T he tefillah of Shabbos Mevarechim which appeals for a month filled with blessing is a weighty one for Jews everywhere. The closing section yechadshehu is a supplication that Hashem renew upon us joy consolation sustenance peace good tidings and good news healing and recovery and speedy redemption — the words ushering us into a new time of personal and communal salvation.
When songwriter Naftali (Tuli) Weill composed the tune for what would become “Yechadshehu” back in 2007 he actually wasn’t thinking about the brachos of Shabbos Mevarechim but of the blessings that would accompany his younger brother Yanky to the chuppah. “It was actually in a faster tempo with Yiddish lyrics about the chassan cowritten by Motty Illowitz — then unknown — and myself ” Weill says. Titled “Mazel Tov Yaakov Shimon ” Weill performed the original song at the wedding before the mitzvah tantz together with top crowd-pleasers Pinky Weber and Yoeli Greenfeld.
Two years later Weill got a phone call from Yoeli Greenfeld asking if he recalled the song they had performed together at Yanky’s wedding. Greenfeld was then collating songs for his first album Hamevorach Yisborach which would emerge in January 2010. He started humming the parts of the tune he remembered over the phone but in a slower tempo than the way they’d originally sung it. Weill was immediately struck by his friend’s revelation — the slower version of the melody sounded far better than the original. Together with Naftali Schnitzler the album’s producer Weill came up with the perfect words for the slowed-down niggun: the tefillah of Shabbos Mevarechim — words of hope and prayer for the month ahead.
The result was a hit. “I believe most people experience strong feelings when they daven ‘Yechadshehu’ on Shabbos Mevarechim. Asking for all those brachos is an emotional experience and the job of the tune is to reflect that ” Weill comments.
