Somehow, in the depth of pain and mourning that is Megillas Eichah, we’ve found snatches of solace, and made them our songs of yearning and dreams
It’s the saddest of all stories, a lament to our irreplaceable loss. But somehow, in the depth of pain and mourning that is Megillas Eichah, we’ve found snatches of solace, and made them our songs of yearning and dreams
Song: “Tzaddik Hu Hashem”
Album: Ephraim Mendelson’s Hevei Dan
This jewel of a song — “Tzaddik hu Hashem ki pihu marisi… re’eh, Hashem, mei’ai charmarmaru, nehepach libi, nehepach libi b’kirbi — Hashem is righteous, though I have rebelled against His word… See, Hashem, my innards are burning, my heart is turned inside me” — expresses the excruciating physical and emotional pain that results from separation and rebellion.
Singer Ephraim Mendelson recalls how he brought it out of potential oblivion. “I was collating songs for my album, and a composer told me he had recently composed something beautiful that I should listen to and consider. In those days, recording meant using a cassette tape. He said he didn’t have a clean cassette handy when he came up with this new song, so he used a tape that had something on the other side. ‘Don’t listen to the other side, it’s nothing — just listen to my song,’ he said. I listened to his song, but it didn’t speak to me. Out of curiosity, I turned the tape over. The other side had this song, ‘Tzaddik Hu Hashem’ — and as soon as I heard it, I knew I wanted that one.”
With beautiful arrangements by Mona Rosenblum, including choir vocals with eight layers of harmony, this “unwanted” song shone and touched many hearts.
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