Editing Nigun

{{Short description|Form of Jewish religious song or tune}}
{{about||niggunei ha-mikra|Hebrew cantillation|an overview of similar music|Religious Jewish music}}
{{JewishMusic}}

A '''nigun''' ({{langx|he|ניגון}}, 'tune' or 'melody'; pl. '''nigunim''') or '''niggun''' (pl. '''niggunim''') is a form of [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi Jewish]] [[vocal music]] sung in group settings. ''Nigunim'' are [[Melody|melodic]] tunes, often using repetitive [[non-lexical vocables in music|non-lexical vocables]] such as "bim-bim-bam", "lai-lai-lai", "yai-yai-yai", or "ai-ai-ai" rather than with formal lyrics. Sometimes, a ''nigun'' is expressed as a mystical musical form of [[Jewish prayer]] or [[glossolalia]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Nigun |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-nigun/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=My Jewish Learning |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Hebrew Biblical]] verses or quotes from other [[Rabbinic literature|classical Jewish texts]] are sometimes sung repetitively to form a ''nigun''. Some ''nigunim'' are sung as prayers of [[lament]], while others may be joyous or victorious in theme.<ref>[http://www.sacredcircles.com/THEDANCE/HTML/DANCEPAG/HAIDA.HTM Haida] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991007223336/http://www.sacredcircles.com/THEDANCE/HTML/DANCEPAG/HAIDA.HTM |date=1999-10-07 }} Touchstone Sacred Dance Library, Accessed February 2014.</ref><ref>[http://www.nigun.info/kaballah.html Music In Kaballah, The Nigun's Influence on the Soul]  From the book Shirat HaLev (The Song of the Heart) by Shmuel Stern – Translated by Gita Levi. Accessed February 2014.</ref>

== Musar Movement Nigunim ==
The [[Musar movement]] has also used ''nigunim'', based on the realization of how music affects the inner (i.e., spiritual) life. In the 19th century, the Musar movement developed its own distinctive nigun chanting traditions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/76279/21/MUIR%20FINAL%20JOURNAL%20OF%20SYNAGOGUE%20MUSIC%20JULY%202013.pdf|title=Hasidism and Mitnagdism in the Russian Empire: the (mis)use of Jewish music in Polish-Lithuanian Russia.|last=Muir|first=S.}}</ref> In the 21st century, ''nigunim'' may be used at the start and end of [[Musar literature|Musar]] [[Torah study|study session]]s,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mussarinstitute.org/Yashar/2015-06/mini-kallot.php|title=Afternoons of Mussar|website=mussarinstitute.org|access-date=2019-05-20|archive-date=2019-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529144956/https://mussarinstitute.org/Yashar/2015-06/mini-kallot.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> potentially fostering an emotional Musar experience.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jrFNAwAAQBAJ|title=A Responsible Life: The Spiritual Path of Mussar|last=Stone|first=Ira|date=2013-05-14|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=9781620328750|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
''Nigunim'' by:
* [[Nachman of Breslov]]
* [[The Kaliver Rebbe]]
* [[Moshe Zvi of Savran]]

Other Jewish spiritual practices:
* [[Jewish meditation]]
* [[Dveikut]]

== Citations ==
{{reflist}}

== General and cited references ==
* Pinson, DovBer, ''Inner Rhythms: The Kabbalah of Music'', Jason Aronson, Inc.  2000. Excellent chapters on the history of Jewish music, the various types and uses of Hasidic nigunim, etc.
* Stern, Shmuel, ''Shirat HaLev'' (Trans ''The Song of the Heart'') Translated by Gita Levi.

==External links==
* [http://www.cmusic.co.il/ CMusic] - Lyrics & Reviews for Chasidus Music
{{Musar movement}}

[[Category:Hasidic Judaism]]
[[Category:Hebrew words and phrases]]
[[Category:Jewish music genres]]
[[Category:Jewish music]]
[[Category:Jewish prayer and ritual texts]]
[[Category:Musar movement]]