“Im Rak Tachshov Tov, Yihiyeh Licha Tov” The Story Behind “Shir Hapisgamim” By Chaviv Chaim Ben-Aryeh

A joyful evening on the holiday, a card game forgotten on the living room floor, one guitar and a melody whispered into the phone in the middle of the night. That’s where “Shir Hapisgamim”, Chaviv Chaim Ben-Aryeh’s new single, began. But two years later, the story behind the song took a painful turn that gave it new meaning.

It happened four years ago, on the eve of Sukkot. Chaviv Chaim traveled with his family from Eilat to Moshav Ma’aleh, to stay with Yossi Biton and his wife. At the end of the holiday, when the children had already fallen asleep and the house had calmed down, he noticed a card game of Chabad proverbs that had been thrown on the floor. He began to connect the sentences, until the idea was born to turn them into a kind of “Chassidic sticker song”. Around 11:00 PM at night, he was already sitting in the sukkah with the guitar, and whispered the melody he had come up with into the phone.

About two years later, Yossi was killed in a car accident on his way home to his wife and children, at the end of the workday. From that moment on, the work that was born that holiday evening became a personal memory for Chaviv Chaim. And such a happy, optimistic and rhythmic song, which speaks of the ability to change, to do and to believe that everything can still improve, is dedicated to Yossi’s memory.

The text is built from a treasure trove of Chabad proverbs, and connects sentences one after another such as “Simcha Poretzes Geder”, “Ehov Es Habikores” and “Tova Pe’ula Achas Mayelef Anachos”, until a line that becomes To the chorus: “Im Rak Tachshov Tov, Yihiyeh Licha Tov.”
The melody is by Ben Aryeh, and the musical production is by Shiner [Efi Shiner], who created a contemporary and vibrant atmosphere.

“Shir Hapisgamim” comes after “Vitizrach“, which was a success and became a hit, and continues to pave the musical path of Chaviv Chaim through his unique combination of content full of hope and faith and music that touches the heart.

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