KRISTALLNACHT: A COMMEMORATION FILLED WITH MEANING
15 Heshvan 5699, October 9–10, 1938
5786, 2025
Eighty-seven years ago, they burned. They burned the synagogues. They burned the melodies. They sought to burn the Voice of Israel itself.
Over 300 synagogues destroyed. Nearly a hundred Jews slaughtered in the streets. 30,000 arrested like beasts. And then came the Shoah. Six million silences.
The enemy wanted to erase everything—memory, trace, even the final niggun.
📍 Am Yisrael Chai!
The melodies survived. A thousand years of tradition—from the communities of Speyer, Worms, and Mainz through the great synagogues of pre-war Germany—waited to be reborn from the hearts of the survivors. The Nazis believed they could prevail. They were wrong.
👉 This Shabbat (Vayera), communities around the world will sing Lecha Dodi to the melody that once echoed through Frankfurt during Bein Hametsarim.
It is easily learned. Please share across all platforms.
https://lnkd.in/ey2h_bvT
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Sanctuary of the King, royal city,
Rise and break forth from your desolation,
Too long have you dwelt in the valley of tears—
The E.ternal shall shower upon you His compassion.
Shake off the dust, arise,
Clothe yourself in raiment of splendor for my sake.
Awake, awake, lift up your voice in song,
The glory of the E.ternal breaks forth upon you.
Be not confounded, be not ashamed,
Why this anguish? Why these lamentations?
In you shall find shelter the afflicted of my people,
And the city shall be rebuilt upon its foundation.
Those who despoiled you shall themselves be despoiled,
And all your oppressors shall depart afar,
Your G.od shall exult over you,
As a bridegroom exults at the sight of his bride.
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Thousands of voices across the world. A single melody. A single cry: You did not destroy us.
You may burn the synagogues and the bodies. You will not burn the soul. You cannot silence the song.
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Or Paneicha Project
🎵 Since Jerusalem, Benjamin Breuer has restored to life the niggunim of the Western Ashkenazi world.
To access the 60 chants he has recorded from Jerusalem: binyaminbr@gmail.com
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Please share—here or on other platforms—and inform community leaders everywhere.
© Joel Hanhart