Along with the thousands of pages of chiddushei Torah authored by Rabbi Akiva Wagner, he also wrote a number of camp songs. They were recently compiled in a songbook.
Those who knew Rabbi Akiva Wagner a”h, know that aside from his genius shiurim and his tremendous ability to farbreng, he was also a prolific writer. One of the special ways he shared his writing talents was in the heartfelt songs he composed. Presented to you today is a compiled songbook of all his work.
Rabbi Wagner spent hours every day typing up his shiurim and was well known for his email-farbrengens. His words are cherished by those near and dear, and the over 10,000 pages of his writings are in the midst of being collected, organized and published by his family & Talmidim.
What he was lesser known for, was his artistic poetry. Writing since his youth, he showed an amazing ability to convey the deepest feelings on paper. His family fondly remembers the grammen he would compose for every family events, and the personal poem that would accompany the Mishloach Manos every Purim, sprinkled with comedy and full of toichen.
One of his specialties was writing songs. The most famous of his songs is definitely “A Small Cup of Wine”, which became so popular that the niggun to which it was put became known by that name.
The songbook that is attached here was gathered by his talmidim from various journals and notes over the years, and put together by Chezki Lever in honor of the ending of Rabbi Wagner’s Yeshivas Kayitz in Star Lake.
After his passing, many songs were discovered amongst his handwritten notes. Taking into account how particular Rabbi Wagner was when it came to publishing his works, his students have categorized those songs as “Drafts”, and printed them as a supplement to this booklet.
They have also added titles, generally culled from the content of the songs. Unfortunately, for many of the songs they have not yet found their proper tune, and would be very grateful to learn them if someone knows any of the songs. If you are familiar with a song in the booklet and can remember the tune he composed it to, please email it to [email protected].
Click here to download the full songbook.
why are there no tunes? would love to sing at my shabbos table!!
That’s what they’re asking as they do not have all the tunes
There was a sequel to a small cup of wine , that Rabbi Wagner made in YK Tannersville 5756 . Maybe someone who was there can post
I too was going to post that he made a sequel to a small cup. And unlike some of the “drafts”, he actually did teach the song. Unfortunately, I don’t remember most of the song (it was a “post gimmel Tammuz” theme).
Maybe you remember even a few lines or know other people who were there? Many people would love to hear it