קחו מזמרת הארץ… (מקץ מג:יא)

The Divrei Yisrael of Modzitz zt״l was renowned for his כח הנגינה—the power of song—and was often referred to as “Naim Zemiros Yisrael.” He once said: “Neginah is so powerful that it can awaken a person to teshuvah and draw a Yid’s heart closer to his Father in Heaven—more than any other means.”

Chassidim once asked him, “How can a niggun bring a person to teshuvah? Do not sefarim of Chassidus and words of mussar and rebuke accomplish this?”

The Divrei Yisrael answered with a parable.

A simple villager who owned a large flour mill once came to the city and noticed an alarm clock displayed in a watchmaker’s window. He entered the store and asked to purchase it. The watchmaker asked him what he did for a living, and the villager replied that he owned a massive mill that operated constantly.

The watchmaker asked, “If your mill runs with such large wheels and creates continuous noise, why don’t you rely on that sound to wake you each morning?”

The simple villager smiled and replied, “A person becomes accustomed to the sounds in his environment. No matter how loud a noise is, if it is constant, one grows used to it and it no longer awakens him. But the sharp, thin sound of an alarm clock—something I am not accustomed to hearing—will surely wake me up.”

“So it is with koach ha-neginah,” concluded the Divrei Yisrael. “Words of rebuke can become familiar and lose their effect. But a niggun—pure and holy—can penetrate the heart and awaken a person to teshuvah in a way nothing else can.”