Yomim Noraim davening

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  • September 16, 2014 1:33 pm at 1:33 pm #613692
    DaMoshe
    Participant

    I will be davening for the amud this year on the Yomim Noraim. It’s not the first time, although I haven’t done it much for the past few years.

    I was reviewing the davening, as well as some of the tunes I have used. I was wondering if people want to share some of the tunes used for different parts of davening. I’m pretty much set in mine, but I’m always open to hearing new ideas.

    The one tefillah I’m not sure about is Imru L’Elokim. For Rosh HaShanah, I plan on using the classic Lo Tevoshi, from David Werdyger zt”l. But on Yom Kippur, there’s an extra line to each verse, so it doesn’t fit well. In the past, I’ve used v’liYerushalayim (from D’veykus). But this year it occurred to me that it’s not a solemn piyut. It’s one that should probably have a slightly faster, more upbeat tune for it.

    September 16, 2014 3:16 pm at 3:16 pm #1100566
    ED IT OR
    Participant

    10 green bottles fits anything if you get stuck.

    hatzlocho

    September 16, 2014 4:17 pm at 4:17 pm #1100567
    ☕ DaasYochid ☕
    Participant

    Ropshitzer waltz.

    September 16, 2014 5:40 pm at 5:40 pm #1100568
    DaMoshe
    Participant

    DY, I probably know the tune, just not by that name. Are there words commonly used for it which I’d know?

    September 16, 2014 5:54 pm at 5:54 pm #1100569
    ☕ DaasYochid ☕
    Participant

    Some sing it to Menuchah V’simchah.

    Google “ropshitz waltz”. There’s a sample on Mostly Music from Time to Dance Vol. 1.

    September 16, 2014 6:22 pm at 6:22 pm #1100570
    DaMoshe
    Participant

    Ok, I can’t listen to it at work, but I know the tune you’re referring to. I don’t think it fits the piyut well.

    September 16, 2014 6:47 pm at 6:47 pm #1100571
    ☕ DaasYochid ☕
    Participant

    I’m not sure you know which one I’m referring to, which has been used by a couple of baalei tefillah I’ve heard.

    September 16, 2014 9:10 pm at 9:10 pm #1100572
    HaLeiVi
    Participant

    You mean the Eishes Chayil?

    September 16, 2014 10:19 pm at 10:19 pm #1100573
    DaMoshe
    Participant

    DY, I listened to the tune. You were right, it’s not the one I thought it was. Actually, the Ba’al Shacharis in Darchei Torah uses that tune for the piyut. It fits somewhat better – the low and high parts work. The middle (actually sung 3rd) doesn’t fit as well.

    September 16, 2014 10:50 pm at 10:50 pm #1100574
    squeak
    Participant

    “I will be davening for the amud this year on the Yomim Noraim”

    And I hope the amud has a fantastic year, but you may want to think about davening for yourself too. After all, it is not inanimate objects that are judged on R”H. Either way, focus on the songs because we all secretly wish we were at a concert.

    September 16, 2014 11:12 pm at 11:12 pm #1100575
    DaMoshe
    Participant

    squeak: If you read my post, I wrote, “I was reviewing the davening, as well as some of the tunes I have used.” The first thing I look over is the meaning of the words. Then I decide what tune to use.

    My Rosh Yeshiva, R’ Bender shlita, once told me that in the Mir, they don’t sing anything on the Yomim Noraim. When Darchei first had a minyan for RH and YK, he asked R’ Shmuel Berenbaum zt”l if Darchei should follow the Mir, and not sing. R’ Shmuel told him no, because nowadays, people need good tunes in order to follow the davening well. If there’s no singing, people’s minds start to drift. The songs are important.

    I happen to know R’ Pollak, the ba’al tefillah at the Mir. The first year he davened there, he sang some tunes. R’ Berenbaum came over to him after and told him, “You sing very well. Just don’t do it here!”

    September 8, 2015 4:40 pm at 4:40 pm #1100576
    ☕ DaasYochid ☕
    Participant

    Bump?

    September 8, 2015 6:11 pm at 6:11 pm #1100577
    DaMoshe
    Participant

    DY: I used the Ropshitzer Waltz last year, and it worked well. Thanks!

    For Rosh HaShanah this year, I am changing from Lo Tevoshi. I used it last year because the previous baal tefillah told me that it was a shul favorite. After davening, the gabbai told me they’d been trying to get him to stop using the tune for a few years, and he refused. So this year, I’m using Yom Ze Mechubad for it.

    September 9, 2015 1:28 am at 1:28 am #1100578
    ☕ DaasYochid ☕
    Participant

    Which Yom Zeh M’chubad?

    September 9, 2015 3:21 am at 3:21 am #1100579
    YesOrNo
    Participant

    …share some of the tunes used for different parts of davening.

    In Brisk (AJ), The Bear went over the mountain (tune) is sung during Chazoras hashatz!

    September 9, 2015 12:03 pm at 12:03 pm #1100580
    Geordie613
    Participant

    Is there any particular mesorah that you follow? For example, In Gateshead yeshiva, the mesorah for the nigunim goes back to the Menahel Zatzal, HaRav Eliezer Kahan, who came from (I think) Novardok, and it has changed very little since.

    This mesorah is followed, more or less by most yeshivishe kehillos in England. Obviously, nigunim are added and changed by individual chazonim, but I would be surprised if they used the YWN CR as their mekor.

    September 9, 2015 12:28 pm at 12:28 pm #1100581
    DaMoshe
    Participant

    DY: I’m not sure where it’s originally from – it’s an older, traditional one. It’s the one my kids like to say “Toot toot!” during the chorus – does that help?

    September 9, 2015 12:34 pm at 12:34 pm #1100582
    DaMoshe
    Participant

    geordie613: A lot of it comes from the baal tefillah who used to daven at Darchei Torah on the Yomim Noraim, Rabbi Strickman (he has since retired from davening.) When I learned in Darchei, and used to daven there on Yomim Noraim, his davening always inspired me, and has stuck in my head. Other parts just come from other baalei tefillah I’ve heard over the years – if someone “speaks to me”, I tend to remember it, and I might incorporate it into my davening.

    In my opinion, besides representing the kehillah before Hashem, the baal tefillah also has to inspire them in their own davening. That’s part of how I choose the tunes to use. Last year, on the first day of Rosh HaShanah, I used a tune for V’Chol Ma’aminim, and nobody sang along. So for the 2nd day, I switched to a different tune, and more people knew it. If people don’t know the tunes, they sometimes stop paying attention. You need to know your audience.

    September 9, 2015 10:49 pm at 10:49 pm #1100583
    ItcheSrulik
    Member

    Battle Hymn of the Republic for Melech Elyon, the popular “vayehi b’yeshurun melech” for Hashem Melech, the Israeli tune for Unesaneh Tokef and the popular Modzitz one for ein Kitzva (1922, I think); Yedid Nefesh for V’chol Ma’aminim and a Chasidish march (I forgot what it’s called) for the Yom Kippur Imru L’elokim; I don’t recall a tune for the Rosh Hashanna one.

    September 10, 2015 12:02 pm at 12:02 pm #1100584
    DaMoshe
    Participant

    Here are some other tunes I use (without having my machzor in front of me):

    V’Chol Maaminim – I switch between the 3 days. Regesh’s Modeh Ani, Maaminim B’nei Maaminim, or Shiru Lamelech.

    U’nesaneh Tokef – I was specifically asked to sing this. I usually use Machnisei Rachamim for most of it. From k’vakaras roeh to the end of that paragraph, I use Achas Shoalti (one of the 2 from MBD – I believe it’s not the one on V’Chol Maaminim. Then for B’Rosh HaShanah I use a variation of the tune that MBD uses on V’Chol Maaminim. I’m thinking of using the U’vashofar Gadol from Lev V’nefesh 2 for one day this year. We’ll see.

    September 10, 2015 1:10 pm at 1:10 pm #1100585
    oomis
    Participant

    I just want to wish everyone here, and all of klal Yisroel who are not in the CR, a happy, healthy gebensched New Year, with a k’siva v’chasima tova for much simcha and nachas in this coming year, culminating with bias haMoshiach and binyan Beis Hamikdash.

    September 16, 2015 9:33 am at 9:33 am #1100586
    Geordie613
    Participant

    DaMoshe, Very interesting. You sound like the type of baal tfila I’d like to listen to on Yom tov for shachris and hallel. For yomin noroim, I am very traditional, and big into ‘nusach’. I could maybe handle Yigal calek for Chamoil and be’ein meilitz yosher (maybe because they’re older than me), but shiru lamelech for anything, no way. And Unesaneh tokef, in my mesorah, is the highlight of the tefila, and should be done in chazonus or strict nusach.

    I like ItcheSrulik’s idea of Yedid nefesh for Vchol maaminim. I assume you sing the whole thing straight through, not stopping after every two lines.

    Any Mirrers out there? Is there anything more beautiful than Rav Arye Finkel Shlit”a’s kedusha? (Besides his personal kedusha, I mean his nusach for that part of davening?)

    September 16, 2015 4:15 pm at 4:15 pm #1100587
    oomis
    Participant

    I think tunes help the kehillah to connect more to the tefila. I come from a long line of chazzanim and love chazzanus, but I still enjoy hearing the baal tefila sometimes also sing tunes with which I am familiar, so the kehilla can sing along.It makes the davening (at least for me) more resonant.

    September 17, 2015 11:55 am at 11:55 am #1100588
    DaMoshe
    Participant

    oomis: agreed. As I wrote earlier, R’ Shmuel Berenbaum zt”l told R’ Bender that they needed to sing in Darchei, even though the Mir doesn’t, because people today need tunes to keep them involved in the davening.

    That said, you don’t need to sing everything – just certain parts.

    One man told me he thought I should have gone slower by Hineni – I didn’t rush it, but he thought I could have slowed it down. Honestly, I don’t think about the pace much when I daven, especially Hineni. Hineni is an intense personal tefillah between the baal tefillah and Hashem. I’ve gone over the text dozens of times so I know exactly what it means, so I don’t need to pause for understanding. I’m speaking with Hashem, and that’s it. When you’re having a conversation, do you really think about how fast you’re talking? It’s natural, you just talk. That’s how I am during Hineni (and some other parts of the davening). I’m just talking to Hashem.

    September 24, 2015 2:10 pm at 2:10 pm #1100589
    DaMoshe
    Participant

    Baruch Hashem, my davening went well this year. I think there’s a special siyata dishmaya when it comes to being a shliach tzibbur. After Mussaf, my throat was sore, and my voice didn’t sound great. During Mincha, when saying certain parts out loud, my voice sounded flat-out lousy – scratchy, like I had something stuck in my throat. No matter how many times I cleared my throat or coughed, it wouldn’t clear. I was nervous about Neilah – I had to be the shliach tzibbur again, and my voice was completely shot! I asked Hashem to help me out. When I got up there, and said the first pasuk of Ashrei out loud, my voice still didn’t sound great. But suddenly, it cleared up! Not only that, but the strength in it returned, and I was able to lead the davening with a voice at full strength. Hashem really helps out the Baalei tefillah! My grandfather A”H used to tell me that as well, and he was clearly right.

    After Maariv, during the break fast in the shul, I got the best compliment. The president of the shul said to me, “You know what I enjoyed most about your davening? You have a very nice voice, and sing very well. But it always sounded like a davening! With some people, it becomes a performance. With you, while it sounded beautiful, it was always a davening. It never crossed the line to being a performance.”

    That was the best review I’ve ever had.

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