Nigun

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Niggun
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For niggunei ha-mikra, see Hebrew cantillation. For an overview of similar music, see Religious Jewish music.
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A nigun (Hebrew: ניגון meaning "tune" or "melody", plural nigunim) or niggun (plural niggunim) is a form of Jewish religious song or tune sung by groups. It is vocal music, often with repetitive sounds such as "Bim-Bim-Bam", "Lai-Lai-Lai", "Yai-Yai-Yai" or "Ai-Ai-Ai" instead of formal lyrics. Sometimes, Bible verses or quotes from other classical Jewish texts are sung repetitively to form a nigun. Some nigunim are sung as prayers of lament, while others may be joyous or victorious.[1][2]

Nigunim are largely

improvisations, though they can be based on thematic passages and are stylized in form, reflecting the teachings of the spiritual leadership of the congregation or its religious movement. Nigunim are especially central to worship in Hasidic Judaism, which evolved its own structured, soulful forms to reflect the mystical joy of intense prayer (devekut
).

Hasidic nigunim

Roger David Servais: Chassidim

A revival of interest in

devekus or devekut (connecting with God) nigunim. These are usually much slower than around-the-table nigunim, and are almost always sung without lyrics. The Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism, spoke of devekus nigunim as "songs that transcend syllables and sound."[citation needed
] Several tunes attributed to him are still used today.

Some nigunim originate from non-Jewish sources. Hasidic Jews, based on a practice of their founder

Chabad Hasidim have adopted the French tunes of La Marseillaise and Napoleon's March, as well as Russian or German drinking songs as a part of their liturgy. Many Hasidim believe that these songs, in their secular forms, are in spiritual exile. By adapting them to liturgical forms, they are "raising Holy Sparks" according to the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria's system of kabbalah. (The same reasoning is used for the use of Arab tunes for Sephardic pizmonim
.) The process continues to this day, with new nigunim emerging from time to time.

Nigunim are usually sung at Hasidic gatherings (Tish/Farbrengens) when large numbers of followers come together to sing and to discuss spiritual concepts. The belief is that when you sing a nigun, the soul of the rabbi who created it appears in the room. On festive occasions the nigunim, especially, are joyful melodies. On the festival of Simchat Torah, the most joyous day in the calendar, fervent nigunim are sung in the dancing with the Torah scrolls in the synagogue.

Amongst the variety of

Breslov, the encouraging of marches Ger, the charismatic faith of Kaliv, and the intellectual content of Chabad
.

Kaliver nigunim

Main article: Kaliv (Hasidic dynasty)
The previous Kaliver Rebbe at left

The Kaliver Dynasty began with Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Taub (1744–1828) of

Messiah:[3]

Forest, O forest, how vast are you!
Rose, O rose, how distant you are!
Were the forest not so vast,
My rose wouldn't be so far.
Who will guide me out of the forest,
And unite me with my rose?
Then he sang it as Rabbi Leib Sarah's heard it.

Exile, O exile, how vast are you!
Shechinah, Shechinah, how distant you are!
Were the exile not so vast,
The Shechinah wouldn't be so far.
Who will guide me out of the exile,
And unite me with the Shechinah?

Another famous song by the Kaliver Rebbe is Sírnak, rínak a bárányok – also in Hungarian.

Another example is Kol Haberuim by Baruch Levine, whose lyrics go:

There's a chamber that doesn't open,
but with a nigun...

Chabad nigunim

Main article: Chabad niggunim

Nigunim of the

dveikut fervour of Hasidism, but the primary aim of the Oveid is to bring their inspiration into practical action, while the primary aim of the Maskil is to reach deeper understanding of Hasidic thought. This differentiation enables the intellectual aims of Chabad to be holistically united with emotional joy and soul-searching. The second Rebbe of Chabad, Dovber Schneuri
, distinguished between mainstream Hasidic "enthusiasm", and the Chabad aim of intellectually created "ecstasy". Enthusiasm expresses itself in emotional exuberance, reflected in emotional nigunim. Ecstasy is an inner emotional perception, and may be restrained in outward expression when suited. The meditative nature of many Chabad nigunim expresses this. Among them:

Musar Movement Nigunim

The Musar movement has also made use of nigunim, based on the realization of how music affects the inner life. In the 19th century, the Musar movement developed its own distinctive nigun chanting traditions.[5] In the 21st century, nigunim may be used at the start and the end of musar study sessions[6] and may help to create an emotional musar experience.[7]

See also

Nigunim:

Practices:

Citations

  1. ^ Haida Archived 1999-10-07 at the Wayback Machine Touchstone Sacred Dance Library, Accessed February 2014.
  2. ^ Music In Kaballah, The Nigun's Influence on the Soul From the book Shirat HaLev (The Song of the Heart) by Shmuel Stern – Translated by Gita Levi. Accessed February 2014.
  3. ^ "The Singing Tzaddik"
  4. ^ "Nigun Shamil: The Soul Endlessly Yearning for What It Has Always Never Been.
  5. ^ Muir, S. "Hasidism and Mitnagdism in the Russian Empire: the (mis)use of Jewish music in Polish-Lithuanian Russia" (PDF).
  6. ^ "Afternoons of Mussar". mussarinstitute.org. Archived from the original on 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  7. ISBN 9781620328750
    .

General and cited references

  • Pinson, DovBer, Inner Rhythms: The Kabbalah of Music, Jason Aronson, Inc. 2000. Excellent chapters on the history of Jewish music, the various types and uses of Hasidic nigunim, etc.
  • Stern, Shmuel, Shirat HaLev (Trans The Song of the Heart) Translated by Gita Levi.

External links
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