Zanvil Weinberger: Shamil

Translated by Chana Cohen.

Zanvil Weinberger and the Malchut Choir delivered a moving performance on Chabad’s Chag HaGeula – the Festival of Redemption – to inspire thousands at Nokia Stadium with the famous Chabad melody, “Shamil”.

In honor of the 19th of Kislev, which marks the Chabad Festival of Redemption, Zanvil Weinberger performed the moving song “Shamil” among thousands of Chabad Chassidim at the Nokia Stadium, in Yad Eliyahu, Tel Aviv. Accompanying him is the Malchut Choir conducted by Pinchas Bichler, with maestro Danny Abidani.

This is the full story of Shamil for the history buffs among us, the song and the parable:

During the reign of the Russian Czar, there were fierce battles in the Caucasus Mountains between savage tribes and the Russian Czar’s army. Although the Russians had more than ten times the amount of soldiers and their weapons were far superior to those of the tribes, they just couldn’t overcome them, for the tribes were located on the highest peak of the mountain.

The bloody war continued until the son of Shamil, the chief of the tribes, fell ill. There was no suitable doctor to be found among the tribes, and so Shamil sent a special messenger to the enemy camp and promised to fulfill anything they asked of him in return. The Russians ignored his request and continued to slaughter his men. Greatly distressed, Shamil rode to the Russian camp and handed over his sword. At that moment he became a captive of the Czar and the war officially ended.

As he sat captive in the Czar’s estate, Shamil hummed a tune of longing, full of hope and desire to return to his original status. The tune began with longing and pain, and ended on a hopeful note that one day he would return to freedom.

When the Chabad Hasidim in that area heard him humming the tune, they transformed it to a song expressing their own longing. They used Shamil as a parable for the Jewish soul, which is bound in this world by the tricks of the Evil Inclination. The Hasidim were expressing their longing that one day the soul would merit to escape from the narrow straits, and return to the height of the mountains…

(From the article written by Pinchas Biclar, The Mevaser Newspaper, Sukkot תשע“ג).