"I felt like the meisim and the churvos Yerushalayim were dancing along"

Iowe much hakaras hatov to Reb Yigal Calek, the “brilliant composer,” as Cantor David Werdyger described him in his book. One morning in October 1978, I found myself standing on Har Hazeisim for the first time. I had walked there from the Kosel, and it seemed I was the only live person there, together with the tzaddikim and the thousands of Yidden buried there. I was a teenager, the sun was shining, the world was beautiful, and the Makom Hamikdash was right in front of me. I broke out with the song “MA NAVU AL HEHARIM” (Ma Navu), then broke out in dance when I got to the words, “Pitzchu ranenu yachdav.” I felt like the meisim and the churvos Yerushalayim were dancing along. It’s 43 years later now, but in those few minutes the world stopped for me.

—Y.P.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 870)