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<\/a>Raphael Pischi, one of the long-time members of Kvutzat HaSharon in Ramat David, told an interesting anecdote: \u201cThe attitude toward May 1 celebrations in Kvutzat HaSharon, was one of uncertainty and I was among those who refrained. I heard that in Gvat the festival is celebrated in all its glory. I decided to go along and see how this festival, which does not appear in the Torah, is celebrated- perhaps I would be convinced that it\u2019s worth it.”<\/p>\n
“It was May 1, 1932. I took the flock out to pasture near Gvat. While the herd ate, I went to Gvat\u2019s dining hall above which the red flag flew. I stood at the entrance and heard fervent singing coming from within: \u2018Our Father, our King, be gracious to us and answer us, for we have no deeds.\u2019 I said to myself, ‘OK, I am prepared to celebrate this kind of festival \u2026 that is how I began to celebrate May 1st.’\u201d<\/p>\n
The source of the familiar melody remains a mystery, but it is certainly widely known. Special testimony which shows how the familiar melody is widely accepted appears in the Ben Stonehill Collection, a copy of which can be found in the National Sound Archive. Ben Stonehill, (1906-1964) a Jewish native of Poland who emigrated with his family to America at the beginning of the last century, took it upon himself to collect and document musical material from European Jewish folklore. Stonehill recorded over a thousand songs including popular songs in Yiddish, excerpts from prayers, Chassidic niggunim and more.<\/p>\n
Many Holocaust survivors served as experts for this project, their voices bearing the musical memory of what had been. On the recordings, various survivors appear one after the other as if on a conveyor belt. They are each asked to state their name, place of origin and age, and sing their song. In a recording from the summer of 1948, the voice of a young boy aged 16, a survivor of the horrors of the war who managed to reach New York is featured. It was there, in the Marseilles Hotel in Manhattan, that Stonehill recorded him. \u201cEir naman? (Your name?),” the boy was asked, \u201cUn vy alt bistu? (And how old are you?). The boy replied, \u201cZachtzen\u201d (sixteen).” \u201cUn vat vestu zingen?\u201d (And what are you going to sing?) \u2013 \u201cAvinu Malkeinu.\u201d Here the boy\u2019s voice can be heard singing the well-known tune. The words fit into the melody slightly differently than we are used to today, but the tune is the same tune.<\/p>\n
The \u2018Avinu Malkeinu\u2019 prayer begins with the words \u201cOur Father our King, we have sinned before You,\u201d followed immediately by the words \u201cOur Father our King, we have no other God than You.\u201d<\/p>\n
These words too received their own melody. One of the most famous tunes is the one attributed to Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1813), known as the \u201cBa\u2019al HaTanya\u201d or the \u201cAlter Rebbe\u201d by followers of the Chabad movement which he established. In addition to being a great Torah scholar, he was known to have many talents, including a special musical talent. Chabad tradition attributes ten \u201cNiggunim Mechuvanim\u201d [Precise Melodies] to Rabbi Shneur Zalman.<\/p>\n
As the book, \u201cSefer HaNiggunim,<\/a>\u201d (a unique anthology which complies many of the Hassidic tunes) attests, the tune to \u2018Avinu Malkeinu\u2019 is one of these ten songs. The melody has three parts: an opening phase without words, a middle phase with the words of the prayer, and a closing phase \u2013 also consisting only of a tune. The entire congregation sings the niggun immediately after the Ark is opened before the Cantor begins reciting the prayer.<\/p>\n In a clip recorded during a Hassidic \u201cHitva\u2019adut\u201d thirty years ago, the voice of\u00a0 Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, the seventh Rebbe of Chabad, can be heard singing the niggun. The recording begins with the second phase of the melody, which includes the words of the prayer in the Rebbe\u2019s voice. The Chassidim then join in the song. Following that, the other two sections are heard, the end section and the opening section.<\/p>\n In a recording from the collection of Shmuel Zalmanov, who was also appointed as editor of \u201cSefer HaNiggunim\u201d by the Sixth Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the voice of one of the Chassidim \u2013 probably Zalman himself \u2013 can be heard over the introduction announcing \u201cAvinu Malkeinu \u2013 Einer fun di tzan niggunim fun di alten Rabbin\u201d (One of the Alter Rebbe\u2019s ten niggunim).<\/p>\n This is followed by the introductory section without words, after which the second part of the niggun is heard (sung like the version which appears in “Sefer HaNiggunim,” slightly different to that sung today) and finally, the concluding section is sung.<\/p>\n Another familiar melody of the \u2018Avinu Malkeinu\u2019 prayer is that of the musician, composer, conductor and arranger Max Janowski (1912-1991). Janowski was the son of the musician Chaim Chaikel Janowski, a wealthy merchant, musician and cello player, and of Miriam Rap-Janowska – the \u201cprima donna of Israeli opera.\u201d In Professor Schleifer\u2019s words, Janowski was \u201cthe king of synagogue music in Chicago, primarily among the Reform and Conservative, but also in the Orthodox congregations. Janowski used the Reform text of the \u2018Avinu Malkeinu\u2019 prayer for Rosh Hashana, which contains only selected verses from the traditional prayer, and wrote a work for a soloist, a mixed choir and an organ, in a style considered innovative in the Reform Temples that, at the time, were still singing the repertoire of 19th century German synagogues. In contrast, in this work, as in other works he wrote at this time, Janowski combined a style taken from Eastern European Cantorial music with elements borrowed from professional and grassroots Israeli music.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The concept behind the work is, \u201cintimate and not extroverted song.\u201d Schleifer notes that Janowski told him personally that he wanted the singing to be calculated- not with a free beat, but dictated by the beat of the organ which accompanies it. \u2018He wanted the organ to mark his heartbeats\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n The work ends with the words \u201cHear our voices,\u201d and the choir\u2019s role gives the effect of an echo. It seems that his main public exposure came from this melody in the famous performance of the singer Barbara Streisand<\/a>, in which the song was arranged differently than the original. An early publication of the work from 1950 is found in the Yaakov Michael Collection \u201cfor solo, mixed choir, organ or piano.\u201d<\/p>\n May all the requests and prayers be accepted, as the prayer says \u2013 \u201cOur Father our King, inaugurate a good year upon us.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/h5>\n
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