עַל־יְדֵי הַנְּגִינָה אָדָם נִכָּר אִם קִבֵּל עָלָיו
Song Shows the Yoke of Torah
Through a person's song one can tell whether he has taken on the yoke of Torah. The sign: the Levites of Kehas carried the Aron 'on the shoulder they shall carry', and the Sages read 'yisa'u', they shall carry, as song, from 'lift up a song and sound the drum'. Carrying the Aron is the yoke of Torah, and it is bound up with song.
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1-minute recap
Explainer
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הַמָּקוֹר · Original text
עַל־יְדֵי הַנְּגִינָה אָדָם נִכָּר אִם קִבֵּל עָלָיו עֹל תּוֹרָה.
וְסִימָן: בַּכָּתֵף יִשָּׂאוּ (במדבר ז׳:ט׳), וְדָרְשׁוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה (ערכין יא): אֵין יִשָּׂאוּ אֶלָּא לְשׁוֹן שִׁירָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: שְׂאוּ זִמְרָה וּתְנוּ תֹף, וּמִקְרָא זֶה נֶאֱמַר בְּמַשָּׂא בְּנֵי קְהָת, שֶׁהָיוּ נוֹשְׂאִין בַּכָּתֵף אֶת הָאָרוֹן, הַיְנוּ בְּחִינַת עֹל תּוֹרָה:
Hebrew text: Likutei Moharan Tinyana - rabenubook.com via Sefaria (Public Domain) · Sefaria. Names of Hashem are written in the customary form.
Transcripts
1-minute recap
Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah thirty one.
Through a person's song, you can tell whether he has taken on the yoke of Torah.
The Levites carried the Aron on their shoulders, and the Sages read 'they shall carry' as song.
Our own reflection: when the Torah is truly ours to carry, it sings.
Explainer
Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah thirty one. One of the shortest teachings in the book: what a person's song reveals.
Through a person's song, Rebbe Nachman says, you can recognise whether he has taken upon himself the yoke of Torah.
The sign is a verse about the family of Kehas, the Levites who carried the Aron: on the shoulder they shall carry. The Sages say that yisa'u, they shall carry, means song, as in se'u zimrah, lift up a song.
Carrying the Aron on the shoulder is the yoke of Torah. And the same word means song. So the one who truly carries the Torah, sings.
Some reflections of our own, not a quotation. A yoke sounds heavy, but the Torah's yoke comes with a song. Listen to your own niggun: it tells you how you carry the Torah.
Full shiur
— Part 1: Song Shows the Yoke of Torah —
Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah thirty one. A short shiur in one part: song, and the yoke of Torah.
Gold is Rebbe Nachman's own words, from Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah thirty one. Grey is a verse or teaching he quotes. Green is our own explanation. The Hebrew is the public-domain text from Sefaria; the English is our own paraphrase.
Through song, a person is recognised: whether he has taken upon himself the yoke of Torah.
The sign: 'on the shoulder they shall carry'. Our Sages expounded: yisa'u, they shall carry, is only a word of song, as it says, 'lift up a song and sound the drum'. And this verse is said about the burden of the sons of Kehas, who carried the Aron on the shoulder: that is the yoke of Torah.
Our explanation. The Levites of Kehas carried the Aron, holding the Torah, on their shoulders, and the Sages hear song in the very word for carrying. Taking on the yoke of Torah is not only a burden: the one who truly carries it, sings.
Some reflections of our own, not a quotation. A yoke sounds heavy, but this one comes with a song. Listen to your own niggun: it tells you how you carry the Torah.
This has been Likutey Moharan Tinyana, Torah thirty one.
Sources for this Torah
Texts used
Hebrew: Likutei Moharan Tinyana (Part II), Torah 31, edition 'Likutei Moharan Tinyana – rabenubook.com', public domain, via Sefaria — https://www.sefaria.org/Likutei_Moharan%2C_Part_II.31
English: our own paraphrase of the Hebrew, written for these videos. It is not copied from any published translation.
Verses and teachings of the Sages appear only as Rebbe Nachman quotes them inside this Torah.
How the text is shown
The Divine Name is shown as ה' and voiced as Hashem. Other Names are written in the customary form (אֱלֹקִים, קֵ-ל, קָהּ, שַׁ-דַּ-י, אֲדֹ-נָ-י, אֶקְיֶ-ה, צְבָקוֹת). No full Name is written or voiced.
Parenthetical source references inside the printed Hebrew are left off the screen to save space; the citation line names the source instead.
Long paragraphs are shown in consecutive pieces. Every Hebrew word on screen is from the edition above; nothing is reworded.
Cards labelled EXPLANATION (green), and every line marked 'our own reflection — not a quote', are our own words, not quotations.
Every on-screen quotation in the full shiur, by part
Part 1 — Song Shows the Yoke of Torah
Scene 3 · LM II:31 §1 · paragraph §1.1
עַל־יְדֵי הַנְּגִינָה אָדָם נִכָּר אִם קִבֵּל עָלָיו עֹל תּוֹרָה.
EN (our paraphrase): Through song, a person is recognised: whether he has taken upon himself the yoke of Torah.
Scene 4 · LM II:31 §1, on Bamidbar 7:9, Arachin 11a and Tehillim 81:3 · paragraph §1.2
וְסִימָן: בַּכָּתֵף יִשָּׂאוּ, וְדָרְשׁוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה: אֵין יִשָּׂאוּ אֶלָּא לְשׁוֹן שִׁירָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: שְׂאוּ זִמְרָה וּתְנוּ תֹף, וּמִקְרָא זֶה נֶאֱמַר בְּמַשָּׂא בְּנֵי קְהָת, שֶׁהָיוּ נוֹשְׂאִין בַּכָּתֵף אֶת הָאָרוֹן, הַיְנוּ בְּחִינַת עֹל תּוֹרָה:
EN (our paraphrase): The sign: 'on the shoulder they shall carry'. Our Sages expounded: yisa'u, they shall carry, is only a word of song, as it says, 'lift up a song and sound the drum'. And this verse is said about the burden of the sons of Kehas, who carried the Aron on the shoulder: that is the yoke of Torah.
Hebrew phrases in the Explainer
Scene 2 · §1.1: עַל־יְדֵי הַנְּגִינָה אָדָם נִכָּר אִם קִבֵּל עָלָיו עֹל תּוֹרָה.
Scene 3 · §1.2: בַּכָּתֵף יִשָּׂאוּ,
Scene 4 · §1.2: שֶׁהָיוּ נוֹשְׂאִין בַּכָּתֵף אֶת הָאָרוֹן, הַיְנוּ בְּחִינַת עֹל תּוֹרָה:
Hebrew phrases in the 1-minute recap
Scene 2 · §1.1: עַל־יְדֵי הַנְּגִינָה אָדָם נִכָּר אִם קִבֵּל עָלָיו עֹל תּוֹרָה.
Scene 3 · §1.2: אֵין יִשָּׂאוּ אֶלָּא לְשׁוֹן שִׁירָה,