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"Fallen Angles" One Hassidic Man's Tribute through Music

January 26, 2009 | Brooklyn, New York | Vetting explained

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Flatbush resident Moshe Benasher broke into tears when hearing about Holtzberg's tragic death in Mumbai and did what he knows to do: compose. Even after he wrote Fallen Angels, he debated if to release the song. "You want to mourn and feel the pain, but as a Chassid, you need to move on," he told COLlive.

 

Like many Chabad Shluchim and Lubavitch Chassidim, Moshe Benasher was glued to the screen, anxiously awaiting news from the once great - and now infamous - Nariman House.

 

Benasher, 26, whose parents are Chabad Emissaries in New York, had never met Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg, nor did he ever visit Nariman House located in Mumbai where the couple operated a high-profile Jewish hub of activities.

 

On Nov. 26, 2008, when Indian terrorists invaded Nariman House, home to the Chabad House, and took the Holtzbergs and other Jewish people hostage, Benasher was devastated.

 

From his Flatbush home, surrounded by his wife and three children, he tried to gather bits and pieces of information from outlets like CNN's Indian IBN channel and COLlive.

 

But when the ordeal came to a tragic end, he broke into tears.

 

"The only way I could respond was to compose a song about it," Benasher told COLlive. "I sat near the piano and was crying while writing the song.

 

"You don't want to let go of being sad. You want to mourn and feel the pain. At the same time, however, as a Chassid, you need to move on."

 

Benasher composed in the past, a musical album called 'Soul Awake.' He calls his new 6 minute song 'Fallen Angels.'

 

"At one point, I thought to possibly not even release the song. I ended up sending it because I thought that many people don't know how to express in words what they are feeling."

 

Benasher adds: "The lyrics have even deeper meaning than just the face value. I didn't just use the word angel because it was poetic or because it fit. Angel in Hebrew is malach. Malach is interchangeable with messenger, which means a Shliach."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fallen Angels

 

 

*_Lyrics:_</strong</p>

 

She closed her eyes

He wiped her tears

He said Shema

It calmed his fears

 

He held her hand

Said it'd be alright

Knowing well they both could lose their life

 

And as my world watched it on the screen

We hoped and prayed and prayed again

That it would be a silent dream

But the dawn ushered in an unfamiliar light

The worst was heard confirmed

 

Now I cry to you, I lean on you,

my fellow Jew I ask of you

 

Chorus:

Tell me how do we say goodbye

to the angels that have fallen from our life

And how do we say goodbye

to the angels that have flown away at night

 

3500 siblings asking why

An orphan's forced to cry

Mommy, Tatty hold my hand

One day I pray you'll understand

The cowardly lion is not the king of the land.

But the question remains, I ask

 

Chorus:

Tell me how do we say goodbye

to the angels that have fallen from our life

And how do we say goodbye

to the angels that have flown away at night

 

Don't judge me when I mourn

Today it's me who's torn

Don't look at me

My tears are falling fast

 

They say it's all a blessing in disguise

I can't differentiate the lies from truth

What's a mind to do

 

We were the super heroes of the night

We would illuminate the sky

They took away the torch but not your flame

What's my mind to do

I will never forget you

I will light the sky from here to Mumbai

And nothing will ever look the same

 

Chorus:

Tell me how do we say goodbye

to the angels that have fallen from our life

And how do we say goodbye

to the angels that have flown away at night

 

Hasidim Never say goodbye

We want Moshiach Now

 

 

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