Music is of paramount importance in Judaism. On the verse «Hearken unto the song and the
prayer which Your servant prays before You this day» (I Kings 8:28) the Gemarrah states that
wherever there is song there shall be prayer and indeed in the Temple song was an
inseparable element of the sacrificial services thereafter finding its position in the prayers
and the Torah reading with its special melody in the synagogue. Chassidism employed music as
one of its main avenues for serving G-d. Music served to bring the individual to a state of
awakening and joy nullifying sadness which was seen as an element that could only lead to
negativity. Joy allowed one to reach ever higher levels in the service of G-d leaving one's
sorrows behind as explained by the founder of the Modzits Chassidic court Rabbi Yehezkel of
Kozmir when interpreting the verse «with joy you shall go forth» (Isaiah 55) to mean that
through joy we shall go forth from all our difficulties. In this book Shmuel Barzilai takes
the reader on a brief and concise tour of the Chassidic courts and their world of music. It
explains the wordless melody (Niggun) which is perhaps even more important than songs having
words the importance of dance the place of honor given to Shabbat songs and the role of
music in Kabbalah. The book provides an overview of the activities of Rabbis who composed and
sang at every opportunity whether in the synagogue or while conducting the traditional Tisch
where Chassidic adherents gathered each Shabbat and Festival to hear their Rebbe explain
sections of Torah sing and interpret sayings on music. Barzilai also discusses melodies -
niggunim - that became particularly famous or derived from non-Jewish sources but underwent a
process that allowed them to be adopted by the Admoric leaders and integrated into the
Chassidic court's repertoire.
