Niggun Arba Bavos

Arba Bavos (Yiddish: דער ניגון פון פיר פאַלען, Der Niggun fun Fir Faln, "The Niggun of the Four Chambers"; also called the Niggun of the Alter Rebbe or the Niggun of the Rav) is considered the most important and profound niggun (Chassidic melody) in the entire repertoire of Chabad Chassidus. It was composed by the Alter Rebbe — Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Chabad — while he was still studying at the side of his master, the Maggid of Mezeritch, and was later refined by him after he assumed the leadership of the movement.

The niggun is built in four sections, each called a bava (chamber). The four bavos correspond to the four spiritual worlds described in Kabbalistic and Chassidic thought: Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah. Because every movement of the niggun is calibrated to precise spiritual meanings, Chabad Chassidim are careful to sing it with great exactitude, and only on special occasions and times of joy.

Arba Bavos is the first niggun in the Sefer HaNiggunim, the authoritative anthology of Chabad melodies.

The Meaning of the Niggun

The niggun is structured as an ascent from below to above, mirroring the arc of the morning prayer service, which opens with Baruch She'amar, continues through Pesukei DeZimrah, the blessings before Shema, Shema itself, and culminates in the Shemoneh Esreh. Each section of the niggun accomplishes its own particular spiritual work, operating either in an inner (pnimi) mode — penetrating and transforming — or in an encompassing (makif) mode, which hovers above and surrounds the soul.

In this niggun, the Alter Rebbe distilled his entire approach to Chassidus and the inner spiritual path of a Chabad Chassid. Each of the four sections corresponds to several parallel dimensions simultaneously:

• A spiritual world
• A letter of the Divine Name (the Tetragrammaton)
• A level of the soul
• A mode of Divine light

Bava	Spiritual World	Letter of the Divine Name	Soul Level	Divine Light	Meaning
First	Asiyah	ה (lower heh)	Nefesh	Mimalei kol almin	This section effects displacement and deepening — its opening notes draw the person away from mundane surroundings, while the continuation prompts deep inward reflection on one's purpose and true standing in the world.
Second	Yetzirah	ו (vav)	Ruach	Mimalei kol almin	This section is bound to the first: it opens on a note of bitterness and sorrow, yet quickly moves toward hope and ascent. The tension between bitterness and hopeful rising is the natural outgrowth of the displacement and deepening produced by the first bava.
Third	Beriah	ה (upper heh)	Neshama	Sovev kol almin	This section works an exaltation of the soul. Though it follows on the heels of a section of intense bitterness, the dominant feeling here is one of elevation and outpouring — the soul opening and expanding upward.
Fourth	Atzilus	י (yud)	Chayah/Yechidah	Etzem	This section corresponds to the world of Atzilus, which stands wholly apart from and above the three worlds below it. Although it follows the first three in sequence, it is by its very nature in a different category entirely. Its particular spiritual work is elation of the soul — not mere exaltation, but a deeper, purer joy. This fourth bava was added by the Alter Rebbe after he accepted the leadership of the movement.

When the Niggun Is Sung

Because of its profound spiritual significance, Chabad Chassidim are careful to sing Arba Bavos only with great precision and only on special occasions and times of joy. It is a tradition in the name of the Tzemach Tzedek that singing it on ordinary weekdays — outside the designated times — can, Heaven forbid, arouse spiritual opposition.

Occasions on which Arba Bavos is customarily sung include: the Three Festivals (Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukkos), Purim, Yud-Tes Kislev (the Chassidic New Year, marking the release of the Alter Rebbe from Czarist imprisonment in 1798), Yud-Beis Tammuz, the month of Elul, and the Selichos period leading into the High Holidays. It is also sung at a wedding — during the procession of the groom to the chuppah (wedding canopy) and during the bride's encircling of the groom. On one occasion it was sung at a farbrengen on the eve of Shavuos 5746 (1986). The Rebbe Rashab declared that Yud-Tes Kislev is the "Rosh Hashana" — the head of the year — for Arba Bavos. It is further customary to sing it at a bris milah (circumcision), a bar mitzvah, and at the wedding feast.

Before Arba Bavos is sung, it is customary to first sing the Niggun HaHachana LeArba Bavos (the Preparatory Niggun), an ancient melody that was especially beloved by the Rebbe Rashab.

At farbrengens conducted by the Rebbe, the Rebbe himself would indicate when to begin the preparatory niggun — which was typically started by the chozzer (the Rebbe's designated reciter of Chassidic discourses), Rabbi Yoel Kahn. As the preparatory niggun neared its end, the Rebbe would signal with his fingers how many times he wished the fourth bava to be repeated.

On several occasions, Chassidim followed Arba Bavos with the singing of Nye Zhuritzi Chloptzi.

Qualities and Powers of the Niggun

The Maharash (Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch, fourth Rebbe of Chabad): "When the Rebbe Zaken's niggun is being sung, that is a time favorable for teshuvah, because it is then a time of Divine favor above."

The Rebbe Rashab (Rabbi Shalom DovBer of Lubavitch, fifth Rebbe of Chabad): "When the niggun is sung with inner awakening, it is a time favorable for teshuvah and for deepening one's bond with the Rebbe. And when it is sung with purity of heart — after a proper tikkun chatzos (the midnight vigil and lamentation), after a sincere recitation of the bedtime Shema, and after prayer with deep exertion — it is possible to bring about a personal salvation in the areas of children and life."

The Frierdiker Rebbe (Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, sixth Rebbe of Chabad): "We have a promise that whenever and wherever this niggun is sung, the Rebbe — the Alter Rebbe — will hear it and will feel it, no matter how elevated a plane he is on. But this depends on the preparation of the one who receives."

When a Chassid who had been active in spreading Judaism and supporting Jews in Russia asked the Rebbe — through a video recorded by Rabbi Dovber Levine and transmitted to the Rebbe — for a niggun he could sing whenever he wished to enter into a private audience (yechidus), the Rebbe responded (after viewing the clip a second time, and with visible emotion) that he should sing Arba Bavos. The Rebbe also recounted that when Shazar was at the beginning of his political career and went through moments of doubt, he would shut himself in his room and sing the niggun — and would find in it his counsel and direction.

The Rebbe instructed the musician Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph not to make any alterations to the niggun.

See Also

• Niggun HaHachana LeArba Bavos

External Links

Information

• The Tzemach Tzedek on the niggun — "it is as though the one who originated the teaching stands before him":
  • Toras Menachem, vol. 1 — 5710, talk of the second day of Shavuos 5710, p. 92
  • Toras Menachem, vol. 5 — 5712 part two, talk of the second night of Pesach 5712, p. 126
• Yekusiel Yehuda Gandel, Arba Bavos, HaMevaser weekly, on the special niggun — its dimensions, customs, and stories. COL, 25 Teves 5780 (January 22, 2020).

Audio

• Arba Bavos — sung by the Rebbe
• Arba Bavos — arrangement by R' Elior Valner
• Arba Bavos — arrangement by Chanan Bar Sela
• Arba Bavos — performed by the Niach Choir
• Arba Bavos — from Ne'imos Chabad
• Moving: "Arba Bavos" with the Rebbe, Yud-Tes Kislev 5744 (1983) — video