Avraham Fried/No Jew Will Be Left Behind/Ani Maamin

"אני מאמין"
Song by Avraham Fried
from the album No Jew Will Be Left Behind
Language	Hebrew
English title	Ani Maamin
Released	1981
Studio	GB Sound, N.Y.C. Tribute(?) Studios, Tel Aviv
Genre	Ballad Chassidic
Length	5:30
Label	Holyland
Composer(s)	Azriel David Fastag
Lyricist(s)	Rambam
Producer(s)	Sheya Mendlowitz
No Jew Will Be Left Behind track listing
8 tracks Side A Kale • קל ההדאות No Jew Kanay • קנא לשמך Tov • טוב להודות Side B V'korev • וקרב פזורינו The return Korave • קרב יום Ani Maamin • אני מאמין

Ani Maamin is a song by American Jewish singer Avraham Fried, released in 1981 as part of his album No Jew Will Be Left Behind. The song is based on the twelfth of the Thirteen Principles of Faith formulated by the Rambam, which expresses the belief in the coming of the Moshiach. The melody of the song was composed by Azriel David Fastag, a Modzitzer Chassid and a Chazzan (cantor) before World War II, who was killed in the Holocaust.

Song history

According to legend, Fastag composed the melody while he was on a train to Treblinka extermination camp in 1942, and sang it with other Jewish prisoners as a sign of hope and faith. He offered half of his heavenly reward to anyone who would deliver the melody to his mentor, the Modzitzer Rebbe, who had escaped to New York. Two boys managed to escape from the train, but only one survived and reached New York, where he sang the melody to the Rebbe. The Rebbe was moved by the story and the song, and said: “With this tune they went to the gas chambers, and with this tune we will march to greet Moshiach.”

Today, the custom among Modzitzer Chassidim is to sing this song during the sixth Hakafah on Simchat Torah in memory of all those who've perished in the Holocaust. The song has also become popular among other Jewish communities, especially among Chabad Chassidim, who sing it on various occasions, such as Farbrengens and Lag Baomer parades.

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Lyrics

אֲנִי מַאֲמִין בֶּאֱמוּנָה שְׁלֵמָה בְּבִיאַת הַמָּשִׁיחַ

וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁיִּתְמַהְמֵהַּ עִם כָּל זֶה אֲחַכֶּה לּוֹ בְּכָל יוֹם שֶׁיָּבוֹא