Simche Friedman Presents: An Israeli Melody To The Words of Chabad

Chassidic singer Simche Friedman has released Levadecha, a song from his recent debut album, accompanied by a lyrics clip. The words were written by the poet Zvi Yair and are set to an Israeli-style melody.

Simcha tells us about the genesis of the song:

I first came across the work of the Chabad poet Zvi Yair at the age of 15. I was fascinated by his uncanny ability to convey deep ideas in short modern prose, all in rhyme. Of all his poems – Levadecha touched me in a special way.

The melody went through many incarnations, but the wordless melody between the stanzas was there from the beginning. I imagined a holy soul dancing with her Creator and becoming absorbed in His unity. Levadecha – There Is Only You.

Rabbi Berel Lazar, Chief Rabbi of Russia, is Zvi‘s grandson. When I told him that I was going to release one of his grandfather’s poems, he informed me that the Lubavitcher Rebbe once asked his grandfather to set his poems to music. Yair sent some poems to a famous composer, but in the end nothing came of it. So with Levadecha I am privileged to fulfill the Rebbe’s wish!

The song ‘Levadecha‘ completes the series of three songs that were recently released with a lyrics clip with a uniform graphic language, and joins the previous songs: ‘Daven Mit A Nigun‘ and ‘Moisheleh‘.

Composer: Simcha Friedman
Lyrics: Zvi Yair (Zvi Meir Steinmetz)
Arranged by: Ami Cohen
Art: Mendi Yeruslavsky
Graphics and Design: Yossi Weisfish
Lyrics clip: Menachem Goldstein

Lyrics:
בִּנְעוּרַי, רָאוּ עֵינַי
דְּבָרִים לִרְבָבוֹת –
בָּאָה תְבוּנָתִי
וְעַל שְׁלֹשָׁה הֶעֱמִידָתַם:
אֲנִי, אַתָּה וְהָעוֹלָם.

עוֹדֶנִּי מִתְבּוֹנֵן
וָאֶרְאֶה: הָעוֹלָם
מֵאוֹרְךָ רַק קַרְנַיִם –
וַיִּשָּׁאֲרוּ אַךְ שְׁנַיִם:
אֲנִי וְאַתָּה.

חָקַרְתִּי מוֹרְשֵׁי לְבָבִי
וְהִנֵּה חַיַּי
רְסִיס מִמְּקוֹרֶךָ –
וְהִנֵּה:
אַתָּה הוּא לְבַדֶּךָ.

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