Below is the original post on ShabbosHouse.org:
This year marks 70 years since the passing of the Rebbe’s father, Reb Levi Yitzchak Schneersohn. He was exiled by the Soviets to a remote and primitive Kazakhastan village because of his Jewish activities as Rabbi of Yekatrinislav (now called Dneiperpetsrovk) in Ukraine. For more about Reb Levik (as he was affectionately called) see this page on Chabad.org His wife Rebbetzin Chana Schneersohn authored a beautiful book of memoirs published in English as “A Mother In Israel” that I remember reading and rereading as a young teen. Her memoir can be read online on Chabad.org or the book is available for purchase on Amazon or from Kehot Publications.
As we are now celebrating the Hakafot of Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, I’d like to share the background and message of the Rebbe’s father’s Hakafot melody.
Remember the context. This righteous man, a scholar and mystic, a teacher and communal leader, was exiled from home and community to a remote and distant village, with no one aside for his wife with whom to celebrate the holiday. Food was scarce, life there was extremely primitive. He was alone and isolated. So it is Simchas Torah, and one must dance with the Torah.He didn’t have a Torah scroll, so he danced with a Tanya (classic book of Chabad Chassidic thought). And his wife writes that he sang his Hakafot Niggun, in their cramped quarters, in that desolate place.
It’s important to both hear this melody and understand the context where it was sung. This melody is one of strongest, boldest and joyous melodies. It doesn’t build up slowly or gradually, but starts at the top, it begins at the height of strength. You even have to gird yourself to sing it, it starts so high and bold. This happiness doesn’t have questions or struggles, it just charges off from the highest point, forging ahead, unrelenting, determinedly onward… it is just amazing how this was sung in such a situation.
The Rebbe used this song at his Hakafot celebrations, continuing his father’s legacy. And it was sung at farnbrengens as well (which is how we have the audio and video clips above).
And there’s an important message for us: We all have times that we’re down, when things fall apart, life feels glum and the future feels bleak. We may feel isolated and alone, we may be missing resources and necessities. But like Reb Levi Yitzchak Schneersohn, the Rebbe’s father, we can still muster the strength to sing the type of song that is full of joy and hope, that starts right from the top, that allows no room for sadness or hopelessness. We can have courage, we can be bold, we can soar to the heights with strength, instead of sinking to the depths in despair.