"Room" two hundred and one in the hall of Hayom Yom.
Wednesday, 13 Sivan 5703.
Shiurim: Chumash, Behaalotecha, Revii, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, 23rd of the month, from chapter 69 to chapter 71 inclusive.
Tanya, we begin today chapter 4 in "Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah", from the beginning of the chapter with the word "Ki". The shiur ends on page 79 with the word "Leheitiv".
The daily teaching is a short excerpt, originating in a letter of the Rebbe Rayatz from 25 Tishrei 5696. In this letter, the Rebbe Rayatz expresses a strong desire to gather all the niggunim that were sung in Lubavitch, and to write them down in a book with musical notes, so that the niggunim would not be lost.
Then he provides some background on the niggunim of that time. He speaks about the niggunim of the Alter Rebbe, and elaborates there about the Mitteler Rebbe - explaining that the Alter Rebbe composed niggunim himself, whereas the Mitteler Rebbe did not compose niggunim himself, but he had the "kapelye", the choir. He speaks about the musical instruments they had, and notes that the family members saw the instruments, and he himself even heard from those who were in the "kapelye", truly bringing one into the musical atmosphere of that time.
Then he moves on to the Tzemach Tzedek, and brings several descriptions of him - some quoted directly, and we will add a few more descriptions written there.
Let us first examine what is written in the daily teaching: "The Tzemach Tzedek composed several niggunim". Here he does not specify which ones, but in the letter itself he notes that there was a musical phrase composed by the Tzemach Tzedek during Musaf, to the words "Ashrei ish shelo yishkacheka" - one of the phrases of the Tzemach Tzedek.
He adds another point: "His learning was with voice and a niggun, and sometimes he would pause in the middle of his learning or his writing - d'ach [Divrei Elokim Chayim] or shut [She'elot Uteshuvot]" - in the middle of writing a concept in chassidus or nigleh, he would stop writing or learning "and sing a niggun".
In the letter, the Rebbe Rayatz says that the Tzemach Tzedek was very organized with niggunim - for every action he did, there was a special niggun. He gives an example: Shabbat meals - every Shabbat meal had its own fixed niggun; even when putting on his Shabbat garments on Friday afternoon, and especially when putting on the shtreimel, there was a special niggun; and on Motzaei Shabbat, when taking off the Shabbat garments and the shtreimel, there was a special niggun for Motzaei Shabbat. He had a special niggun for absolutely everything.
And at the conclusion it is written here: "Aazmur [Adoni Avi Zekeni Mori Verabi] related" - referring to the Rebbe Maharash, the grandfather of the Rebbe Rayatz, who was the son of the Tzemach Tzedek. He lived in an apartment whose room was very close to the room of the Tzemach Tzedek, and as was said in the previous segment, sometimes in the middle of learning or writing the Tzemach Tzedek would pause and sing; many times the Rebbe Maharash was in a completely different room and would just hear the niggun. And so he related, "that from the sound of the niggun of the Tzemach Tzedek he would know what he was occupied with at that time" - from the niggun he understood whether it was a niggun during the writing of chassidus, or a niggun during the writing of shut, or a niggun during learning. He understood the niggun and what it expressed; the niggun was connected to the content of the subject matter.
In this week's Torah portion (Behaalotecha) it speaks about the avodah of the Leviim, who are given over to song - that one of the aspects of the avodah of the Leviim is song. And the daily teaching speaks about niggunim, and especially about the niggunim of the Tzemach Tzedek.