Shabbos Kodesh Zemiros in Tzalmon Prison

A wondrous story about the power of Shabbos zemiros (Sabbath songs) and prayers. While the Rav heard the powerful amplification system operated on Motzaei Shabbos (Saturday night) outside the Tzalmon prison as "faint sounds," it was specifically the Shabbos zemiros sung by the Chassidim with devotion and without amplification that he heard with wondrous vitality from inside the prison.

A unique story was told to us by Rabbi Aharon Schwartz, who takes care of the ongoing functioning of the prayer hall of the Rav and who arranged for the tents outside the prisons during the periods when the tzaddik was incarcerated.

An Amplification System on Motzaei Shabbos

On the Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh following Rosh Hashanah, the Rav was in the Tzalmon prison, and we brought an amplification system for Motzaei Shabbos. We sang zemiros of Melaveh Malkah (the post-Sabbath meal) and danced deep into the night. I was certain that the music could be heard almost all the way to Meron. The next morning, I spoke with the Rav on the phone and asked him if he heard the music we played outside. The Rav answered, "Yes, I heard something, faint sounds like that..."

Shabbos Zemiros with Devotion in the Tent

During the winter Shabbosos, a large crowd arrived at the tent outside the Tzalmon prison. On one of the Shabbosos at the beginning of the winter—Noach, Lech Lecha, Vayeira, etc.—we sang Shabbos zemiros with devotion until two in the morning, with special emotion and spiritual awakening. We sang the entire order of zemiros twice, all with deliberation, calmness, and yishuv hadaas (peace of mind). In the morning, we prayed Shacharis (the morning prayer) at length from five in the morning until two in the afternoon, experiencing true spiritual lights just like in the old days, decades ago. The entire congregation participated in the zemiros and prayers because there was absolutely nothing else to do in the desolate wilderness there. The disconnection from all worldly matters allowed all of Anash (our people) to ascend and be uplifted through the singing of the zemiros, hovering a handbreadth above the ground.

The next day at seven-thirty in the morning, the Rav called me from inside the prison and immediately began to praise us for the zemiros and the prayer. "What vitality you brought me," the Rav said.

And It Was a Wonder

And it was a wonder: How is it that the Rav did not hear the deafening loudspeakers and was not moved by them at all, yet the zemiros that we sang in the tent without any amplification on the night of Shabbos Kodesh, those the Rav heard with wondrous vitality.

From the book "Pele Elyon, Part 3"