Weekly Story: The Yud Beis Tammuz Niggun

by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon 

Being that this Tuesday and Wednesday is Yud Beis and Yud Gimmel Tammuz, the days the Frierdiker Rebbe was released from his exile, I am sharing with you the following. Two weeks ago I was at a sheva brochos and Reb Herschel Okunov related that he heard from his father Reb Dovid a”h who heard it from Reb Moshe Charitonov the following explanation or better said understanding and message of the niggun that chassidim sing on Yud Beis Tammuz. (Ah ma ma ma ma …)[1]

I should also note that this Yud Beis Tammuz is also the Frierdiker Rebbe’s 142^nd birthday, so his new kapital Tehillim is 143.

As always your feedback is greatly appreciated. I take the opportunity to thank everyone for their brochos and good wishes on the birth of my grandson Menachem Mendel ben Devorah Leah. May all of you be blessed.

The song has three sections 

The first stanza begins triumphantly 

It is declaring WE WON [i.e. the Rebbe was freed].

That is followed by aiy ya ya

That is a question 

Yes we won [i.e. the Rebbe was freed], but why did we need to go through this harrowing experience? The Rebbe‘s life was in danger.

That is followed by the simple answer, 

That is what Hashem wanted

This explanation was news to me and I shared it with a few friends, asking them if they heard anything about this. Most of them replied that they too hadn’t heard this; however, as noted Reb Dovid Okonov heard it directly from Reb Moshe Charitonov, when the niggun was taught for the first time.

One person mentioned to me that he heard the following insight to the niggun.

As noted, the first stanza is full of joy; the Rebbe was freed on Gimmel Tammuz.

But then the joy was tempered down with the realization that the Rebbe was being sent to exile for three years. So the question became, since the Rebbe was still in danger, should we really celebrate?

The final stanza was YES celebrate and rejoice! The exile doesn’t take away from the greatness of the miracle. This was indeed borne out nine days later when the Rebbe was freed from his exile.

Whichever explanation works for you, let us celebrate the way the Rebbe taught us. Utilize these days to enroll Jewish children into camps and day schools or yeshivos for the coming year.

I will mention something else that I learned while working on the Frierdiker Rebbe’s biography. Reb Zalman Chanin wrote it in the name of his father Reb Chaikel.

After the Rebbe was freed, his enemies began plotting against him. Chassidim realized that for the Rebbe’s safety, it would be best if he would leave Russia. But one needed permission from the authorities to do so.

Reb Mordechai Dubin hy”d, was then a member of the Latvian Parliament and he informed his Russian counterpart that he will only vote in favor of the treaty that Russia was interested in and requesting, if the Rebbe would be allowed to become a Rabbi in Riga.

When he mentioned this to the Rebbe, the Rebbe disagreed and stated that he intends on remaining in Russia, and he won’t go to Riga.

Fearful for the Rebbe’s safety, Reb Mordechai went to the Rebbe’s mother, Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah and informed her of his concerns about the Rebbe’s safety as well as what the Rebbe had stated.

Only after his mother discussed the situation with the Rebbe, did he agree to resettle in Riga. Indeed on Thursday, the day after Simchas Torah of the following year, the Rebbe and his family left Leningrad and arrived in Riga, the following day, erev Shabbos.

Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech and the author of numerous books on the Rebbeim and their chassidim. He can be contacted at avtzonbooks@gmail.com

[1] The niggun was composed by one of his brothers, Reb Sholom or Reb Aharon (who both composed numerous niggunim) and they sent him the notes of this new niggun. So before teaching it to the other chassidim he gave this insight.