Hillel Kapnick - Hadran

Emotions like joy, gratitude & sorrow have inspired many a song. It is said that the gates of Tefilla(prayer) in Shomayim (heaven) are right next to the gate of music. In honor of the upcoming 12th Siyum Hashas of the Daf Yomi, which recognizes the daily commitment of hundreds of thousands of individuals throughout the world–and the fact that this Wednesday August 1st is the day they will be completing the Talmud for the 7th time, HillelKAPS productions is releasing a single entitled “Hadran”.

“Hadran” means return, and is the name of the prayer we say in between finishing the last volume and starting the first volume of the Talmud. This prayer is the highlight part of the Siyumceremony. Hadran–isn’t a single emotion as much as it’s a fusion of them –sorrow (because we finished Shas), joy (because we are immediately embarking on another journey through it ) and gratitude (for helping us understand there is no ‘end’ to learning Torah)

For arranger/performer Hillel Kapnick, “Hadran” also represents the ideal follow up to his highly popular debut project Min HaMeitzar. When Hillel went looking for the right composition for Hadran, he searched far and wide before coming across the song composed by newcomer Shuey Kurz. Shuey’s composition to the words of the Hadran was the perfect combination of simple yet powerful and soul stirring.

Once he decided to go with this song Kaps went “all out, handling not only the vocals, but ALL of the arrangements and even some of the music. “I want people to see that HillelKAPS productions is a one stop shop,” Hillel says, “A place where you can come to when you want to see results.”

While this is Shuey’s debut composition, the warm simplicity of this song makes it clear he is someone we should all definitely keep an ear out for, especially because he has a number of other compositions in various stages of production.