A Song is Born

An Exclusive Interview with Yosef Karduner and Rabbi Lazer Brody
 
Breslev is known as the most musical Chassidic group around. They proudly feature all types of music from a variety of performers such as Yisrael Dagan, Adi Ran, Chilik Frank, Menachem Herman, Shuli Rand, Guy Tzvi Mintz, and many more.

Probably one of Breslev’s best known musicians and composers is Yosef Karduner. Yosef is everything Breslev: extremely humble, lives his life with innocence and simplicity, devotes his waking hours to prayer and learning Torah as much as possible with special care to spend at least an hour a day in hitbodedut (personal prayer), and simply the nicest person you’d ever want to meet.

Recently, with the appearance of the Calming Waters album, we discovered the musical talents of our own Rabbi Lazer Brody of Breslev Israel. Rabbi Lazer and Yosef are not only best of friends, but they also help and advise each other. You can hear Rabbi Lazer’s narration on the lead track of Yosef Karduner’s Mikdash Melech album, a moving melody with an unbelievable background story that shows just how much Rebbe Nachman personally intervenes in Breslever music. I first heard the story in Uman, but I waited for the chance to verify it with Rabbi Lazer and Yosef before writing it down. Thanks to Hashem, that chance came to me recently:

BreslevIsrael: Yosef, I love your Mikdash Melech album. Why did you decide to make that your lead track?

Yosef Karduner: I didn’t decide – Rabbenu Nachman did. Really, I have to attribute this melody to him.

BreslevIsrael: How? What happened?

Yosef Karduner: I was strumming my guitar one day after hitbodedut, and this very pretty melody came into my head. I recorded the chords and added tracks of flute and lead guitar. I didn’t have any idea of lyrics, so I recorded the melody on a blank disc and sent it to Rabbi Lazer.

BreslevIsrael: When was that?

Yosef Karduner: Let’s see – the album is two years old? I think that was right before Rosh Hashana in Uman three years ago.

BreslevIsrael: So then what happened?

Yosef Karduner: You’ll have to ask Rabbi Lazer…

BreslevIsrael: Rav Brody, what did you think of the niggun that Yosef sent you?

Rabbi Brody (looks at Yosef and chuckles): Tal, that’s a sticky question. I love Yosef’s music and always did. But I had no idea what to do with this melody. In a way, it sounded like progressive jazz, something completely out of character with Yosef and with Breslever music. I had no idea as to what type of lyrics to match with it.

BreslevIsrael: But you’ve done lyrics for people? Isn’t Menachem Herman’s new album mostly songs with your lyrics?

Rabbi Brody: If I not mistaken, I wrote the lyrics for six out of the eleven tracks. But they were easy, Tal. Yosef stumped me with this melody. I had no idea what to do with it. It was neither traditional nor modern. Once again, it sounded a little jazzy, but it was different – defying any musical description that I could give it. I was embarrassed to tell Yosef that this melody just didn’t sit right with me; it felt awkward.

BreslevIsrael: So what did you do?

Rabbi Brody: Nothing. I let the disc collected dust for the next three months until Chanuka. Yosef called me and asked me if I want to go to Uman with him for Chanuka, but I couldn’t get away that year. I was immersed in finishing my translation of The Garden of Peace and had a stack of other chores to get done. Meanwhile, Chanuka rolled around. Yosef flew to Uman and I stayed home in Ashdod. That Friday night, Shabbat Chanuka, I went out for hitbodedut after Friday night meal with my family to a citrus grove on the East side of Ashdod. While I was taking to Hashem, this wonderful melody came into my mind – with lyrics from the Lecho Dodi sonnet by Rebbe Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz of blessed and saintly memory. I was so inspired that I ran home and pulled the first Breslever book that I reached for off the bookshelf. It was Rebbe Nachman’s Thirteen Tales, with an introduction by Rebbe Natan.

BreslevIsrael: Why did you do that?

Rabbi Brody: I felt that I was about to learn something special about the Shabbat Queen, as if the answer was waiting for me in the very first book I encounter.

BreslevIsrael: So what did Rebbe Natan have to say?

Rabbi Brody: He explained that the Shabbat Queen is none other than the Lost Princess, the Divine Presence who is uplifted from exile and dressed in the splendor of Divine Radiance as she enters The King’s royal palace – that’s the Mikdash Melech! The verse “Mikdash Melech” from Lecho Dodi fit Yosef’s niggun like a glove! I was overjoyed!

BreslevIsrael: Yosef, while Rabbi Brody was out in the orchard Friday night, Shabbat Chanuka, what were you doing?

Yosef Karduner: During that same exact hour, I was doing hitbodedut right by Rebbe Nachman’s holy gravesite. I was talking to Hashem about completely unrelated subjects when all of a sudden my new niggun came into my head, with the words of Lecho Dodi, particularly, the verse Mikdash Melech! I was excited and elated. Tears of joy filled my eyes. I flew home that Sunday, and the first thing I did was to call Rabbi Lazer. Before I even had the chance to dial his number, I don’t know how, he was on the other end of the line. We were both so excited that we both blurted out our stories from Friday night.

BreslevIsrael: It sounds to me that Rebbe Nachman attached the words to the melody, and gave them to you both simultaneously.

Yosef Karduner: We agree. So we then recorded the song together, and we added the narration of Rabbi Lazer reading the segment of Rebbe Natan’s quote about the Lost Princess and the Mikdash Melech. It was very moving and meaningful for the both of us to see Rabbenu’s personal intervention in our music.

Rabbi Brody: There’s no other explanation; I mean, we both received this needle-in-the-haystack inspiration at the same moment during hitbodedut, with Yosef in Uman and me in Israel. You don’t need criminal investigation to find Rebbe Nahman’s fingerprints all over the place.

BreslevIsrael: Any plans to do things in the future?

Yosef Karduner: Rabbi Lazer and I like to do inspiration evenings together, and hopefully we will from time to time. In the past, we’ve done a lot of outreach together. We mix ten to fifteen minutes talk segments with songs. We end the evening with a medley and dancing. When we’re together, I really feel like one of Rabbenu Nachman’s soldiers. The response has been very enthusiastic. We look forward to doing much more together.

BreslevIsrael: Can we look forward to a new Yosef Karduner album soon?

Yosef Karduner: With siata d’shmaya, with Hashem’s help, yes, soon I hope.

BreslevIsrael: Yosef, we wish you success with your latest album Kumzits and with everything else you do. And Rabbi Brody, may the whole world start listening to Calming Waters, and may Hashem give you strength to continue spreading Rabbi Shalom Arush’s teachings all over the world!

Rabbi Brody: Thank you Tal. G-d bless and tons of success! 

Photo, above: Yosef Karduner, left, and Rabbi Lazer Brody working on a song together.