Ha-anaf ba l’shoresho
V’hu achdut echat im ha shoresh
V’ha-shoresh ayn sof
Im kein, ha-anaf gam kein ayn sof
Ha-anaf gam kein ayn sof
Ki nitbateil bamtziut.

K’mashal tipah echat sh’nafla
Sh’nafla la yam ha-gadol
U’vata la shoresha
V’im kein, hi echat im mei ha-yam
V’i-efshar l’hakirah
Bi’fnei atzma klal.

The branch relies on nature’s upward flow
Held and nourished from below.
As the roots beyond their form extend,
So too the branch, its reach is without end.
There existence, ‘neath the surface where it hides,
In boundless unity abides.

As when a teardrop falls into the sea.
Its past, as poignant as can be,
Is lost forever without recourse
As it completes its journey to the Source.
Still, before its day is over and done,
The drop surrenders and is One.

Background Notes 

The tune used in this piece is an old Sephardic melody most widely known as the setting for the medieval ballad, Siete Ojos.  The opening Hebrew verses of this song were taken from the writings of Rabbi Yehiel Michael of Zlotchov (1721-1786), a disciple of the Ba'al Shem Tov.  Reb Yehiel was so renowned as a mystic that according to a legend, which continues to this day in Hasidic communities, if a dying person hears one of his songs, it effects an instant tikkun (redemption, re-integration, liberation) for the soul.

In the song's English verses, Rabbi Heyn translates Reb Yehiel's mystical vision of a "boundless unity" into a contemporary idiom, both poetically and musically.

What Does 'AYN SOF' Mean?

Kabbalists (Jewish mystics) have long used various images to describe what we call "God" and what they knew as "that which is entirely beyond description."  One set of images widely used is a system of ten aspects or qualities known as the "sefirot."

Usually the sefirot are depicted diagrammatically in the form of a person or a tree.  They have also been depicted as a series of concentric circles.  In either case, each sefirah represents a different manifestation of Divine energy, from the most subtle to the most densely material.

In relation to the sefirot, Ayn Sof transcends yet infuses them all.  One could say it is pure energy, beyond all qualities and manifestations.  The Hebrew word "Ayn Sof" means, "No End -- Infinite -- Boundless," which also implies that it fills and permeates the universe, constituting the essence of all things -- including human consciousness.

Reb Yehiel explains, in the verses above, that when one realizes his or her essential nature as "Ayn Sof," the individual consciouness or ego becomes subsumed by it, like a drop of water as it dissolves into the ocean.  This process of becoming "boundless" is, according to mystics and philosophers of many great wisdom traditions, the highest religious ideal one could ever strive to attain.

Song Credits

Hebrew lyrics from Mayyim Rabbim (p. 15a) by Rabbi Yehiel Michael of Zlotchov (a.k.a., the Zlotchover Rebbe, 1721-1786)
English lyrics and arrangment by R. Heyn (Rabbi Moshe Heyn)
Lead vocal: R. Heyn
Background vocals: Chris Miller and members of his Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church Choir as well as forty members of the Dixie Kings barbershop quartet choir
Guitar, clarinet and mandolin: Steve Stuhlbarg, Michele Gingras and Irina Bernadsky of The Cincinnati Klezmer Project
Piano: R. Heyn
Percussion: Buzz Shields and Tobe Donohue
Bass Guitar: Michael Barrett
Recording engineer: Mark Rasmussen
Mixed and mastered by: Tobe Donohue with Manimal Power
Sefirot pictures: reproduced from kabbalah: Tradition of hidden knowledge by Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi (Thames & Hudson, 2002)

2006 Copyright  Rabbi Moshe Heyn