R’ Berel Zucker, one of the leading baalei t’filla in Chabad, tells Beis Moshiach how he got to the wondrous world of t’filla. * Presented for the Yomim Nora’im.
It would be fair to say that R’ Berel Zucker owes his musical career to the “Rebbe’s chazan,” R’ Moshe Teleshevsky a”h. Fifteen years ago, Berel was an 18 year old bachur. He had come to learn in Yeshivas Chovevei Torah in Crown Heights and he wanted to develop the field he loved, that of singing and chazanus. He was prepared to invest years of effort in studying it, but was afraid that the hanhala would not approve.
Fortunately, the precedent of R’ Teleshevsky helped him. “You previously published an interview in Beis Moshiach with R’ Moshe and he said that the hanhala of the yeshiva did not allow him to take voice lessons, but the Rebbe Rayatz asked them to give him their approval which of course, was given. Fifty years later, it seems this was the reason they let me do it too,” says R’ Zucker.
Right before the Yomim Nora’im, when chazanim use their voices to praise Hashem and to plead for a good new year, we spoke with R’ Zucker. He is considered one of the best Chabad chazanim. You can also see him performing nearly every night at weddings, Lubavitcher and others.
Berel even gave us some tips for aspiring chazanim who are planning on going before the amud on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur.
INTERNSHIP
IN KFAR CHABAD
His musical career began when he was very young.
“I was born in Detroit to a family of shluchim. My father, R’ Tzvi, was the unofficial chazan in the shul that we davened in. We are descendants of the Lubavitcher Reitzes family and as such, we are musical. There are a number of baalei t’filla in the extended Reitzes family.”
At a certain point, in the 90’s, they made aliya and his father was the chazan in the central shul in Kfar Chabad.
“We boys were in his choir. Many residents of the Kfar remember this.”
Today, only he and two of his brothers work in this line. The others just do it as a hobby. At that time, R’ Berel was a member of the Tzivos Hashem choir of the Toras Emes elementary school in Yerushalayim and gained a lot of experience.
“In those days, it was a serious choir that appeared often at siyumei ha’Rambam and other big events and I was one of the soloists.”
He was a soloist for a long time, starting from age 14, when he learned in yeshiva in Kfar Chabad.
“I would appear with the Marantz brothers’ band nearly every night, after yeshiva. Sometimes, they let me perform instead of attending the night learning in the yeshiva.”
At age 16, he went to Tomchei T’mimim in Kiryat Gat and performed less often, “because of the distance between Kiryat Gat and Kfar Chabad. The trip took too much time and the hanhala did not allow me to travel a lot in order to perform.”
At the age of 18 he returned to the US and wanted to take evening classes at YU. The hanhala at 770 gave him permission to go every night for voice lessons and that is what he did. Even he did not dream that these lessons would go on for eight years.
“At YU there is a division of the school for Jewish music. I studied chazanus, music and voice development there. I also began serving as a chazan on the Yomim Nora’im and Shabbos. Every Tishrei I daven for the amud.”
Today, he is a chazan at the Chabad house in Boston which is directed by the shliach, R’ Spalter.
“There are hundreds of mispalelim.”
The rest of the year he divides his time between studying voice and his work as a singer and chazan.
TO STUDY
MEANS TO INVEST
You might be wondering what is there to study for so long. The world of chazanus and singing is complicated and requires hours of study.
“There are so many details. You learn how to sing the nusach of the t’fillos on Rosh HaShana, you even learn their historical background, the meaning of the nusach, etc. When people know the meaning of the words, and the sources of the t’fillos, the t’filla is different, like Unesaneh Tokef which was composed with blood. Additionally, you need to learn notes and musical theory, to play the piano in order to fine tune (pun intended) your musical gift and of course, voice development. It is very complicated and demands a lot of time.”
As someone expert in the history of every t’filla and niggun, he tells us about some of them. For those who do not live in the world of baalei t’filla, these are revelations.
“The nusach of the Ashkenaz communities was transmitted from generation to generation for hundreds of years and more and is referred to as Skarbova. That is a colloquial form of the Latin word sacred. A large part of this nusach was created by Maharil (1365-1427) and some parts are even older. It is very important to preserve the nuschaos and there are places where it is forbidden to change the tune such as Kol Nidrei, V’HaKohanim, HaMelech, the Kaddish of Musaf on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, Kaddish of N’ila, Mi Yanuach U’Mi Yanua, Aleinu in chazaras ha’shatz, and more. During the year also there are t’fillos whose tune we do not change like the Kaddish of T’fillas Tal and Geshem, B’r’shus Morai V’Rabbosai of Simchas Torah, etc.”
According to R’ Zucker, “If a chazan uses a Chabad niggun for any of these selections, he is ruining it; not improving. Of course, in other parts of the davening, Chabad niggunim are fine, obviously fitting them to the tochen – sad, happy, etc.”
The tunes, says R’ Zucker, fit the words of the t’filla: “On Rosh HaShana there are Malchuyos, Zichronos and Shofaros. Malchuyos are done one way, Zichronos in more of a minor range and Shofaros in major, which especially fit the words.”
R’ Zucker explains, “I don’t know of anything the Rebbe said about the nuschaos of t’filla, but in the davening on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, as they are sung in Lubavitcher shuls, there are many Chabad niggunim. I personally recommend that every chazan listen and review the ‘Niggun D’veikus for Rosh HaShana,’ one of the ten niggunim of the Alter Rebbe, because the moment you sing and live the t’filla with that niggun, it will take a different cast. It is important that people know that this is a niggun that the Rebbeim sang to themselves a lot during the Yomim Nora’im, and it is a general ‘movement’ that can be adapted to just about every section.”
TIPS FOR BAALEI TEFILLA
“There are so many tips that I can’t go through all of them,” he said with a smile. “But I will tell chazanim what it pays to watch out for before Rosh HaShana. I would divide it into eating, drinking, sleeping, each being an important category.
“Let’s start with eating. There are things that chazanim should not eat all year, all the more so before Rosh HaShana. It says in Shulchan Aruch not to eat nuts on Rosh HaShana because they increase coughing and phlegm. In addition, there are foods and drinks that are not good to have like coffee, cola, tea, anything with caffeine and alcohol, even though we say many l’chaims. All these items dry the vocal cords which prevent them from working optimally.
“If someone is hoarse, he should not eat things which make it worse like orange juice, tomatoes, spicy things, alcohol and coffee. The acid they produce rises and affects the vocal cords. Likewise, refrain from dairy foods because they increase phlegm in many people.
“Another no-no pertains to Yom Kippur. Before Yom Kippur, don’t eat a lot. Firstly, it doesn’t help much. Secondly, it increases the pressure on the stomach and the chazan can’t breathe. In general, someone who suffers from hoarseness and eats a lot makes the condition worse. Rather than stuffing in more food, you’d be better off using vitamin supplements.”
As for tips for drinking: “A chazan or singer has to drink more than others because the vocal cords must always be moist. If an average person needs to drink 6 cups a day, then a chazan or singer needs to drink much more, water being the most preferable. Another important point, don’t start drinking the day before Yom Kippur. Start a week before, because it takes the body time to get used to changes and to maintain moist vocal cords and get through Yom Kippur without water in the easiest way. Drinking a gallon of water Erev the fast won’t help.”
As for sleeping: “Whoever wants to be a chazan needs to sleep a lot, at least eight consecutive hours. It is like steroids for the voice; the more you sleep, the better the voice. Speaking about sleeping, it’s a good idea to get up about three hours before the davening, because it takes the voice time to recover from sleeping and get back to itself. It’s not a good idea to get up and sing right away.”
This young, talented chazan also has some spiritual tips: “There is a horaa from the Rebbe that a Chabad chazan who davens in a shul of another group, needs to daven their way. The Rebbe also instructed that in such a case, the chazan should refrain from wearing a tallis the night of Rosh HaShana but if he has no choice, he should not wear it over his head because in Kabbala it says this is dangerous. As for repeating words, we know that where one is not permitted to interrupt we don’t repeat words, but there are places where, according to halacha, it is permissible, and you can be lenient with this if you know that the congregation will be inspired, not just for vocal gymnastics, and yet, the Rebbe Rashab was not pleased with this.”
THE ESSENCE OF A LUBAVITCHER CHAZAN
“Baalei t’filla must constantly have the principle, ‘know before whom you stand,’ in mind. The davening must be genuine, pure, and not something used to display one’s beautiful voice. It is permissible to impress the balabatim who come to the Chabad house, in order to get them to want to come back again, but you need to constantly remember that this is not a concert, but ‘know before whom you stand’ in the most serious way. Even if I trill, it’s because I want to fulfill ‘honor Hashem with your throat’ and not in order to show off my chazanus abilities.”
Speaking of chazanus, R’ Zucker personally connects most to Chazan Yossele Rosenblatt “who was a Chassidic chazan. The Rebbe Rayatz and the Rebbe said about him that ‘you hear the meaning of the words in his davening.’”
Although he also sings, even more than he does chazanus, R’ Berel Zucker likes his role as a baal t’filla more.
“Chazanus is very deep, and someone who really understands music, loves chazanus because it is more refined while song is more for the masses. I learned to separate between the two, to add a little chazanus to song to make it more interesting. Occasionally, at weddings, I include a chazanus piece by request of the chassan or the family.”
Apropos of weddings, “I am really happy with the trend of young people asking that I sing only Chabad niggunim at their weddings, or at least most of the songs. It makes the wedding more Chassidish especially when this most significant event is one in which we pray for an ‘everlasting edifice.’”
What does R’ Berel Zucker want? “That when the hisgalus happens immediately, I hope to discover that I am a Levi and will be allowed to sing in the Beis HaMikdash.”
THE TRADITION OF THE NUSACH OF THE YOMIM NORAIM IN LUBAVITCH
By the Rebbe Maharash, there was a chazan named R’ Isser. R’ Isser was a man of elevated stature, G-d fearing, and a scholar. The Rebbe said about him: Isser has an “iron head.” He can learn for eight hours without a break. After Maariv, he would lie down and sleep. He would get up at two in the morning and learn till dawn.
Isser had a special nusach for the t’fillos of the Yomim Nora’im, mainly for the avoda of Yom Kippur. When he began the avoda, he would announce, “Ata,” unlike the chazanim who start the avoda with “Ata Konanta.”
At the recitation of “kor’im” in the sections beginning “V’haKohanim,” he had a “movement” that according to tradition they sang it this way in the Beis HaMikdash. When Isser the chazan sang “kor’im” there wasn’t a dry eye in the shul.
In Lubavitch there was a man named Bere Avrohom’kes, a strong individual who said: I won’t cry at Isser the chazan’s kor’im. When he went to the Rebbe Maharash’s beis midrash to hear the avoda of Yom Kippur from Isser the chazan, he stood near the sink. When Isser began to sing “V’haKohanim,” with great fervor, Bere Avrohom’kes began to tremble and sob until he had to grasp the sink so he would not fall. The Rebbe Rashab said that it wasn’t so much from Isser’s singing as much as it was his father’s kavana (except that they also needed the voice and singing of the chazan).
***
The Rebbe Rayatz heard from his grandmother, Rebbetzin Rivka, that one time, on Yom Kippur, during the recitation of the avoda, lightning struck a house in Lubavitch and a fire broke out. There was panic in the beis midrash because people did not know where the fire had broken out and seeing the flames and smoke, they thought that the fire also surrounded the shul. Nearly all of them ran outside. Due to the panicked running and the pushing, a woman fell in the women’s section and broke her leg. Downstairs in the beis midrash very few people remained. They stood next to the Rebbe Maharash, for they saw that the Rebbe was still sitting there. Isser the chazan’s fervor from the recitation of the avoda was so great that he did not hear any of the noise and commotion and davened the avoda and kor’im as always, without an interruption.
***
In another place the Rebbe Rayatz relates: R’ Isser would daven the avoda of Yom Kippur with sweetness and d’veikus and when he would say “V’haKohanim,” tears and beads of sweat would roll down his face.
The Rebbe Maharash would daven on Yom Kippur in his room next to the beis midrash, but when the chazan said “V’haKohanim,” he would enter the beis midrash and help out with the traditional “Skarbova” niggun.
The Rebbe Rashab would stand during the avoda and help the chazan sing. When he said “V’haKohanim” they heard every word individually. Sometimes, he would pause between the word “mefurash” and “yotzei” and sometimes he said them together. When he said the avoda, tears fell to the floor from his eyes.
THE CONTINUATION OF THE TRADITION
The last time R’ Isser was in Lubavitch was in 5653/1892. After R’ Isser, the chazan in Lubavitch was R’ Reuven Varbaichik and then R’ Yechiel Halperin. R’ Yechiel was a chazan for many years in the big shul in Moscow. In 5644, the Rebbe Rashab went to Moscow and R’ Yechiel was his attendant. That is when the Rebbe taught R’ Yechiel the “Skarbova” nusach for the Yomim Nora’im davening: Aleinu, V’haKohanim, Ata Konanta, Selach Lanu, Ki Anu Amecha, and the breaks in V’Kach Haya Moneh Achas etc.