Contemporary Hassidic kumzitz niggun by Naftali Kempeh (2022), lyrics by Moishi Rot, music by Pinchas Bichler. One of the most-sung pieces in Israeli synagogues during Elul, Selichot and the Yamim Noraim. The verse cards below teach the public-domain liturgical and biblical sources the song quotes and paraphrases, Genesis 28:17, Deuteronomy 28:12, Psalm 118, and the central Selichot acclamation. For the full modern Hebrew lyrics + chord tab see Ultimate Guitar; for the recording see Kempeh on YouTube.
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♪ TuningE A D G B E
Key: F minor · 4 chords used:Fm · B♭m · C7 · C
Tempo ~67 BPM · 4/4 · slow Hassidic kumzitz · freygish / Phrygian-dominant feel · hover any chord above (or below each stich) to see its fretboard diagram and add alternative voicings · capo 1 to play in Em shapes (easier on guitar) or capo 3 for Dm voicings · to reset the chord panel:
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Genesis 28:17, Jacob's exclamation on waking from the ladder dream at Bethel. The only place in Hebrew Scripture where the phrase sha'ar ha-shamayim (gate of heaven) appears. The biblical seed of every "open the gates" prayer in Jewish liturgy.
Deuteronomy 28:12, Moses' promise to Israel of the heavenly storehouse opened in blessing. Source of the language of otzar ha-tov (the good treasury) that recurs throughout the High Holiday liturgy.
Psalm 118:19-20, sung in Hallel on every festival. The thematic parent of every "open the gates" prayer in Jewish liturgy. Once you know this Psalm verse, you recognise it echoed in Selichot, Neilah, and every Hassidic niggun that pleads p'tach ("open!").
4
כִּי אַתָּה
רַב סְלִיחוֹת
וּבַעַל הָרַחֲמִים.
כִּי
ki
for / because
אַתָּה
a-TAH
You (m.sg.)
For You
| Fm |
רַב
rav
abundant / great
סְלִיחוֹת
s'-li-CHOT
forgivenesses (pl.)
are abundant in forgivenesses,
| Fm, B♭m |
וּבַעַל
u-VA-al
and master of (cstr.)
הָרַחֲמִים
ha-ra-cha-MIM
mercies (pl. intensive)
and master of mercies.
| C7, Fm |
From the central Selichot service, medieval public-domain liturgy. Recited every weekday in Tachanun and forms the heart of every Selichot prayer of the Yamim Noraim. Root ר.ח.ם (rachamim) literally means "womb", divine mercy as womb-love, mother-tenderness toward Israel.
The recurring chorus phrase, two public-domain liturgical fragments joined together: the title sha'arei shamayim from Gen 28:17 turned into a plea with the imperative p'tach ("open!"), and Deut 28:12's otzaro ha-tov ("His good treasury") rephrased in the second person as otzarcha ha-tov ("Your good treasury"). The heart of the kumzitz, repeated with rising intensity until everyone in the room sings it together.
♫ Singing notes
Tempo: ~67 BPM, slow Hassidic kumzitz pace. The opening verses are sung hushed, almost whispered; the chorus opens up and rises with each repetition until everyone in the room sings together.
Key: F minor with a freygish (Phrygian-dominant) lift, the C7 as V7 of Fm gives the cadences their characteristic Hassidic-Selichot color. If F minor is too low for your voice, capo 1 → play Em · Am · B7 · B shapes (singing pitch becomes F minor). Capo 3 → Dm · Gm · A7 · A shapes.
Strum: slow arpeggio (thumb · index · middle · index) on each chord. One chord per measure or per half-measure. Avoid down-strokes, kumzitz songs are sung, not strummed. The guitar carries the harmony; the voices carry the song.
The kumzitz dynamic: Hassidic niggunim build through repetition. The first time through the chorus is quiet, almost private. The second time the voices come up. By the third or fourth repetition the whole room is singing fortissimo with eyes closed. Then a sudden drop back to a near-whisper. The melody is the same, the volume and the emotional release carry the message.
The wordless cries (oy oy oy) between phrases are central to the Hassidic kumzitz tradition, expressions of the heart that cannot be put into words. They're not filler; they're the most important part. Don't skip them.
Accent (bold in the transliteration) = the stressed syllable. In biblical Hebrew it's usually the last syllable: no-RA, ha-ma-KOM, ha-sha-MA-yim. Hold the note slightly longer there.
When to sing it: Elul (the month before Rosh HaShana, late August to September), nightly Selichot services in the week before Rosh HaShana, the Ten Days of Repentance, and the closing Neilah of Yom Kippur. Outside the season it still works at any late-night kumzitz or Shabbat tisch.
Listen first: the chord chart above is a guide, not gospel. Listen to Kempeh's recording and adjust by ear, the band's exact voicings and breath placements are part of what makes the song.
♦ About this song
Origins, music, context. "Shaarei Shomayim" arrived as a contemporary Hassidic kumzitz niggun in 2022 and entered the Selichot canon almost immediately. Its strength is the way it weaves classical liturgical anchors, the gate of heaven, the good treasury, the master of mercies, into a slow F-minor melody that any room can sing together within five minutes of hearing it.
The artist
Naftali Kempeh is an Israeli Hassidic singer and kumzitz leader who has emerged in the last few years as one of the most influential voices in the modern Hassidic music scene. He doesn't appear on talent shows; his audience finds him through YouTube, Spotify, Hassidic radio, and the constant sharing inside religious WhatsApp groups during Elul and the Yamim Noraim. His voice carries the yeshiva-bochur intensity that registers as completely authentic to religious audiences, yet his melodies are simple enough that secular Israelis sing along too. He has become a soundtrack for teshuva across the entire spectrum, from Mea She'arim to Tel Aviv.
The team behind the song
Moishi Rot wrote the Hebrew lyrics, selecting and weaving together classical Selichot phrases, biblical citations, and contemporary kumzitz-style refrain lines. Pinchas Bichler composed the music, a slow F minor melody with the Phrygian-dominant lift that gives the song its distinctive freygish feel. The song was released in 2022 and entered the Selichot canon almost immediately. Eitan Katz, a major figure of the American Hassidic music scene, recorded a celebrated live version with Kempeh from Jerusalem in January 2026 that pushed the song further into the global Jewish music mainstream.
The liturgical sources
The chorus and verses weave together four public-domain liturgical anchors:
1. Genesis 28:17, Jacob at Bethel: "this is the gate of heaven" (sha'ar ha-shamayim). The biblical seed of the title and of every "open the gates" prayer in Jewish liturgy.
2. Deuteronomy 28:12, Moses' promise: "the LORD will open for you His good treasury, the heavens" (otzaro ha-tov). Source of the chorus's "otzarcha ha-tov".
3. Psalm 118:19-20, "Open for me the gates of righteousness" (pitchu li shaarei tzedek). The thematic parent of every Selichot "open the gate" plea.
4. Selichot acclamation, "For You are abundant in forgiveness and master of mercies" (ki ata rav slichot u'baal ha-rachamim). Medieval liturgy, central to Tachanun and every Selichot service.
The verse cards above teach all four, once you know them, you'll follow Kempeh's recording line by line.
Key words
שַׁעַר (sha'ar), "gate". Plural she'arim; construct plural sha'arei ("gates of…"). The most-repeated noun in Selichot.
פְּתַח (p'tach), "open!" (imperative). From the root פ-ת-ח. The verb that powers every Selichot piyyut: p'tach lanu sha'ar, p'tach shaarei…, etc.
אוֹצָר (otzar), "treasury, storehouse". In rabbinic theology, God's otzar contains rain, life, and good. The plea otzarcha ha-tov is a plea for divine abundance to flow.
רַחֲמִים (rachamim), "mercies, compassion". Plural-intensive form. Root ר-ח-ם = womb. Divine mercy as womb-love, mother-tenderness toward Israel, not transactional forgiveness.
כֻּמְזִיץ (kumzitz), Yiddish-derived: an informal sing-along gathering around a table, usually late at night, where everyone sings together until exhaustion. The traditional setting where this kind of niggun lives.
Why it spread so fast
Three things converge. First, liturgical anchoring, every line either quotes or paraphrases public-domain prayer, so the song never feels foreign to anyone who has prayed Selichot. Second, melodic restraint, Bichler's tune is built on three or four notes everyone can sing within five minutes. Third, the moment, the song arrived just as Israeli Hassidic music was looking for a unifying Selichot song that wasn't already 50 years old. It became that song.