There are some songs we learned as children that we still remember, cherish, and access for special moments
WHICH SONG ARE YOU STILL SINGING?
“Do you know where Rebbi learned this tune from? From his first-grade rebbi!”
As a first grader in Yeshiva Darchei Torah of Far Rockaway, I was zocheh to be in Rabbi Moshe Mandel’s class. Over the course of the year, Rabbi Mandel taught us many things: Chumash, stories, even how to play chess! But the heilige songs and niggunim from the earlier generations that he taught us were the highlight. One song that has stayed with me is the tune Rabbi Mandel taught us for “Elokai neshamah,” which we sang during davening every morning. Ever since, I sing Elokai neshamah to that tune.
Now, many years later, I have the zechus of being a first grade rebbi myself, and on the first day of school, in the first tefillah of the year, I always sing Elokai neshamah with that special tune. I tell my talmidim, “Do you know where Rebbi learned this tune from? From his first-grade rebbi! And who knows? Maybe someday, you boys will be first-grade rebbeim, and you’ll teach it to your first-grade talmidim!”
—Yossi Keilson, Baltimore, MD
At random times, whether good or bad, I find myself humming those words
Create a free account to keep reading.
