A question I received: What is a song? Is it a prayer (MAN), an awakening from below?

My Answer: The entire process of the spiritual work is included in a song. Similar to our spiritual work, a melody always contains the collision of different sounds with altering pitches and pauses without which we wouldn’t hear a melody but only noise.

Why does a melody give us a feeling of harmony and awaken our emotions? Why is it that a particular sequence of sounds is capable of suddenly making us laugh or cry? A sound is but an aerial wave of a particular frequency that affects the eardrum. What is this inner mechanism whereby mechanical actions and electrochemical reactions inside the brain turn into emotions? Moreover, emotion isn’t contained in the sounds themselves, but the sounds awaken the emotions in us.

How can somebody else convey to us a feeling via this essentially inanimate mechanism, via this inanimate process, which penetrates inside our living, animate organism and awakens in it feelings on the human level?

This is a complicated process. All this is possible only because a melody contains separate sounds of varying pitches and breaks or pauses between them. That is, it contains the same qualities present in our work with the three lines: right, left, and middle.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/21/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 333: The ministers below are called “Levites” because they accompany and join above as one [Livui means accompanying], and because one who hears the singing becomes accompanying and his soul clings upwards, in the Creator.

A song is the revelation of the Light of Hochma in the Light of Hassadim, the greatest revelation there is. "The Song of Songs" is the peak of adhesion, connection, and unity between the creature and the Creator. Psalms are songs, which King David (Malchut) revealed in the darkness, they are revelation of the Light of Hochma in the Light of Hassadim.

Sometimes it seems to us that King David cries, not knowing what to do, and hides from enemies; yet in this darkness, he reveals Hassadim, the Creator’s mercy. Thus it is a song.

First we need to reveal the right line, faith or Hassadim, while suppressing the left line and holding onto the right one alone. When Hassadim are revealed completely, we rise into Bina and see that we can stay in mercy in all the desires, on this whole degree (in the desires of GE). Then we begin to work with the desires of reception (AHP) and rouse the left line. In other words, we begin to awaken the forces of Malchut and to accept the Light of Hochma in these receiving desires.

By elucidating our desires of reception and adjoining them to the right line, we thereby build the middle line. The state when the Light of Hochma is revealed in the Light of Hassadim, when the left line connects into the right line and gives raise to the middle line, it is called a song. This is called a "crusade" since we switch from state to state as a result of these relocations, thereby advancing by the three lines: Ibur, Yenika, and Mochin. We first prepare the desires, and then we fill them with Light.

Therefore, Psalms (the songs) of King David describe all the different states during the correction of Malchut in the three lines. They contain the immense Light that overspills the Kli, meaning that the correction is so high that the Kli becomes completely like the Light.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/21/10, The Zohar

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The Zohar, Chapter “Shemot (Exodus),” Item 40: We open our eyes and see the wheels of the holy Merkava traveling in their journeys, and the sound of singing, sweet to the ears, to Bina, and beautiful for the heart, Malchut, rising and falling and walking, and not traveling.
…and Hochma is obtained only by journeying from line to line in the three points – Holam, Shuruk, Hirik – the sound of singing is heard. This is illumination of Hochma for the ears, which are Bina, primarily through the middle line, Tifferet, called “voice.” And it is imparted from him, from the heart, to Malchut.

A question I received: Singing is an exalted spiritual action that begets “illumination of Hochma for the ears, which are Bina,” the Light of Hassadim. How is this connected to the music put out by Bnei Baruch?

My Answer: I really like the songs written by my students Moti Mor and Arkadi Duchin. They are born from an impression of a person who is already on the spiritual path and aspires to spirituality. The fact that he hasn’t yet attained exalted levels does not matter.

Baal HaSulam writes that even a simple person may intuitively assign correct names and connect corporeal branches to their spiritual roots. For instance, some time ago some person saw the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and thought that it was good for growing olive trees. Thus he named it Mount of Olives. Today we accept this appellation as sacred.

Baal HaSulam explains that thereby the spiritual clothes the corporeal, and the connection between the root and the branch manifests. The spiritual root affects its branch, and the branch as though “speaks” out of the root, naturally, without even knowing why.

Therefore, those who study Kabbalah create the right art even if they have not yet reached the heights of absolute spiritual sensation or attained the true nature of sounds and the deep meaning of words. The depth and richness of the impression they possess is much greater than they themselves realize. Everything that a person creates out of his connection with the Source already carries within it a spiritual spark.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/12/10, The Zohar

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A question I received: What is the song we sing after every Yeshivat Haverim (Friends’ Assembly), called “Hineh Ma Tov”? It is very deep and very special. What is it about, and what is its Kabbalistic meaning and history?

My Answer: When Yosef’s brothers, who hated him, sold him to Egypt, he became the Pharaoh’s deputy. When the brothers came there to buy food, they did not recognize Yosef and he sent the Egyptians to pursue them, thus forcing them to repent for what they did to him. When this happened, he revealed himself to them, and together, in joy and love, they had a meal where they sang this song. The words are, “Hineh Ma Tov Ve Ma Naim, Shevet Achim Gam Yahad” – “How wonderful and pleasant it is to sit together as brothers.”

And it’s the same with us: at first we hate each other, but then we grow closer and become brothers!

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A question I received: In considering the first commandment of fear of the Creator, do you know why the Kabbalists wrote the Niggun (melody) “Gesher Tzar Meod” (A Very Narrow Bridge) which suggests that the main thing is “not to fear”?

My Answer: The lyrics of this song are as follows: “Our entire world is like a narrow bridge, and the most important thing is not to be scared of anything!” It means that all the disturbances on one’s path come from the Creator, and one attains Him only by overcoming them.

As for fear, there are different kinds of fear:

1. Fear of this world, when one desires everything for himself, and the more the better, and so he won’t have to pay or be punished for it.”
2. Fear of the world to come, when one thinks, “I don’t want to go to hell, but to heaven, and to the best possible heaven.”
3. Fear of “Will I will be able to reach similarity to the Creator?” – for my own benefit.
4. Fear of “Will I will be able to attain bestowal to the Creator, without any thought of myself?” This is the real fear of the Creator. Everything else is fear for yourself.

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A question I received (from the German blog): Lieber Rav Leithman, Das Lied welches zum Todestag des Rabash komponiert wurde habe ich gehört und war sehr gerührt, ja ich fühlte eine sehr große Verbundenheit, so, dass es fast schmerzte. Ewald Heinz Feuerstein.

Dear Rav Laitman, I heard a song that was sung on the day of mourning for Rabash, and I was very moved because I felt a very close connection to it, to the point that it was almost painful. Ewald Heinz Feuerstein.

My Answer: I am glad that you came across it. I will post this ancient Kabbalistic melody for you, which we sang during one of our meals:

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A new song, written and performed by Bnei Baruch Toronto:

Lyrics to the Song

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The Bnei Baruch Band has recorded another song called “The Last Generation.” (The English translation of the lyrics appear below)

So we thought we would succeed if we would think a lot,
So the philosophers sat down and calculated:
If we strain our mind, we might find a solution.
All this may be true – but it led to nowhere.

So we thought we would succeed if we explored a lot,
So the scientists sat down immediately and began to count:
If we find the formula we might prevent disaster.
All this is certainly true – but they also developed the atom bomb.

It may be right under our nose,
Waiting for us to tilt the scale.
It is already here, it is the right time,
For the last generation,
(The last generation, the last generation)

We thought we would succeed if we stopped breathing,
If we fly to the Himalayas to be with the Hindus,
They sit there and meditate all day long,
They are still alive – but have long gone to sleep.

We also thought we would succeed if there were equality,
So the communists said: let’s split up the riches,
Let’s forget about the ego and live the good life,
And what happened to us? It is even worse than Sodom.

It may be right under our nose,
Waiting for us to tilt the scale.
It is already here, it is the right time,
For the last generation,

We also thought we would succeed if there were tranquility,
So the mysticists sat down and thought of a solution:
Let’s close our eyes tight and try to relax,
It was very nice – but nothing happened.
(Nothing happened, nothing happened)

So we said it might be better to just forget everything.
Yes, to take some pill, it will make us feel good.
We can just escape to our imagination.
It may true – but in the end it certainly won’t help.
(Certainly won’t help, certainly won’t help)

It may be right under our nose,
Waiting for us to tilt the scale.
It is already here, it is the right time,
For the last generation,
The last generation,
The last generation.

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Here is a song called “We Have a Game” performed by the Bnei Baruch Band (the English translation of the lyrics appears below):

We have a game where there are no losers,
The Creator is great and we are His children.
In our game we hold each other by the hand,
He is you and you are me,
Together we are one body.

In this game we will grow and mature,
We will feel the Upper World and begin to unite.
Only in one body will we find the answer,
And discover everything out of love.

We have a bond from here to Infinity (Ein Sof),
We move from the darkness, from darkness to Light.
Together we will grow and reach the top,
Big and small, white and black.

We have a game where there are no losers,
The Creator is great and we are His children.
In this game we will grow and mature,
We will feel the Upper World and begin to unite.

We have a bond from here to Ein Sof,
We move from the darkness, from darkness to Light.
Together we will grow and reach the top,
Big and small, white and black.

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A song performed by the Bnei Baruch band (with translation into English, Russian, French and Italian):

The central Bnei Baruch group in Israel has several musical bands – this one is one of them. The band’s leader, songwriter and singer is Moti Mor – a famous Israeli lyricist and songwriter, musician and performer. The band performs many of our songs, and of course, all of the songs are about the purpose of our lives.

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