In those otherworldly hours of mei’ein Olam Haba, what are some favorites you like to sing?

Although those really long Friday nights have already begun to taper off, there are still many long, cozy hours while the licht yet burn, as the family gathers around the table and the workweek seems to have melted away like the soft white wax of the candles.

In those otherworldly hours of mei’ein Olam Haba, what are some favorites you like to sing?

AVRUMI BERKO

Can I have two picks? The Vizhnitz Menuchah V’simchah, that’s the slow, complicated one where every stanza is different, but where you can literally hold on tight and feel the week melting away in the presence of something so, so different from every day — that’s Shabbos. I also love Meshoch Chasdecha, a classic composed by Yossi Green and sung by Avraham Fried on Forever One.

JOEY NEWCOMB

The well-known Kah Ribbon composed by Rebbe Bentzion of Bobov zy”a. With the different segments of the melody, it’s a rich and varied masterpiece, and as it was composed by a great tzaddik, it all carries spiritual meaning, too.

ELI GERSTNER

My all-time favorite has to be Carlebach’s “Vehayu Limeshisah.” It’s not that commonly used, but I like to sing it on long Friday nights or at kumzitzes. We put it out on The Chevra—A Cappella album, to teach it to the next generation. It’s probably one of the nicest songs on the album.

CHILU POSEN (Mezamrim Choir)

At the seudah I like to sing Kol Mekadeish and either Yitzchak Fuchs’s Menuchah V’simchah or sometimes Carlebach’s upbeat Menuchah V’simchah, which is a great way to change things up a little. Later on, at the oneg, some staples the crowd always wants to hear are the classic Kah Echsof, Eli Beer’s “Veyihyu Rachamecha,” and Chezkie Weisz’s “Kah Ribbon Far Dir, Far Dir.”

YONATAN RAZEL

At the family Shabbos table we sing what the children like, of course. We sing a traditional Kol Mekadeish and Kah Echsof, and then add some of my brother Aharon’s contemporary songs. We often get up, join hands, and dance. Although we’re a musical family, I make sure that our seudah is not only about singing: There’s time to learn, to talk, and to listen to each other, too.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 898)