Jr. spoke to singers Baruch Levine, Shloime Gertner, and Yisroel Werdyger to hear which zemiros are special to them and why

Have you personally composed a song/zemiros for Shabbos? What’s the story behind it?

BL: I composed a fun and upbeat “Yom Zeh L’Yisrael” that came out on my Banim Atem album. I also composed “Lecha Dodi” (from Touched by a Niggun). That’s not exactly zemiros but I do often use it for Kabbalas Shabbos.

SG: I composed the “Malkah” part of “Kodesh” from my debut album Nissim. This wasn’t originally a Shabbos song. I had actually composed it for my daughter Malka who was born with disabilities. When I showed the song to Yossi Green, he made the connection with Malka and Shabbos Hamalkah, and composed Kodesh to go along with it. When my daughter was about six years old, she composed a cute Uncle Moishy style song called Little Challah, which we sing a lot on Shabbos. If we get enough interest from Jr. readers, maybe I’ll produce it for Mishpacha !

YW: I don’t compose, but my albums contain many Shabbos songs, which are all favorites in our house. If I would have to choose one that has a story, it would be “Lecha Dodi” from my first album Bayis Neeman, which became a worldwide hit. The first time I heard it was almost 15 years ago, when my producer, Gershy Moskowitz, got me a demo of the song, composed by Rabbi Baruch Levine. I remember being stunned by the beauty of the tune and I loved it on the spot. At the same time, though, I was skeptical — who needs another tune for Lecha Dodi? So, we took the song to Motty Ilowitz, who wrote Yiddish lyrics for the verse of the song. After the song was released on my album, Baruch Levine released the song with English lyrics. The song expresses that despite how busy we are all week, when Shabbos comes in, we push all our worries out of our mind and focus on our neshamah yeseirah and unique connection to Hashem. Then, we welcome Shabbos into our lives and we sing, Lecha dodi likras kallah, penei Shabbos nekabalah.

Go-to niggun when you have guests:

YW: “Baruch Kel Elyon“ from Reb Moshe Goldman

SG: “Shabbos Hayom LaShem” by

Baruch Levine, which I sing on my Asay album