Nigunim, Vol. VI: By the Waters of Babylon, by Joey Weisenberg & The Hadar Ensemble

Nigunim, Vol. VI: By the Waters of Babylon

by Joey Weisenberg & The Hadar Ensemble

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of L'eila, Nigunim, Vol. VII: Songs of Ascent, Nigunim, Vol. VI: By the Waters of Babylon, Nigunim, Vol. V: Songs from the City of Brotherly Love, Nigunim, Vol. IV: Brooklyn Spirituals, Nigunim, Vol. III: Live in the Choir Loft, Nigunim, Vol. II: Transformation of a Nigun, and Joey’s Nigunim: Spontaneous Jewish Choir. , and , .

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1.	Eit Le'ehov 06:10	lyrics	buy track
עֵ֥ת לָלֶ֖דֶת וְעֵ֣ת לָמ֑וּת עֵ֣ת לָטַ֔עַת וְעֵ֖ת לַעֲק֥וֹר נָטֽוּעַ׃ עֵ֤ת לַהֲרוֹג֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִרְפּ֔וֹא עֵ֥ת לִפְר֖וֹץ וְעֵ֥ת לִבְנֽוֹת׃ [Nigun] עֵ֤ת לִבְכּוֹת֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂח֔וֹק עֵ֥ת סְפ֖וֹד וְעֵ֥ת רְקֽוֹד׃ עֵ֤ת לְבַקֵּשׁ֙ וְעֵ֣ת לְאַבֵּ֔ד עֵ֥ת לִשְׁמ֖וֹר וְעֵ֥ת לְהַשְׁלִֽיךְ׃ [Nigun] עֵ֤ת לִקְר֙וֹעַ֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִתְפּ֔וֹר עֵ֥ת לַחֲשׁ֖וֹת וְעֵ֥ת לְדַבֵּֽר: עֵ֤ת לֶֽאֱהֹב֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂנֹ֔א עֵ֥ת מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְעֵ֥ת שָׁלֽוֹם׃ Eit Laledet, V’eit Lamut, Eit Lata’at v’eit laakor natuah/Eit laharog v’eit lirpoh, eit lifrotz v’eit livnot… Eit Livchot v’eit lischok, eit s’fod v’eit r’kod/ eit l’vakesh v’eit l’abed, eit lishmor v’eit l’hashlich…. Eit likroah v’eit litpor eit lachashot v’eit l’daber / eit le’ehov v’eit lisnoh, eit milchamah v’eit Shalom…. “A time for birth, a time for death, a time for planting, a time for reaping, a time for destroying, a time for rebuilding, a time for crying, a time for laughing, a time for mourning, a time for dancing… a time for love, a time for hate, a time for war, a time for peace...”
2.	Kol Haneshamah 05:08	lyrics	buy track
כּל הַנְּשָׁמָה תְּהַלֵּל יָהּ. הַלְלוּיָהּ הַלְלוּיָהּ הַלְלוּיָהּ “All spirit and breath praises the Divine, Halleluya!”
3.	Eil Adon 04:56	lyrics	buy track
אֵל אָדוֹן עַל כָּל הַמַּעֲשִׂים בָּרוּךְ וּמְבֹרָךְ בְּפִי כָּל נְּשָׁמָה גָּדְלוֹ וְטוּבוֹ מַלֵּא עוֹלָם דַּעַת וּתְבוּנָה סוֹבְבִים אוֹתוֹ הַמִּתְגָּאֶה עַל חַיּוֹת הַקֹּדֶשׁ וְנֶהְדָּר בְּכָבוֹד עַל הַמֶּרְכָּבָה זְכוּת וּמִישׁוֹר לִפְנֵי כִסְאוֹ חֶסֶד וְרַחֲמִים לִפְנֵי כְבוֹדוֹ טוֹבִים מְאוֹרוֹת שֶׁבָּרָא אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְצָרָם בְּדַעַת בְּבִינָה וּבְהַשְׂכֵּל כֹּחַ וּגְבוּרָה נָתַן בָּהֶם לִהְיוֹת מוֹשְׁלִים בְּקֶרֶב תֵּבֵל מְלֵאִים זִיו וּמְפִיקִים נוֹגַהּ נָאֶה זִיוָם בְּכָל הָעוֹלָם שְׂמֵחִים בְּצֵאתָם וְשָׂשִׂים בְּבוֹאָם עֹשִׂים בְּאֵימָה רְצוֹן קוֹנָם פְּאֵר וְכָבוֹד נוֹתְנִים לִשְׁמוֹ צָהֳלָה וְרִנָּה לְזֵכֶר מַלְכוּתוֹ קָרָא לַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וַיִּזְרַח אוֹר רָאָה וְהִתְקִין צוּרַת הַלְּבָנָה שֶׁבַח נוֹתְנִים לוֹ כָּל צְבָא מָרוֹם תִּפְאֶרֶת וּגְדֻלָּה שְׂרָפִים וְאוֹפַנִּים וְחַיּוֹת הַקֹּדֶשׁ 𝐸𝑖𝑙 𝐴𝑑𝑜𝑛 𝐴𝑙 𝐾𝑜𝑙 𝐻𝑎𝑀𝑎𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚 𝐵𝑎𝑟𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑢’𝑚𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑏’𝑓𝑖 𝑘𝑜𝑙 𝑛’𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑎 𝐺𝑎𝑑𝑙𝑜 𝑣’𝑡𝑢𝑣𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑖 𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑚 𝐷𝑎’𝑎𝑡 𝑢’𝑡𝑣𝑢𝑛𝑎 𝑠𝑜𝑣’𝑣𝑖𝑚 𝑜𝑡𝑜 𝐻𝑎𝑀𝑖𝑡𝑔𝑎𝑒ℎ 𝑎𝑙 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑦𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑘𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑠ℎ 𝑉’𝑛𝑒ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏’𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑘𝑎𝑣𝑎ℎ 𝑍’𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑡 𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑛𝑒𝑖 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑜 𝐶ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑣’𝑟𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑚 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑛𝑒𝑖 𝑐ℎ’𝑣𝑜𝑑𝑜 𝑇𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑚 𝑀’𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑒𝑙𝑜ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑢 𝑌’𝑡𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑏’𝑑𝑎’𝑎𝑡 𝑏’𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝑢𝑣’ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑙 𝐾𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑢’𝑔’𝑣𝑢𝑟𝑎ℎ 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑎ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝐿𝑖’ℎ𝑖𝑦𝑜𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑠ℎ𝑙𝑖𝑚 𝑏’𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑣 𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑀’𝑙𝑒𝑖’𝑖𝑚 𝑧𝑖𝑣 𝑢’𝑚’𝑓𝑖𝑘𝑖𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑔𝑎ℎ 𝑁𝑎’𝑒ℎ 𝑧𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑚 𝑏’𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑚 𝑆’𝑚𝑒𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑏’𝑡𝑧𝑒𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑚 𝑣’𝑠𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑚 𝑏’𝑣𝑜𝑎𝑚 𝑂𝑠𝑖𝑚 𝑏’𝑒𝑖𝑚𝑎ℎ 𝑟’𝑡𝑧𝑜𝑛 𝑘𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑚 𝑃’𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑣’𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑛𝑖𝑚 𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑚𝑜 𝑇𝑧𝑎ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑎 𝑣’𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝑙’𝑧𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑡𝑜 𝐾𝑎𝑟𝑎ℎ 𝑙𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠ℎ 𝑣𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑧𝑟𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑟 𝑅𝑎’𝑎ℎ 𝑣’ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑘𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑧𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑎ℎ 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑛𝑖𝑚 𝑙𝑜 𝐾𝑜𝑙 𝑡𝑧’𝑣𝑎ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑇𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑡 𝑢’𝑔’𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑎ℎ 𝑆’𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑖𝑚 𝑣’𝑜𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑚 𝑣’𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑦𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑘𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑠ℎ
4.	Nola Nigun 04:25		buy track
5.	Shokhein Ad 05:50	lyrics	buy track
“In the mouths of the saints, the Divine is praised...” בְּפִי יְשָׁרִים תִּתְהַלָּל תִּתְהַלָּל וּבְדִבְרֵי צַדִּיקִים תִּתְבָּרַךְ תִּתְבָּרַךְ שׁוֹכֵן עַד מָרוֹם וְקָדוֹשׁ שְׁמוֹ שׁוֹכֵן עַד מָרוֹם וְקָדוֹשׁ שְׁמוֹ וּבִלְשׁוֹן חֲסִידִים תִּתְרוֹמָם תִּתְרוֹמָם וּבְקֶרֶב קְדוֹשִׁים תִּתְקַדָּשׁ תִּתְקַדָּשׁ שׁוֹכֵן עַד מָרוֹם וְקָדוֹשׁ שְׁמוֹ שׁוֹכֵן עַד מָרוֹם וְקָדוֹשׁ שְׁמוֹ וּבְמַקְהֲלוֹת רִבְבוֹת עַמְּךָ בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּרִנָּה יִתְפָּאַר שִׁמְךָ בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר שׁוֹכֵן עַד מָרוֹם וְקָדוֹשׁ שְׁמוֹ שׁוֹכֵן עַד מָרוֹם וְקָדוֹשׁ שְׁמוֹ B’fi Y’sharim Tithalal, Tithalal U’v’Divrei Tzadikim Titbarach, Titbarach Shochein Ad Marom, v’Kadosh Sh’mo Uvilshon chasidim titromam, titromam Uv’kerev K’doshim titkadash, titkadash… Shochein Ad… Uv’makalot riv’vot am’cha beit yisrael b’rinah yitpoar shim’cha b’chol dor vador Shochein Ad...
6.	Nachamu Nigun 05:41		buy track
7.	By the Waters of Babylon 04:27	lyrics	buy track
By the waters of Babylon We laid our lyres down Laid our lyres down, Sat and cried By the waters of Babylon We sang no sacred songs Sang no sacred songs, Tongues were tied Nigun If I forget you Jerusalem I’ll play no more again Play no more again, Not one more time Won’t you show me Jerusalem Razed and broken Razed and broken, Alone on high Nigun By the waters of Babylon We laid our lyres down Laid our lyres down, A long long time Nigun
8.	Yigdal 06:38	lyrics	buy track
יִגְדַּל אֱלֹהִים חַי וְיִשְׁתַּבַּח נִמְצָא וְאֵין עֵת אֶל מְצִיאוּתוֹ אֶחָד וְאֵין יָחִיד כְּיִחוּדוֹ נֶעְלָם וְגַם אֵין סוֹף לְאַחְדוּתוֹ אֵין לוֹ דְמוּת הַגּוּף וְאֵינוֹ גוּף לא נַעֲרךְ אֵלָיו קְדֻשָּׁתוֹ קַדְמוֹן לְכָל דָּבָר אֲשֶׁר נִבְרָא רִאשׁוֹן וְאֵין רֵאשִׁית לְרֵאשִׁיתוֹ הִנּוֹ אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם לְכָל נוֹצָר יוֹרֶה גְדֻלָּתוֹ וּמַלְכוּתוֹ שֶׁפַע נְבוּאָתוֹ נְתָנוֹ אֶל אַנְשֵׁי סְגֻלָּתוֹ וְתִפְאַרְתּוֹ לֹא קָם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּמשֶׁה עוֹד נָבִיא וּמַבִּיט אֶת תְּמוּנָתוֹ תּוֹרַת אֱמֶת נָתַן לְעַמּוֹ אֵל עַל יַד נְבִיאוֹ נֶאֱמַן בֵּיתוֹ לֹא יַחֲלִיף הָאֵל וְלֹא יָמִיר דָּתוֹ לְעוֹלָמִים לְזוּלָתוֹ צוֹפֶה וְיוֹדֵעַ סְתָרֵינוּ מַבִּיט לְסוֹף דָּבָר בְְַּקַדְמָתוֹ גּוֹמֵל לְאִישׁ חֶסֶד כְּמִפְעָלוֹ נוֹתֵן לְרָשָׁע רַע כְּרִשְׁעָתוֹ יִשְׁלַח לְקֵץ הַיָּמִין מְשִׁיחֵנוּ לִפְדּוֹת מְחַכֵּי קֵץ יְשׁוּעָתוֹ מֵתִים יְחַיֶּה אֵל בְּרֹב חַסְדּוֹ בָּרוּךְ עֲדֵי עַד שֵׁם תְּהִלָּתוֹ

about

By the waters of Babylon, our ancestors hung up their harps in the willow trees, refusing to play sacred songs as they marched into exile. There, they left the mythical harp that David had played upon. That harp hadn’t even needed to be played by a person to make music - at midnight, the North wind, which contained the very spirit of life itself, would blow upon its strings, allowing it to make music on its own. These sounds inspired David to compose his psalms and praises.

Ever since that exile, we have been searching for our mystical music, trying to find the sacred songs that we left behind. Some of our most determined ancestors even walked up and down the rivers surrounding Babylon, looking up into every tree, hoping to rediscover the magnificent harps that might still hang there. Nevertheless, we know that we can’t reclaim all that was lost throughout the ages.

Fortunately, the mystics teach that it doesn’t take finding David’s harp itself to find our music - it just takes getting together and opening our ears. When we gather together to sing, the secret is that we actually become the Harp of David.

My prayer is that as we learn to reclaim our own songs, we can also learn to hear the voices and songs being sung by all people, and indeed by all of creation. As we sing here, “Kol HaN’Shama T’halel Ya, Halleluya, (Psalm 150) “All spirit and breath praises the Divine, Halleluya!” Though we may vibrate individually, we can yet resonate together.

credits

released May 8, 2017

All music composed and directed by Joey Weisenberg. All words are traditional, except for “By the Waters of Babylon,” which is based on Psalm 137.

Recorded in the Choir Loft at the Kane Street Synagogue in Brooklyn, New York on January 16-17, 2017. All of these tracks were recorded live with no overdubs.

The Hadar Ensemble:

Joey Weisenberg - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Drum on Nola Nigun
Yosef Goldman - Harmony Vocals, Lead on “Shokhein Ad”
Deborah Sacks - Harmony Vocals, Lead Vocals on “Eil Adon”
Anat Hochberg - Harmony Vocals
Eleonore Weill - Harmony Vocals, Wooden Flute
Yoshie Fruchter - Harmony Vocals, Upright Bass
Myk Freedman - Lap Steel
Sam Weisenberg - Tapan, Percussion
Jake Shulman-Ment - Violin
Ilusha Tsinadze - Banjo

Engineered, Mixed and Mastered by Don Godwin
CD Design/Layout: Ilusha Tsinadze
Cover Artwork: Andrew Benincasa
Videography: Josh Freed

Thanks to all who made this music! Thank you to the Kane Street Synagogue for hosting the recording sessions. Huge thanks to Don Godwin for his masterful engineering and mastering work, to Ilusha Tsinadze and Andrew Benincasa for the design and layout of this CD, and to Josh Freed for filming the live sessions. Thank you to all of our teachers, friends, supporters and students who have made this work possible, especially Rabbi Elie Kaunfer and the staff at the Hadar Institute, and the great singers and musicians who have inspired this music. Thank you especially to Molly Weingrod and to Lev, Mozi, Bina, and Emanuel (Manu) Weisenberg for their support and enthusiasm.

This album is a project of the Rising Song Institute, which cultivates Jewish spiritual life through song: www.risingsong.org

Filmed versions of some of these songs are available here: www.youtube.com/user/joeyweisenberg
www.youtube.com/channel/UC6VYbNGSZFCVSk9LZZ8asyw

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about

Joey Weisenberg Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Virtuosic multi-instrumental musician, composer and teacher Joey Weisenberg is the founder and director of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, cultivating grassroots musical-spiritual creativity in Jewish community. He has released seven albums with the Hadar Ensemble and is author of The Torah of Music (2017 winner of the National Jewish Book Award) and Building Singing Communities. ... more

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by RAZA רזא

supported by 15 fans who also own “Nigunim, Vol. VI: By the Waters of Babylon”

It is rich in women's energy, deeply felt sounds of womb energy. A beautiful expression of the best of women in the Jewish hera-tage! Chana Raskin moves my soul, an Irish soul have I! Morgana Morgaine mollymaven
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Everything Returns
by Black Ox Orkestar

The Montréal quartet unite various threads of Jewish diaspora music under a hauntingly beautiful banner. Bandcamp Album of the Day Dec 1, 2022
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