The Baal Shem Tov, or Besht —  the founder of Chasidism — 
met the soul of the Messiah during an ascent to heaven. 
The Besht asked him, "When will the Master come?" 
The Messiah answered, "When your wellsprings break forth to the outside!" 
(from a letter written by the Besht to his brother-in-law about one of his soul ascents) 

Ki Anu Amekha

The tune for Ki Anu Amekha that everyone knows is a great one. So is this Chabad tune. If your kahal can bear to learn a new tune for an old standard, this is worth teaching to them.

Download Ki Anu Amekha

A note on the meaning of Ki Anu: Each line describes a different relationship with God, i.e., we are Your children, You are our parent; we are Your vineyard, You our gardener (lit. pruner or dresser); we are Your people, You are our sovereign. Every line is hierarchical in some way, except perhaps "We are Your companion, You our beloved". But the most egalitarian of all is the last line: Anu ma'amirekha, v'atah ma'amireinu "We are the ones who speak up for you, You are the one who speaks up for us."

David Kraemer, who writes about rhetoric in the Talmud for his day job, taught about this at Minyan Ma'at in NYC one Yom Kippur. It is no accident that we end on this sweet note. We come into full relationship with Hashem as partners, and that is the moment when we can turn to ask for forgiveness.

Design in progress © Rabbi David Mevorach Seidenberg 2006