The Song Rav Kook Composed That’s Sung In 770
On Wednesday, the 3rd of Elul, we marked 90 years since the passing of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook of blessed memory — the first Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel.
Rav Kook was a halachic authority and philosopher, one of the greatest rabbis in the Land of Israel in the first half of the 20th century. He was appointed as the rabbi of Jaffa and its settlements, and after World War I — in 1919 — he was crowned Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem by the signatures of the heads of the institutions and yeshivot, together with most of the rabbis of the city. He established the Chief Rabbinate and became the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel in 1921. He also founded the “Merkaz HaRav” yeshiva in Jerusalem and stood at its head.
Although in certain circles Rav Kook’s teachings and followers were met with opposition and even scorn, many of the greatest rabbinic leaders of his generation regarded him with the deepest reverence. They described him as a saintly figure of rare holiness, a towering genius who mastered every dimension of Torah, righteous in all his ways, and a spiritual giant whose greatness transcended even his own time.
The Rebbe Rayatz (Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn) wrote to Rav Kook: “Honored friend, the well-known rabbinic genius, famous across the breadth of the world, glorious among the luminaries of Jacob, the right pillar, the mighty hammer, may his honored name be exalted…”
Rav Kook was musical, and had a special relationship with music.
Although we do not know of his specific relationship with many cantors and prayer leaders, his deep friendship with the great cantors Yossele Rosenblatt and Zevulun Kwartin is well documented. In one letter to Cantor Kwartin, Rav Kook began with the words: “My exalted friend, the glory of Israel’s song.” At the Rav’s request, Kwartin led Mincha and Ma’ariv services to benefit the Merkaz HaRav yeshiva, and also performed concerts on its behalf. Their friendship was so deep that it is told that in 1937 one such concert took place on the very day of Kwartin’s daughter’s wedding. He conducted her chuppah in Tel Aviv, then traveled immediately to Jerusalem for the concert, and only afterward returned straight to the sheva berachot in Tel Aviv.
Rav Kook had a poetic soul, and melody coursed within him. He composed hymns and songs, and even set some of them to music.
Through Kabbalah, Rav Kook understood that with the coming of the full Redemption, all aspects of life would be elevated. In his essay “The Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace” he describes the advancement of nature as a whole, as every level of existence rises. Humanity will become more than it is today, and so too plants and animals. And even music.
The song “Zol Shoyn Kumen di Geulah” (“May the Redemption Come Already”) is attributed to Rav Kook. There are testimonies that the Rav and his students sang this melody in the Land of Israel already in the 1930s. The additional Yiddish lyrics were written by Shmerke Kaczerginski, a poet who survived the Vilna Ghetto and fought with the partisans. After the Holocaust, he adapted the words to the Rav’s tune during visits to the displaced persons camps in Germany.
The one who first recorded and published the song, in 1954, was the cantor and singer Israel Lifschitz, known by his stage name “Sidor Belarsky.”
In the 1970s, Chabad Chasidim adopted the song, with a slight change to the lyrics: zol shoyn zayn di geulah, Moshiach zol shoyn kumen. “The redemption shall already be, Moshiach should already come”. It also became known later as the “Yechi Niggun,” since it was used to sing the words: “Yechi Adoneinu Moreinu v’Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach l’olam va’ed” (“Long live our Master, Teacher, and Rebbe, King Messiah, forever and ever”). This melody was sung many times before the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and received his enthusiastic encouragement. Since then, it has been beloved among Chabad Chassidim, sung on many occasions, and appears in the official Sefer HaNiggunim as Niggun 164.
At the “Chassidic Treasures” concert held last Nissan, the song was performed by the Chabad cantor Aryeh Leib Hurwitz. Aryeh serves as the chief cantor of Chabad Central Boca Raton in Florida. For four years now he has been deeply loved and admired by his community — and for good reason. Aryeh, who has cherished this song since childhood, brought to his performance his unique musical abilities along with the soulful intensity so characteristic of Chabad. This fusion created a sweeping, moving, and inspiring experience.
In addition, the screen backdrop showing the Rebbe encouraging the chassidim to this very song created an especially powerful moment before an audience of 1,800 Jews from all walks of life, in the heart of Tel Aviv, at the Heichal HaTarbut — home of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
At Rav Kook’s funeral, tens of thousands from all segments of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel came to accompany him. His death touched everyone. His personality and teachings remain a guiding light for those who seek to live lives of faith and love of the Land, and are no less relevant today — 90 years after his passing.
May his memory be a blessing!
Shabbat Shalom, and enjoy,
Ofir Sobol – Musical Director & Conductor
and the Yuval management
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Bubby
Beautiful singing and musical accompaniment. May we have the geulah shlaima now.