is something ...it's an ancient thing, it's something that is accepted, that they used to sing by the Baal Shem Tov. There was a cantor in, a part of it... yes, it's Yaakov Kopel Chosid, and he brought it to the Maggid, to Avraham, to the Rebbes, I don't know, to all kinds of Vizhnitz Rebbes, and they lived it, and my Rebbe also sang it. So it's the" Nusach "of Rabbi Yaakov Kopel, who was... Yes, he was a cantor for the Baal Shem Tov. Yes, I spoke with him, I spoke, by the way... Yes, I spoke with Rabbi Chaim Banet when he was here, so we also talked about it, that he really, he really says that in Kosovo-Vizhnitz, this" Nusach "was really passed down. Yes. But on Sukkot, there isn't some" Nusach "thing, it's more melodies. Yes. I understand. So, these melodies, for example the ones we talked about regarding Tsoi and that, do you know their origin, or do you not know? No. Amazing. There is a song, Rini. V'yismach Libi, you will never hear that at weddings, you understand? It’s, you know, reserved for... You sing it at Simchat Beit HaShoeiva. With us in Toldos Yitzchak, because the Rebbe focuses more on the songs of Vizhnitz, Chabad, and so on, I don’t know what the source of that song is, but I remember it from hours at Toldos when I was a little kid, you. Understand, and also the tempo—they didn’t dance at 164, they danced at 152, you understand, the tempo? I’m talking about, actually, he means there was, there was time for a slower pace. If you were there, if you noticed, even with the songs. Slow. Where are you, what are you saying, we did all the Sukkot, what, slowly, slowly, what? Maybe that’s why it took hours. I don’t know, but back then it was so deep, it was engraved in the heart; today you move from song to song and that’s it. There is something very special that I really noticed, even as a child, I remember both in Toldos and in Karlin that it could really be three or four hours of Simchat Beit HaShoeiva, but no more than 15-20 songs, just every song ... In Karlin, they would dance all of that as a song, right? Yes. But there is something very powerful about it, you know what I mean? Yes, also, no singers, an orchestra, and they dance and dance and dance, one song for 40 minutes. Yes, but what is the simple meaning of it? Like, I don’t know the simple meaning, but I’m saying what I felt. Yes. That it’s just, you enter some kind of meditation, it’s like a loop. It doesn’t—it takes time until you get into the song, and then you’re in the song, and then you soar. And then, and then from there, another 10 times to be... I wish we would go back to those times. Are you strict about this at Simchat Beit HaShoeiva today? Like, about this thing of how many times, even in this generation, but my Rebbe told me not to change a song before 10 minutes. Oh. Already a few times, but with us, it’s a standard, you understand, so I already see the situation if we need to change or not change; the Rebbe already told me several times," You don't change before 10 minutes. " Interesting, and that’s something you are strict about? Strict? I try to be strict, but I must point out that we haven't talked about this. Here, we see... Yes, that we haven't talked about this until today. With us in Toldos Yitzchak , for years, in the beginning, in the beginning—our Rebbe has been a Rebbe for 30 years—in the beginning, it was twenty Chassidim like his father, after that he started doing a Tish, so it’s a different concept; a Tish is a Tish, he enters, hand washing, slow songs, after that... Yes. And they dance on the benches, so it’s already a different type, it’s already, you understand. It’s not with the dances. It’s not the dances and it’s not that. By the way, I must mention that, I remember sometimes I would finish in Toldos Avraham Yitzchak, I would travel to Bnei Brak to the Spinka Rebbe, because there was a Tish there too. There was nothing like Toldos, Toldos was something unique, they used to dance, and it was like in Karlin. One night, like with Breslov that we spoke about earlier, I would travel quickly, he asked me that we should come to Vizhnitz. After the Tish, yes, after the Tish in Vizhnitz, when the Rebbe finished his Tish, they would enter the synagogue and dance for an hour and a half until 2 or 3 in the morning at Spinka. Ah. To come to Spinka, that they would dance inside the synagogue. Ah, and from there, actually, comes all the... Meaning, they danced, that is specifically at the Tish. But there are plenty of joyful songs, okay, at the Tish. At the Tish itself, ah, there is no dancing. There is no dancing. Wow. Yes, in the dancing, there isn't, there isn't. And is that from now or from then? Just curious. That's by the Rebbe from today. Ah, wow, because the truth is that I also, I grew up in Haifa, so it also wasn't every night, it wasn't every night. But there was a Tish every night, no? It wasn't always a Tish, but Simchat Beit HaShoeivah wasn't every night. That's why I say it's so, it's so different that suddenly there are Hasidic courts, like really Toldos that we are talking about, that really every night and every night, Karlin every night and every night and every... I am asking you, as a child, how does this joy renew itself for you every night, or is it just the same songs? True, but there was a special charm, a special, special charm. No, at some point, I'm just saying, it didn't annoy you? Like, enough already, the third night, same thing, same song? Absolutely not, absolutely not, absolutely not. It's the experience, like. The experience that you wait all year for. I must share with you that really, for me too, it is... Always Jerusalem, always the fear of Heaven. I also remember the" Succot HaPela, "do you remember that there used to be" Succot HaPela "? Yes, that they would arrive. They would take us, and there was one coming to Haifa. You understand what it was like in Haifa? There was one Simchat Beit HaShoeivah in the whole city. Yes. When you arrive in Jerusalem, you see swarms of people going to the Succot. Today here, you can't get in, everything is jammed, everything is, you can't enter the gates with a car, it's...it's... Yes, really, in recent years I haven't gone because I know it has already become like Meron, it's already, ah... Exactly like that, that atmosphere of Batei Ungarin and the gates in the Succah. You have to see it, it's impossible, impossible, a... By the way, there is... Whoever hasn't seen the dancing, hasn't seen the joy, it's like a good Gemara. One could say that. About what? No, I mean about Jerusalem. Where is the center of Jerusalem? It's the gates, there, Karlin, Breslov, and that. On the same night, there are people who arrived on the same night that there was also Breslov or Karlin, because Toldos was every night, but Karlin wasn't every night. So, on that night, on that night that they made a plan, that they arrived, when Karlin and Toldos... Karlin, by the way, there is a concept that I know, that they don't play a second voice, meaning all the musicians play the first voice. I can believe that. Yes, yes, yes, that's what I know, 10 clarinets can stand there and they all play the melody, because there is something about Karlin where they play the melody. I want to say something, a very strange thing; after all, Karlin has songs without words, most of Karlin's songs are played without words . Pinsk is—I have two songs now that I’m putting on the air. They told me that two Karlin songs are going to be released, a known one and an unknown one, and suddenly the Pinsk Rebbe put words to these songs. It is very, very, very strange in Karlin to put words to them, but it sits so well, and I heard it, and I know these songs from before the words. I heard it, and I even hesitated whether we should put it on the air—once to leave it like authentic Karlin without words, and a second time with the words. What happened in the end? That with the words. From the beginning. From the beginning, yes, twice each song, because these are fairly new songs that people don't know. And also the Pinsk Rebbe's release, which brought the words" Libi Sor "[My heart is troubled], two verses of... By the way, this is a project that really has that scent, that aroma of Karlin, Chabad, and all the movements —that flavor, how should I say, the Chassidic taste that we all know today, where you know that even Lithuanian yeshivas say" Meloch "in the style of Vizhnitz or something like that. One thing we haven't talked about is Kol Torah, but later on—if you...I mean, I played in Kol Torah and it was ...Talk. We agreed we wouldn't talk about me, but I have to note that Kol Torah was a breakthrough, not just of the music, it was also the breakthrough of the Lithuanian yeshivas. They did Kol Torah, they did 25 songs once during Sukkot, and they called on Meilech Radler to play, and I was busy at the Rebbe's; I couldn't agree then. How many years ago are you talking about? What is this? It was in 5768, 5769, 5768, we are talking about 10 years ago, 11 years ago. And... We are today in 57... 5785. Yes. So in 57... Not in the sum. Oh, so 20 years. 20 years. And... They basically, they basically... I'm telling you, 20 years. Well, you were busy. I was busy at the Rebbe's, so they begged me to come after the Rebbe's, to come for at least half an hour. So I came for a year or two, I only came for the last half hour, I performed. What am I playing there with someone? I don't even remember who—with whom he played, you understand? I don't know, I don't remember for two years, and after that they managed to convince me to leave the Rebbe's. They were the first, I think, because you were actually singing every night. I sing every night at the Rebbe's, every night at the Rebbe's. From beginning to end. Yes, no, no, I didn't compromise, whether it was a dance session or a tish, I didn't go anywhere. So one night they managed to get you out of it. Yes, and it was a huge success. Everyone knows the discs, and I think everyone our age knows the" Biss "song is a new song, to the point that you know it from there. Yustupal called me. And he tells me I heard some new song on the Kultura disk, compose it, because I didn't have the brains at all to release a single, such a thing didn't exist like, and Perit had already been a singer for 30 years and he released it as if it were his own, but he took it from me, since I sang it for two years at weddings, from Slonim actually, I played it at weddings even before it came out as a single because it already spread from there because it was Kultura, it was a breakthrough. Ah, Kultura was actually a breakthrough in the Litvish world. I understand, in the Yeshivish world, yes. Ah, and later came Six13, which penetrated in there and... I think later all the city events came, because once they wouldn't give, all the city events they do today, you know . But me, as a child, I remember that for example a visit to the Mir or a visit to Ponevezh was just like, for example, a visit to Hebron, like it was, Hebron, they did it one night, right? Yes, with Ari Brunner, which was like, wow, you know. Very nice. I said earlier that they combine, yes, we from Haifa would arrive for one night, combining both Hebron and the Shaarei and also some Pela sukkah and maybe the Kotel, and it's really a day like that, indeed yes, when you arrive from the north. So you're saying that Kultura was actually where a connection happened, between the Hasidic world and the Yeshivish world, like I bring what came down to the Mir, and I arrived with my kaftan and we sang, you understand, so that... What is that with a kaftan, with the zebra? With my zebra, like, no, like... You, do you call it a kaftan? It is called a kaftan. It is a kaftan. Ah, we call it a zebra. Okay, it's a kaftan. So that's where the publicity happened. Yes. Wow. By the way, the" Hallelu, "from where? The Hallelu, the Hallelu. It's from Skver that I heard and I released it as a single. I think it was the second single. The first single was Chani Beni. True. And Hallelu because you heard it at Vizhnitz a lot. You heard it here and there. I released it as a single. Ah, they sang it at Vizhnitz. They sang it, the Vizhnitzers, he heard it at some wedding in Skver. He was a matchmaker several times with Skver, he heard it and they brought it to one of the weddings or at Six13, by the way, when did they start, you know, singing it in the Hakafot? Ah, really? Yes, in one of the refrains of the Hakafot, I think the Hakafot of Shemini Atzeret or Simchat Torah, they say it in the... From the creator of the Hakafot, it's written Hallelu, yes. Beautiful, who composed it by the way? Someone from Skver, very beautiful, I didn't know it was mine too. Look at that, how Simchat Torah, look how it entered our hearts, and not to mention all the songs that, yes, for 40 years we've been singing, Borichi, Elokeinu, for me that is Simchat Torah. Ah yes, it's Torah, it's more us, Torah , but... No, for us it's Simchat Beit HaShoeiva and the Hakafot, the Hakafot. Hakafot, but today they sing it at every Siyum HaShas or, or, etc., you know. But for me, it's a symbol of, uh, of Simchat Torah, like, for me, when did we sing it? Like, when wouldn't we sing it at weddings? You wouldn't drink to it, like, it's not, yeah. By the way, uh, if we're already talking about interesting customs and all sorts of things, you know, uh... So we talked about the singing and the dancing, yes. A strange thing, I wasn't there, but I remember pictures of Lelov, and the Rebbe of Lelov would also dance with his torches, just like it was, like it’s written in the Gemara, with his torches. And I remember that I also stayed two or three years in Belz, they also managed to get me out of Telz, it’s funny, so that I would come to them for one night during Sukkot, they did it in their area. To do that, someone else and someone else managed, and today I’m already —I’m not allowed to say it, that I’m almost not with the Rebbe anymore , he also understands it, the distance and everything, and... Also there. So what, so in Belz I also merited that the Belzer Rebbe comes out for a few minutes from his balcony onto the big area they have in Belz, in Kiryat Belz, and he participates with the public there, the very large public, they do Simchat Beit HaShoeivah under the open sky, so you can also see that, they also danced with—with his torches, so beautifully, these torches. Ah, that means even in Belz, in Belz too, yes. Let's see, let's see. And here. Oh, the whole crowd is actually holding... Not the whole crowd, there are people. Like, not just the Rebbe in Lelov, you said that... In Lelov, it's the Rebbe, yes. Here they gave it to a few people, elders or children, to dance with the torches. It’s actually a remembrance of the torches of... Yes, the torches of the Rebbe of Lelov. The Rebbe of Lelov, wait, one second, it interests me precisely about Belz, because here I see a huge crowd, I don’t know this event, but the Rebbe of Lelov, only the Rebbe alone dances with it? In Lelov, yes, yes. Beautiful, the Rebbe, and was it only in Lelov, or did you see it in... Only in Lelov I saw it, and after that they did it too. I don’t know from where. It seems to me that the Belzer Rebbe told Avraham Fried, who organized it, to bring many, many, many instruments, so it would look...I remember they spoke to me about an orchestra, about this and that. I told them: I want an organist, because it’s the most cheerful. Not that I’m here...not that I’m speaking against the orchestra, but that it needs to be... The point is, let’s put it this way, so you—Mendelson played with me there for two or three years, I don’t remember, and the Belzer Rebbe brought there—they brought all the instruments that exist, and there are instruments there. Oh, to be like... That they played and they didn’t even have a microphone. The Belzer Rebbe told Avraham Fried, no matter how much money it costs, that it should look like Simchat Beit HaShoeivah, like the orchestra of the Beit HaMikdash, bring all sorts of instruments, I think you should know what it’s called if... Of his and such, all sorts of things like that. All the instruments were on the stage and they didn’t even, they just pretended they were playing, that’s what the Belzer Rebbe asked to have on the stage, listen... So there were 20 musicians there, those who really played, it was all old guys, all these saxophones and trombones, everything there was 20 musicians. They pretended to be playing, but it wasn't connected, so it would look like the Holy Temple. Here you see it, you understand they really want it to look like the Holy Temple, we are obsessed with that. It could be there is really a point to it, I don't know about the instrumentation, but in the Gemara, you see that it lists everything almost everywhere it talks about Simchat Beit HaShoeiva, they list the instruments. You know, usually they don't list all sorts of things that seem like trifles, but the Gemara keeps repeating it: harp and lyre and trumpets and cymbals, and there are places where trumpets aren't mentioned and places where they are, and there are whole commentaries on why here there is one and here not. Beautiful. Meaning that there is probably, exactly , there may be a point that in Simchat Beit HaShoeiva, truly, every type of instrument in the world, something special. They participated in this thing, as we talked about before, that this is a special matter, this joy is in its own right, the commandment, yes. We didn't actually talk about it, that" you shall be joyful in your festival "is the commandment of the holiday," you shall rejoice before the Lord. " This is the commandment identified with this holiday, and you shall be nothing but happy. By the way, another interesting point I saw, you know what, let's finish Belz and then I'll tell you. Is this event in Belz an event that happened for many years and only recently, or is it a fairly new event, like, new Belz? Since they actually have this plaza of The plaza, I think they did something small. There is, I think, I am not in Belz Chassidut, but I think there is a Tish of the, at Yosef Ishpizin, where they distribute the" shvartzoit, "the" penusa. " What is the matter with Yosef, the Ishpizin? What is" shvartzoit "? Speak for those who don't understand." Shvartzoit, " they distribute the bread, the black bread, the" ashpuah, "I don't know exactly. I'm not in Chassidut. Everyone comes to the Tish, he goes out once to the Tish on Ushpizin, he distributes the black bread, I don't know exactly what. It's like some special Tish in Belz. A special Tish in Belz. And is this Simchat Shoeiva related? It was, it was on the same day, very early, and after that most people went to the Tish of Yosef Ishpizin that same night, they did it. Ah, there are thousands here, it's surely not just Belz, it's also here, by the way, it's a hallmark of Simchat Beit HaShoeiva, you see, you see, you see with...yes, also. Everyone, Yeshiva students, Ashkenazim, Lithuanians, Religious Zionists, Sephardim, and Chassidim. You know they came to me, they came to me with a list of songs, just...Maybe they were strict that I wouldn't go over the, I told them, you don't need to tell me, I know exactly what, I'm not, you need to, pfft. But it's not just Belz, by the way, okay? It's not just Belz, it's also. No, no, what are you talking about? Your people, but you know," Boker BeZaraini "isn't a Belz song. Yes," Aimish, "like. Aimish. Ah, they really stood... Clear, they were strict. You know, I was even offended that they had to tell me, what, I'll go there, I know what, what, am I a little kid? You understand ? But they were very, very strict. There was someone standing with a list and was careful if I went over something, you understand? What are you saying? Yes, even the way of his guidance, he cautioned me, yes. I'm not ashamed to say that, very well, well, no, I'm saying. They were meticulous, you understand? It's for the best, and listen, today, after you go through many, many, many events, you even say, you really look at the glass half full, that this is truly a person who is meticulous about the event, wants to be on top of things , and wants the event not to get away from him, yes. Like, it's not a matter of him not trusting. Me. It's a matter of him wanting to tell you what his taste is, what he wants in the event, because you come from many places and you can do things in all sorts of colors. I want the color orange. If there was a tune he didn't know, the person who invited me in Belz, he didn't allow it, he didn't let me. I said to him, it's a tune, people sing it in all sorts of places. No, I don't know that. You're not singing that here in Belz. Interesting. Yes. By the way, a point that I told you before, that I actually saw that they talk about the Simchat Beit HaShoeivah, which was actually throughout the whole night, even back then. In the morning? In the morning, no. Yes. In the morning they would actually go, after all the joy, they would go down at dawn and draw the water from the Siloam spring and climb back up the whole ascent, and then they would pour it—in the morning, that was the joy, going to pour the water, that's the joy of all. Exactly, pouring it, the Gemara says, to understand what that was. The Gemara says that for the water libation, there were special fissures that were created from the six days of Creation, which received this water. It connects to the first man we spoke about earlier. I even saw in some book. That he writes that the first word in the Torah," Bereshit "(In the beginning ), is" Bara Sheet "(He created the fissures). Meaning, He created these fissures. Meaning. Essentially, what are they saying here in one sentence? That the whole world stands and waits for a Jew to pray for their livelihood and for the water, because without that, nothing happens. It is He who created the fissures, even before—these fissures that would receive the water, He created them before man, so that he would come and pray. Meaning, the whole world was created for this. So why, why am I talking about this? Because this point of the night, essentially the joy was supposed to be during the day, but precisely at night, in this dark place. Yes. Where there is supposed to be darkness, precisely there it is written that there was no courtyard that was not illuminated. By the way, you have a song on Heshy Weiss's album that came out, I think they called it" Or. "" Or. "" Or Be'shavei "(Light in the darkness). Yeah," Or Be'shavei. " Meaning, it is an event where the light , that the night itself illuminates, it's something that maybe I think we can end with, I think about this a lot, about this moral lesson, that essentially as a musician, we perform at many, many events that are naturally during the day. The event is naturally during the day, it's a happy event, you play at a wedding and everything is good, but the real joy, as we spoke about earlier, is regarding the sick and people who you actually come to at night, you don't come to them during the day; it's dark for them. And there you illuminate the darkest places. Exactly. Whether it's in prisons or in hospital wards, I don't need to list all the places, you come out of there with satisfaction—satisfaction that you're making people happy, that you see on them that you simply made a difference for them. You can see it in the color of their glow. As if I don't need to tell you what it’s like to visit the sick. True, but since you go too— maybe I go more than you—but there's the" Ach Sameach "organization from Wiznitz, with Freilich and Hadler. Yes, oh, that—I know the videos that come out of there, seeing them with the mobile sound system. He built it—it's his idea—a mobile speaker box. Freilich built it, it runs on a battery , like, you charge the battery and move from room to room. Whole wards, they put the speaker on wheels and go— that's it. I know it, I know it. That's always what I'm missing, like, when I get to a patient, I usually say," a guitar, " because now you have to bring amplification. It's such a genius idea, yeah, with everything and that. That is the" grace within grace. "You understand what I'm saying? It's like bringing simplicity to kindness. Look how beautiful that is. What is that? During COVID, this is me and Meir Hadler, guys who entered the wards during COVID. Wow, with protective suits? No, we were, yeah, suited up. That's me. That's me on the left. Yes. How did they hear you, by the way, with the microphone? A little bit open, a few masks, and they put a microphone on my head, like. Wow, Avremi, where did you pull that from? That thing is amazing. To see that, it’s so moving. The grace within grace—meaning, to do something within the kindness, to find genius things that solve problems—that's what I call" grace within grace. " Meaning, I get to a patient here, there , you know, not a lot, because I say you have to bring amplification and that...he went and found a solution so that he could come several times a week with the speaker. Kindness is mobile, how do you say? Mobile kindness, you understand? So that is the grace within grace, you understand? It's genius. It's the genius of kindness. Yeah. So really, in prisons, when we move from wing to wing to wing, it's also very convenient. You mean you don't have to lug around amplification and this and that; you just walk in with it and that's it. It amplifies the kindness. Like, you can suddenly do it for two hours instead of half an hour. Ah, you can do it twice a week. I don't want to open things up here that people don't know, but yes. It’s easier. Anyway, there’s one more point I wanted to talk to you about regarding something else—we actually ended up doing a very interesting song that you did on your second album. From the words of—you explained it to me back then when we worked on it—by ... That Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, whose Yahrtzeit is... After, after, after, after the day of ...(garbled speech) Yes, but there is something in his songs that he wrote in Yiddish. Yes. It doesn't say...(garbled)...and that. I remember when you explained it, I was very, very moved. I think maybe this is the place, we are in... Yes, it’s interesting that Aaron Razel was there and he saw the composition, the song, it’s not...( garbled). He doesn’t speak Yiddish and he doesn’t read it, so he prepared the song there with all the difficulty he had with Yiddish. It’s written in the Tzion. Yes, it’s written in the Tzion of Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the words" Chutz, chutz, chutz. " What is it actually based on? It’s based on" Ribono Shel Olam, "that we ask the Father to take us out of exile and we are attached to Him, clinging to Him with all the decrees we go through and all that. That’s it. I remember I was very moved that he actually translated it— it’s a translation of the song...This . Chu. Du. Similar to...A song about these words. Thank God we did it together, you were on production. No, but what I want to say is that when you read it," Afishans Omni Chover Kechamo, "you don’t understand the connection between them. That’s what I want to clarify for a second, because he really makes it like a process." Omni Chover Kechamo "—what did he say ? What is the meaning there in Yiddish? Let’s talk about the verses." Omni Chover Kechamo, "what is" Omni Chover Kechamo "? Like, it’s possible to say we are attached, we don’t leave, like a wall . Meaning 3,000 years we’ve been walking in some..." Ribono Shel Olam. "" Ribono Shel Olam, "like, clearly about the people of Israel. And then he says" Chutz. "What is" Chutz "?" Galu V'siru, "we are in exile. What is" Chutz "? Despite, or what is it? Yes, that’s right, despite the fact that we... Meaning, he connects it. The Jews were...or he probably means the suffering. Like, we went through, we went through very hard times with Moses our teacher and all that, you understand? All the...but in Egypt, even in the desert, yes, all that. With all this..." Chutz, chutz, chutz, "" Galu V'siru, "" Duch, duch, duch, "" Ribono Shel Olam, "we..." Duch, duch, "with all this, exactly, with all this we are..." Ribono Shel Olam. " He continues," Nevach, nevach, nevach, "" Harigo L'cho, "we fell for the sanctification of God’s name in all the places, ever since the people of Israel left Egypt, and that is, yes, with all this," Harigo L'cho, "attached ... Clinging and sticking to Him. Despite everything. That was the Berditchever, he was the defense attorney of the people of Israel, so he explains the... That’s what moved me, because I don’t understand Yiddish. And when you read" Afishans Omni Chover Kechamo, "it doesn’t seem related to one another, and he sort of connected it, that despite the exile, we are still clinging—you suddenly, it becomes very, very moving. I remember that was what moved me then. By the way, now you also released a beautiful, beautiful medley; you’re constantly... I told you, you sing, in my opinion, yes, you sing at Torah scroll inaugurations. You know, between you and me, without people hearing, I always tell you that if you received royalties just for the Torah scroll inaugurations where they play you every day—and right now we are speaking in the context of Simchat Beit HaShoeivah —so this medley coming out now, together with... It’s also all in that flavor; you went to that place of the flavor of the past, old niggunim, and here and there, and Chabad, and Klein. And also the sound, the sound is like ... Organ, or maybe...we asked Baliti at the last minute, on the eve of the holiday, to record it so there would be , you know, the clarinet. The clarinet, yes. And instruments, if Yanky is playing there. Yanki two Which, by the way, is a novelty in my eyes, because I’ve never heard him play on a Solton. He’s on the Moti Stimetz side; he’s a composer and arranger and Yes, but I know his arrangements are very electronic, very innovative. Let’s hear him on a Solton organ, like, with some funk and stuff There’s that, in the end, in each of us inside, that point of There’s a debate about what kind of music there will be when Mashiach comes . I say that the Solton music will be innovative, meaning there will be instruments Cymbals But if we need, you know, to accompany Mashiach SOS will be a ready Solton organ, turn up the volume Arale, listen, I could sit and talk with you for hours, as you know, long after and long before. We are approaching a conclusion, first of all, let me thank you, truly, on my behalf but also on behalf of all the listeners and viewers for a fascinating hour where we tried to capture the vibe, the history, the color, the scent of Simchat Beit HaShoeivah from the days of our ancestors And up to the development of today and all the different tastes, customs, and traditions. I usually like to finish by honoring the guest with some beautiful blessing, whatever you feel like, you know, without preparing, blessing the people, maybe through a song We are on a holiday, as you said, Chol HaMoed Yes, Chol HaMoed The beginning of a new year, we’ve been through a difficult year, a few difficult years How do we start the year off on the right foot? If we are talking about the significance of the times we are in? I would first say a blessing for myself, that I should merit, with God’s help, truly, I wish I would merit when Mashiach comes We musicians will truly merit being there. I don’t know if it will really be like that, but there are the Levites, but they say that the firstborns ( Bechorim) will also have a part. You mentioned earlier that every person could take part in playing and all that So that I should truly merit being there Are you a Levite? I am not a Levite, but I am a firstborn Oh, you’re a firstborn The firstborns have some part in the service in the Holy Temple, it seems to me, in the playing and such So you’re saying there’s a chance? I’m not a firstborn, I, I’m waiting to look up to you like I was at age... You’ll be in the production, it doesn’t matter, behind the scenes, but you’ll merit to play and such So, there’s a song, I’ll sing a song with you, even without music:" Bnei, Bnei, Bnei, bishu, b'nischo k'bischu "" B'nischo "" Bnei " That is also a significance in itself Obviously, obviously, we say it in the Mussaf, in the Mussaf of every holiday, " B'sukko t'chilu, "and with God’s help, we will merit the building of the Holy Temple, speedily in our days Amen, Amen, Amen. Arale Samet, thank you very, very, very much for coming, for being a guest, for giving of your time You know that I don’t speak on podcasts, it’s very, very hard, ugh Yes, I’m saying thank you very, very much, I didn’t say I did it with self-sacrifice Well done For the public, as you said But it’s truly a good ending. You should know that I think there hasn’t been an episode where they spoke, like, I don’t remember any focus on Simchat Beit HaShoeivah. I told you when we spoke about it that we need to do something musical You see that you convinced me, and I came Not about the holiday of Sukkot, Simchat HaShoeivah is the symbol of all the joy, as you said, if it can bring Kiddush Hashem (sanctification of God’s name), if it can bring that, then I will come I think that a lot, a lot, a lot of Kiddush Hashem will come out of here, far more than we can imagine. And I really want to wish us, Herle, and also you, that we truly go into a year of joy and draw strength from the Simchat Beit HaShoeiva. It is written that they drew the Holy Spirit for the whole year from these days, from this week, so with God's help, may we have a happy and joyous year, and that we won't need to go look for joy in the darkness, and that we will merit, with God's help, the great light and the great day. Gimion, thank you very much. You have been listening to Artists ' Room from Mishpacha Podcast. I am Moishi Ret. Thanks to the content editor Tehila Siton, to the production manager Hela Goldstein, and to the sound and video editors Breimi Weisel, Daniel Ein, and Hila Wilhelm. All the series and episodes are waiting for you on the Mishpacha website, on all podcast apps, and on the phone line 07722...73, see you in the next episodes. [End]