16. Badkhones During the Mitsve-Tants - inviting the uncle

^{The badkhn Yosef Greenwald (''Yosl Ramler'') and guests, wedding of Zeyde Shmuel Rosenbaum, Rehovot, 16 June 1971.}

The badkhn devotes only two stanzas to his invitation to R. Yizhak Eizik Rosenbaum of Zutshke (1906-2000), the groom's father's cousin (compare above, no. I, 18). The invitation is extended in a light, humoristic style, only alluding to the mystical function of the dance, which concerns the Tsaddik, the leader of the community ("a geherike," meaning "in the proper way"). The melody in this recording is a well-known badkhn's melody, of the type used for improvised folk rhyming such as the Russian chastushki and the German Schnitzelbank. The congregation responds with the same tune, without words, after each line.

Let's call now, in joy and merriment,
An important mekhitn [= relative] on the bridegroom's side
To dance the mitsve-tants in the proper way -
The uncle [!], the Zutshker Rebbe, may he live long, from America.

Mekhitn, may God blessyou from Zion,
You always come to weddings in an airplane,
So in gladness, good fortune and good health,
All of you proclaim: "He's coming, he's coming!"