LYRIC

ASHREI MI- Sung by Nechemia Brodt & Rivie Schwebel- T.T.T.O Pney Le’elbon (R’ Moshe Goldman A”H)- BMG Song 2009

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PART 1:
A man of regal birth, from the richest family,
The nephew of Roman royalty,
In his uncle’s court he would stroll, observing issues of the day,
As decrees were made for the Jews to obey.
This Roman nobleman had met the Tanoyim,
Who came to Caesar to petition
To ease the Gezeiros that were put upon them,
And that is how he discovered Hashem.
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But one thing of concern, that left him no rest,
His worries dampened his new quest,
His uncle’s anger, he somehow must quell,
Because Andrionus was a Sonai Yisrael.
So an audience he requested, for business advice,
Which product’s investment is best,
He said, something whose value is not yet well known,
That is where you should invest.
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So Onkelos then went and embraced Yiddishkeit,
The Torah became his whole life,
And with great Hasmadah, the Targum he did write,
For us to delve into the Torah’s light.
Andrionus sent soldiers to bring Onkelos to him,
He demanded an explanation,
My dear uncle, I owe you for your Eitzah Tova,
It helped me to rise above the Alma D’shikra.
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אשרי מי שעמלו בתורה
ובהם יהגה יומם ולילה
Then we’ll reap the Schar that’s Behai Alma Leka,
Yes, it will be Tov Lach Le’olam Haba.
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PART 2:
A shepherd so ignorant, Akiva was his name,
He worked for Kalba Savua of wealth and fame.
Rachel, Kalba’s daughter said, I’d like to be Akiva’s wife,
For I see great potential in his life.
Oh no, I do not agree, he will not join our family,
He’s a 40 year old Am Ha’aretz, why don’t you see?
If you decide to marry him, you’ll live in dire poverty,
I will disown you from my wealth and property.
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After they married, they were so poor, like Kalbua Savua said,
Their home was bare, they only had straw for their bed,
Akiva joined the children to learn the Alef Bais,
Rachel encouraged him to go every day.
One day, he chanced upon a rock, a lesson it did show,
A hole developed from the water’s steady flow.
From this he learned that he, too, could greatly succeed,
Decades of learning, away from home, he would need.
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After 24 years of learning, his brilliance could not be concealed,
The crowns of letters his secrets he revealed,
Rachel’s Mesirus for all those years was with conviction and Simcha,
To her, this world was a Prozdor to the Olam Haba.
Reb Akiva returned, with students 24,000 strong,
To see his wife whom he had left for so long,
He said, if not for my wife Rachel, who knows where we would all be,
Sheli Ve’shelachem, Shelo Hi.
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אשרי מי שעמלו בתורה
ובהם יהגה יומם ולילה
Then we’ll reap the Schar that’s Behai Alma Leka,
Yes, it will be Tov Lach Le’olam Haba.
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PART 3:
Come listen to this tale, about Reb Zev and noble wife,
Who struggled with Parnassa throughout their lives,
Brick ovens Reb Zev would build, using clay the he would mold,
To keep homes warm from the bitter Russian cold.
Each month he would scrimp and save, so that one ruble he could pay,
Quite a large sum of money in his day,
To Reb Chaim, his son’s Rebbe, who was a real Mumche he knew,
For Yaakov Dovid’s learning, only the best would do.
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During one winter, to his dismay, there was a shortage of clay,
And the Schar Limud he just couldn’t pay,
Reb Chaim sent home a note, your son can no longer come,
Three rubles you owe, you must first pay this sum.
On his way to shul, he thought, how will I pay the Schar Limud,
Oy vey, how I wish that I only could,
He overheard a Gvir say, six rubles I’m ready to pay,
My children need an oven desperately today.
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Rev Zev ran home and with his wife’s consent, their oven he planned to sell,
They would be cold, he only knew that too well,
Brick by brick, he brought his oven to the Gvir and the sale was complete,
His Yaakov Dovid could now learn the Torah that’s so sweet.
Although they froze throughout that winter, they were all truly happy,
They chose the Torah for eternity,
And for Doros we learn his Peirush on the Yerushalmi Shas,
Reb Yaakov Dovid became none other than the Ridvaz.
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אשרי מי שעמלו בתורה
ובהם יהגה יומם ולילה
Then we’ll reap the Schar that’s Behai Alma Leka,
Yes, it will be Tov Lach Le’olam Haba.
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PART 4:
Reb Chatzkel Levinshtein, his legacy’s well known,
It resonates in every Torah home.
Oh how did he achieve, how did he reach such lofty heights,
Won’t you join me to hear about his life.
Reb Yehuda, his father, was a Vorke Chusid,
In Varshaw, the Levinshteins lived,
His mother had left this world when he was merely 5 years old,
Yet her final words always echoed in his soul.
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Oy, mein tayer leiber kind, her zich ain tzi mir,
Torah lernen zolst di un ah shiur,
Dee zolst zein beim dir beim lernen, dain gantze leiben,
Fargess nisht vus ich beit fun dir.
With time, this Yasom grew, and reached 14 years of age,
And like all of the Bachurim in town,
He went to work all day long, but in the spare time he had,
In Beis Medrash was where he could be found.
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One Friday afternoon, to the Mikveh he did go,
Lizkor es hayom hashabbos likadsho,
But as he left, he checked his pockets and made a discovery,
His whole week’s wages were stolen, he lost all his money.
At that moment, Chatzkel realized with tremendous clarity,
How futile is this Olam hasgashmi,
He left his hometown and his job behind for a most important road,
A life of Torah and Mussar became his only goal.
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אשרי מי שעמלו בתורה
ובהם יהגה יומם ולילה
Then we’ll reap the Schar that’s Behai Alma Leka,
Yes, it will be Tov Lach Le’olam Haba.
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PART 5:
We live in a fleeting world, whose glitter pulls us from all sides,
We are lured by its appealing disguise,
But underneath this frivolity there is great instability,
For what we see surely is not reality.
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אשרינו מה טוב חלקנו , how fortunate are we,
To have a guide, עץ חיים היא
אין לך בן חורין , it is a תורה תבלין
That gives us true life of substance and serenity.
אנו רצים , we run to do, אנו עמלים , we work so hard,
After all, אדם לעמל יולד
הם רצים , they run as well, הם עמלים with Tircha,
But they invest all their strength in the Alma D’shikra.
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אשרי מי שעמלו בתורה
ובהם יהגה יומם ולילה
Then we’ll reap the Schar that’s Behai Alma Leka,
Yes, it will be Tov Lach Le’olam Haba.
Yes, it will be Tov Lach Le’olam Haba.
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