Volume 16, Number 2 - Cantors Assembly

“DER REBE ELIMEYLEKH” -
A CASE OF PRE-ADAPTATION OR METEMPSYCHOSIS?
47
CHARLES HELLER
Everyone has heard of Rebe Elimeylekh. The jovial, bespectacled and above
all music-loving Rebe, with the shadowy figure of his shammes Reb Naftole
hovering in the background, is the subject of one of the most popular of all
Yiddish folk songs:1
Ex. 1
So popular has he become, that this song is known in many versions, ranging
from the witty English of Samuel Rosenbaum (“The Merry Rebbe Elie,” choral
arrangement by Charles Davidson) to Hebrew (“Ksheharabi Elimelech”). Even
in this Hebrew disguise he has retained enough jollity to be included in an
anthology still used in Canadian public schools.2 (The song is described as a
Jewish folk melody from Israel.) Where did Rebe Elimeylekh come from? Was
he a legendary character, or was he a real historical figure who is now only
remembered in a nursery rhyme, rather like Rabbi David of Talna ( 1808- 1882)
about whom we still sing:
Ex. 2
In this article I shall attempt to trace the roots of Rebe Elimeylekh, which, as
we shall see, far from being found in some imagined chasidic shtetl, lie in the most
unexpected areas. More to the point, we shall uncover during this exploration
some important evidence about the process by which folk song itself is transmitted.
Charles Heller is Choir Director at Beth Emeth Yehuda Synagogue, Toronto.
His original research on diverse aspects of Jewish Music has been published in the
Canadian Folk Music Journal and the Journal of the Arnold Schoenberg
Institute. He also taught a course in Jewish Music at the University of Toronto
School of Continuing Studies. His most recent set of musical arrangements is
“Encore!” (duets published by the Toronto Council of Hazzanim, 1983).