“It’s always been imperative that the tune fits the words, and that the niggun is something I would be comfortable playing for my rebbeim”
“For me, it’s always been imperative that the tune fits the words, and that the niggun is something I would be comfortable playing for my rebbeim,” says Eitan Katz of his compositions, as his newest all-original album, BEIS HASHEM, hit streaming platforms last week. While Eitan has grown musically and diversified his sound over the years, experimenting with an expanded range of styles, there is a certain consistency that means listeners know they are getting what they love in his 18 albums and two dozen singles. On his latest album, there is no electronic music, only authentic singable niggunim composed by Eitan and played by real instruments.
While none of the songs have been pre-released as singles, the last song on the album, a deep and meditative niggun based on a quote from the sefer Tzidkas Hatzaddik of Rav Tzadok HaKohein of Lublin, will strike a chord with anyone who was at the “Live in New York” concert over Succos last year, when Eitan shared it for the first time. Now, he chose to add the English lyrics, “Just as one must believe in the greatness of Hashem, so he must believe in the greatness of himself, for his soul comes from the Source of Life.”
In contrast to this reflective song, a beautiful upbeat track is “Nigun Kinyan,” which expresses some of the fountain of joy inherent in learning Torah. It was composed while Eitan was completing a final soundcheck for the annual Kinyan Hamasechta event, when thousands of individuals who have dedicated themselves to learning and retaining masechtas of Gemara gather for celebration and inspiration. It’s an event Eitan says he feels blessed to be part of, and the joy is contagious through this niggun.
The title track, “Beis Hashem,” hails from a trip to Poland, when Eitan was part of a group touring abandoned shuls and davening at kivrei tzaddikim. “We were walking in and out of these shuls, and I got the chills as my mind pictured the Yidden of old streaming in with joy to serve Hashem. This niggun came into my mind, with the words from Tehillim “Samachti be’omrim li beis Hashem neilech….”
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