Rebbe Nachman’s Court Singer – Yisrael Dagan

 

He was intimately close with Rebbe Yisrael Dov Odesser zta"l and long ago stopped counting how many times he had been to Uman.

 

He was once in an elite commando unit, he now lives in Tsfat and leads the "commando of Breslev music." Meet Yisrael Dagan, "the court singer" of Breslev in an up close and personal interview.

 

Yisrael Dagan, 51, found Rebbe Nachman after many years of searching for answers. "When I found Rebbe Nachman, I understood his greatness. Sometimes when people find Rebbe Nachman immediately after they start to do teshuva, they don't understand what it is they have found, and how unique his teachings are. Those like Rebbe Natan, who found Rebbe Nachman after years of seeking the truth, feel the fire in his teachings."

 

Dagan grew up in a typical left wing home; his mother is a holocaust survivor, an author and a well known lecturer. "By the time I was 12 years old, I had already started seeking answers, but at home not a word was spoken about faith or religion. After moving to the kibbutz I started asking questions such as – why does everyone hate the Jews, and how did the world allow the holocaust to happen; but I received no answers. By age 20, after deep soul searching, it was clear to me that there must be a God."

 

When someone is really on a quest, Dagan says, the soul revels its secrets. "When I understood that there is more to life than the physical realm I said 'It obviously has nothing to do with those ultra-Orthodox Jews, and everything to do with India; their Gurus and incense.'" Dagan laughs.

 

He spent three years in India, with the Gurus, incense, meditation, and spirituality. He learned Chinese, Japanese, Christian, Muslim and philosophical theories. After he felt he had utilized everything India had to offer, he returned to Israel to continue on his quest for the truth. It took him another year of searching to realize that what he was looking for had been right beneath his nose all along.

 

An additional three years passed, which found Dagan wandering through the different streams of Judaism. "Those were not easy years, after all the spiritual experiences it was tough to forgo my connections with India. I would say, whoever can get me out of India, heart and soul will be my Rebbe."

 

"On my birthday of the third year, I said to Hashem: 'I've left everything to get closer to you, as a present for my birthday, please bring me closer.'"

 

"At that very moment I felt as if someone was telling me, go get your guitar and play. The feeling did not go away and finally, after three yeas in which I had been unable to play a single note I took out my guitar and played the song "Becha Rabbenu Nagila" – We will rejoice in you, our Rebbe. Suddenly the words became a reality and I felt Rebbe Nachman right there with me. I started crying like I had never cried before. I felt the tears cleansing my soul, and washing away all the pain of the past few years. Hashem gave me Rebbe Nachman for my birthday. I said to him 'Rebbe Nachman, nice to meet you, you will be my Rebbe.'"

 

How did you know it was Rebbe Nachman?

 

"With Rebbe Nachman everything is clear, someone once asked me how I knew it was Rebbe Nachman and not a different Tzaddik. Those who have been privileged to feel it just know, without a doubt."

 

Dagan was captivated by the magic of Rebbe Nachman's teachings and wished to find others that had also tasted the sweet taste of Rebbe Nachman. He soon found Rebbe Yisrael Dov Odesser zta"l "the Saba (grandfather)."

 

Dagan had a deep and personal relationship with the Saba, "He seemed to know everything about me. He told me ' you're going to write songs about Rabbenu, at first people will think you are crazy, later they will realize that you had been normal all along, and you will become famous worldwide.' I would come to visit the Saba with my guitar, would sing together, laughing and crying."

 

Although he had been playing music from a young age and had received tempting offers to play with different bands, only after he found Rebbe Nachman did he start to actualize his dream.

 

Dagan has eight albums and has been coined "the court singer of Breslev" He was the first of many to write songs with lyrics from Rebbe Nachmans's books, more than 20 years ago.

 

"Rebbe Nachman wrote that when the name of the Tzaddik is spread, new melodies are created, and so it was. When I stared writing songs about Rebbe Nachman the melodies just 'fell out of the sky' straight from Hashem. I never wanted to be a famous singer, but once I discovered the light of Rebbe Nachman, it was so good for me I wanted to share it with everyone. "

 

Whoever hears your music feels an uplifting of his spirit and a desire to do Teshuva, where does this intensity in your music come from?

 

"Hashem helps me instill these feelings in my songs, when someone is truly passionate about something it is easy for him to pass the feeling along to others. People have come up to me after my concerts and said 'I've heard thousands of lectures and felt nothing, one song of yours and I was convinced.' That’s the power of songs written with true faith."

  

Dagan is now recording his ninth album. His songs are characterized by their honesty and simplicity as Rebbe Nachman taught, yet with a lot of soul. Some of his songs were recorded at home, not in the recording studio. "So that it stays simple and honest like singing out in the field. Sometimes the professionalism takes away from the soul of the music; I compromised on the quality of the sound, but not on the quality of the soul."

 

Maybe that's why it takes Dagan a long time to record each new album, as his spiritual preparations are his main concern.

 

"Once while singing the song 'Ashrenu SheZachinu Litkarev l'Rabbenu' – how lucky are we to have come close to Rabbenu, with friends, I said we should really be singing "how lucky are we that Rabbenu decided to come close to us." The greatness of Rabbenu is that he comes close to even the simplest of people, and he wrote his books in easy language so everyone can benefit from them." Dagan summarizes after 24 years that he has been privileged to "know" Rebbe Nachman.

 

"With Rebbe Nachman everything is sweet, the Torah, prayers, even our failures and weaknesses. He accompanies you through thick and thin, and has shown us how to worship Hashem with vitality, knowledge, happiness and yearning. Rabbenu taught us how to how a real relationship with Hashem, not only based on our intelligence. Rebbe Nachman touches your soul – that's much deeper than intelligence."