43. The Role of A Niggun

There are truths that the mouth cannot say, but the soul still longs to sing.

Rav Shlomo Katz leads us into the Piaseczner Rebbe’s deep understanding of niggun—not just as melody, but as the voice of the neshama when words fall short. We explore how a niggun doesn’t just express joy or pain. It reveals us. It awakens forgotten parts of the soul, uncovers tears we didn’t know we were carrying, and sometimes brings us to the very edge of prophecy.

But not all song is sacred. When voice is divorced from heart, even a holy tune can become hollow. This shiur calls us to return to the gift of niggun as the deepest hisgalus hanefesh—the soul’s unveiling. One tear in a niggun… that’s you meeting you.

What is Bnei Machshava Tova?

Diving into the essays by Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, in which the establishment of a “conscious community” is promoted and aimed at attaining spiritual growth.

Why is there a need for a “conscious community”? Could the individual not achieve this aim on his own? R. Kalonymus insists that belonging to a chavura is a precondition for self-improvement and chasidic service: “That which can be achieved by the group cannot by any means be achieved by the individual.”

The group is open to anyone seeking to draw close to God – people who have had enough of their mundane, contemptible lives of “lowly spirit”; people who are ready for uncompromising psychological and spiritual exertion.

The shiur was recorded at Shirat David (Efrat,Israel). To learn more about Shirat David and various learning opportunities:
www.shiratdavid.com, [e-mail]