Echoes of song, fragments of emotion, wisps of memory. It’s a melody that still replays in your mind, years after its chorus first captured your heart.
What’s that tune that, when you hear it, brings you back to another place, time, and association? Or perhaps it’s an old, long-forgotten Jewish song, maybe one that never conquered the limelight but conquered your neshamah?
We asked readers and public figures to share some of those memories intertwined with old and forgotten songs — because when it comes to a niggun, past and present merge into a timeless inspiration
Yisroel Besser
Song of My Heart: “Modeh Ani”
Album: London Boys Choir
T
his song from the early 1970s is personally meaningful to me, because it was composed by my uncle, Mr. Doody Rosenberg of London, but that’s not the only reason. Musically, it’s sophisticated, an emotional journey, and of course, like all London Boys’ songs, it’s blessed with Yigal Calek’s stamp of brilliance on the arrangements and presentation. Our minhag is not to say the Ribon Olamim tefillah between “Shalom Aleichem” and “Eishes Chayil” on Friday nights, so the words, which are taken from there, are even more precious since I don’t get to articulate them each week. It’s the idea of thanking Hashem for what He’s done and also for what He will do for us and our families. It’s the emotion of Friday night before Kiddush, gratitude at what was and hope at what will be. Ultimately, though, it probably comes down to what, I’ve discovered, lies at the heart of most favorite songs: nostalgia, a longing for people who are no longer with us, happy memories. Modeh ani lifanecha.
(Originally featured in Mishpacha Issue 710)
