The Niggun - A Wordless and Spiritual Melody

The niggun or wordless melody has experienced a tremendous growth in popularity throughout the Jewish world. Though it originated at the beginning of the 18th century with the advent of the Chassidic movement, niggunim are now sung by Jews spanning the spectrum of religious observance. The term niggun comes from the Hebrew for melody. It has long been noted that music has the power to move people and to unleash emotions in a way that other forms of expression cannot. Listening to niggunim, as well as participating in the singing of one can be an incredibly beautiful and powerful spiritual experience. Niggunim have also been called a spiritual or mystical language that transcends words.

Most often, niggunim are without words, composed instead of repeated syllables without meaning such as li li li or di di di. A niggun might also consist of a phrase or two that is repeated. Most often, these are taken from Jewish liturgy. Niggunim are sung a cappella. Niggunim are commonly sung in groups. The settings in which a niggun may be sung are many and include as part of prayer services, during a meditation session, around a Shabbat table or at a tische, which comes from the Yiddish for table and is a time for people to come together to sing, share words of Torah and enjoy food and drink.

Many may be surprised to learn that in its day, the emergence of the Chassidic movement was considered to be very radical. This was partially on account of its large emphasis on ecstatic modes of religious expression which was generally frowned upon. This consisted mainly of music and dance. The Chassidic emphasis on music as a form of religious expression and devotion was the impetus for the creation of the niggun as a distinctly new genre of Jewish music. There are a myriad of Chassidic sects and each has its own style of niggun. Many niggunim have a meditative feel to them and are slow, others are very upbeat, fast melodies and some may start out slow and then increase in tempo as they go along.

The founder of Chasidism, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (literally master of the good name) taught that music was an incredibly powerful form of personal spiritual expression, a form of spiritual expression more powerful than traditional Jewish prayer, a path to G-d that transcends the limitations of human language. This notion is still resonant for many today, both within the Chasidic community and outside of it. The Baal Shem Tov composed many niggunim or had many attributed to him which still survive today. Another popular and prolific composer of niggunim was the founder of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liati.

The origins of the many melodies used for niggunim is incredibly diverse. While the composer of many is known and others are attributed to a specific individual, still others were adapted from Eastern Europe folksongs, dances and even the occasional drinking song.

Niggunim are sung throughout the Jewish world and have been enormously influential. They made their way to the Yiddish theater, sung as secular Zionist folk songs and are incredibly popular in the Jewish renewal movement, which was begun in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Niggunim are also popular amongst independent minyanim, which are lay lead congregations that are independent of established Jewish denominations and movements.