Keep Crying, Mamme Rochel

The powerful pesukim that describe Rochel’s tears and Hashem’s promise have spawned dozens of meaningful songs

Banished into exile thousands of years ago, the Jewish People passed by Rochel Imeinu’s gravesite at a lonely roadside in Beis Lechem, while her pleas on high gained Hashem’s assurance of her children’s eventual return. Her kever has been a place of prayer for centuries, and the powerful pesukim that describe Rochel’s tears and Hashem’s promise have been a source of comfort throughout the Exile — and spawned dozens of meaningful songs. In honor of Rochel Imeinu’s yahrtzeit on 11 Cheshvan, which song is your favorite?

I Remember Every Note

I would pick the “Kol Berama” composed by Reb Akiva Homnick, sung by Shloime Dachs on his Ke’ish Echod album. I remember when that album came out in 2001 — I listened to the song over and over, and until today I remember every note, including the beautiful flute opening, which I believe was arranged by Yisroel Lamm.

—composer and arranger Yitzy Berry

Back to My Childhood

The first Rochel Imeinu song I learned was Shlomo Carlebach’s, which was very popular at the time. Today it’s known as “Veshavu Banim,” because people just start the song at that point, but it actually starts with the words “Kol beramah,” and it’s a masterpiece. It’s on Carlebach’s 1965 album Mikdash Melech/In the Palace of the King. Then came Yossi Green’s classic niggun, which Yigal Calek set to “Kol Beramah.” They both bring me back to my childhood. Yigal Calek’s Pirchei London was a major novelty when they came to perform in New York. Great times!

—producer Sheya Mendlowitz

You Hear the Tears

The one I like best is the “Kol Beramah” sung by Pirchei London/New York School of Jewish Song, and also on Yigal Calek’s Pirchei Yerushalayim, from back in 1971. It’s a song full of yearning, and the way the melody opens with the pleading notes of Rochel’s cry is exquisite. “Kol, beramah nishma, nehi, bechi samrurim, Rochel, Rochel mevakah, mevakah al banehah” — you absolutely hear her tears in the words, the phrasing, the tune. It pulls you in, even all these years later. It’s also Yossi Green’s first composition, which is a musical landmark.