Prompt: "The oldest song you actually like"
Selected by Zach
"Kah Echsof"
Rabbi Aharon of Karlin
written in 1736
It's been said that Rabbi Aharon of Karlin—the founder of the Karlin-Stolin Hasidic* group who helped Hasidism spread throughout Eastern Europe in the 18th century—wrote "Kah Echsof" with the intent that it would be a difficult zemer** to learn how to sing. If that's true, he certainly achieved his mission. I'm 37, but didn't know this zemer existed until four years ago. Having heard it sung at various meals, I resolved that I would learn how to sing it, once and for all. (When I say "learn how to sing it," I don't even mean "memorize the words." I mean knowing how the melody goes and being able to sing along with the words in front of me.)
One Saturday night, I sat down and opened Spotify and a notebook. Two hours later, I was still going. If you really dedicate yourself to learning how to sing a typical song, without memorizing the words, I imagine you could do it pretty quickly. Your average Hoobastank song finds its way into your brain whether you want to learn it or not. But this one has so many shifts in melody, and follows such an inconsistent pattern throughout, that pinning it down takes repetition and a little extra work.
By the end of the three hours I spent learning this eight-minute song, I had a page of my notebook written out with visual cues to how the song goes. It looked like a mad scientist had just discovered a new equation and was writing furiously to himself to prove it actually worked. No one except me would be able to actually understand it.
Why would I want to spend so much time learning it? Because it is, quite simply, the best zemer that exists.
It has an ability to uplift my soul (and the souls of many others) in a way that no other song does. When I sing it together with other guests at whatever meal I am at, people who aren't perennial "I feel a certain spirituality coming on, so I'm going to close my eyes and meditate" people find themselves, in fact, closing their eyes. After we're done singing it, I feel cleansed. I feel like I've been on a journey and come out victorious, with people who are fiercely dedicated and on the same team as me. In short, "Kah Echsof" has the ability to have an effect on me in the way no other song does.
I can gladly say now that I've been singing this song at Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) meals since early 2020.
I'd love comments from the crowd on this one. Does it make you feel anything? Is it just a weird song in a foreign language to you? Please! Let me know. I'm emotionally connected to this song, but I'm curious how it hits people who aren't connected in the same way.
*Hasidic—this is a difficult term to define. My best effort is this: They are a wide-ranging group of devout Jews who believe in God's imminent presence in all things in the universe and in the centrality of a specific rabbinic figure as the leader of their particular brand of Hassidut (as opposed to other Jewish sects, who also believe in God's imminent presence in all things, but are more focused on seeing God through studying and practical observance of Biblical and Rabbinic commandments). For more see here.
**Zemer—A song or a tune typically sung at one of the three meals eaten on Shabbat
One Saturday night, I sat down and opened Spotify and a notebook. Two hours later, I was still going. If you really dedicate yourself to learning how to sing a typical song, without memorizing the words, I imagine you could do it pretty quickly. Your average Hoobastank song finds its way into your brain whether you want to learn it or not. But this one has so many shifts in melody, and follows such an inconsistent pattern throughout, that pinning it down takes repetition and a little extra work.
By the end of the three hours I spent learning this eight-minute song, I had a page of my notebook written out with visual cues to how the song goes. It looked like a mad scientist had just discovered a new equation and was writing furiously to himself to prove it actually worked. No one except me would be able to actually understand it.
Why would I want to spend so much time learning it? Because it is, quite simply, the best zemer that exists.
It has an ability to uplift my soul (and the souls of many others) in a way that no other song does. When I sing it together with other guests at whatever meal I am at, people who aren't perennial "I feel a certain spirituality coming on, so I'm going to close my eyes and meditate" people find themselves, in fact, closing their eyes. After we're done singing it, I feel cleansed. I feel like I've been on a journey and come out victorious, with people who are fiercely dedicated and on the same team as me. In short, "Kah Echsof" has the ability to have an effect on me in the way no other song does.
I can gladly say now that I've been singing this song at Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) meals since early 2020.
I'd love comments from the crowd on this one. Does it make you feel anything? Is it just a weird song in a foreign language to you? Please! Let me know. I'm emotionally connected to this song, but I'm curious how it hits people who aren't connected in the same way.
*Hasidic—this is a difficult term to define. My best effort is this: They are a wide-ranging group of devout Jews who believe in God's imminent presence in all things in the universe and in the centrality of a specific rabbinic figure as the leader of their particular brand of Hassidut (as opposed to other Jewish sects, who also believe in God's imminent presence in all things, but are more focused on seeing God through studying and practical observance of Biblical and Rabbinic commandments). For more see here.
**Zemer—A song or a tune typically sung at one of the three meals eaten on Shabbat
1 comment:
This is a really good example of why I love Song Challenge. After eight minutes, I can say that I enjoyed it (really liked when the song caught its stride at the two-minute mark). Maybe I can't say that I'll revisit it too often. But! It's memorable, simply due to the fact that our blogging friend went into detail about how meaningful it is to him. I appreciated that.
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