For certain venerated roshei yeshivah, music was known as integral to their avodah
For certain venerated roshei yeshivah, music was known as integral to their avodah
When Rav Gifter aged, he was no longer able to learn and deliver his shiurim. Conscious that he couldn’t forge his previous intellectual connection to the Torah he loved, the Rosh Yeshivah became heartbroken. At that time, his son in Lakewood once attended a Simchas Bais Hashoeiva where Reb Abish sang “Torah, Torah,” an original composition with lyrics of longing for closeness to Torah, which was going to be recorded as the title track on their upcoming Regesh Volume 8. Realizing that the song could offer comfort to his father, Rav Gifter’s son asked for a recording. Although it wasn’t yet released, Reb Abish provided a “bootlegged” tape, which the Rosh Yeshivah would listen to again and again, tears rolling down his face. The niggun reached deep inside, expressing the relationship he felt had become elusive, but that he desired more than anything else in the world.
(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 860)
