Yankel chords by Abie Rotenberg

Chords with lyrics

• Difficulty: Beginner

♫ Intro:

C majorC G+G AM D MajorD G+G C majorC G+G AM A augmentedA FF G+G C majorC



♫ Verse :
C majorC         FF      G+G   C majorC
In a little town somewhere in Europe
           FF   G+G  FF
Just about a hundred years ago
            C majorC        FF
Lived a simple man his name was Yankel oh
          G+G    C majorC  G+G
And this is how his story goes.

C majorC            FF   G+G
Yankel couldn’t learn a blatt gemara
C majorC            FF    G+G
Why, he barely knew to read and write
FF               C majorC
Deep in his heart he loved to do the mitzvos
   DM            G+G     C majorC
But somehow he never seemed to get things right.

  FF        C majorC         FF  G+G    C majorC
He didn’t know his brachos, couldn’t say shema by heart
   AM  DM      EM            AM
He’d daven shmoneh esrei with his feet spread wide apart
FF             C majorC       FF         C majorC
Everyone would laugh and snicker when he passed them by in shul
      AM  DM            E MajorE      AM
Here comes Yankel A minorAm Ha’aretz, could there be, a bigger fool.

C majorC              FF   G+G  C majorC
All the children would make fun of Yankel
           FF   G+G
Teasing him as if he were a child
FF         C majorC
But he never ever lost his temper
FF           G+G     C majorC
On his face there was always a smile.

C majorC           FF     G+G
Now the Rabbi tried to learn with Yankel
C majorC              FF   G+G
So the young man would know how to cope
FF          C majorC
In one ear but then out the other
        DM       G+G   C majorC
The Rabbi gave up, there simply was no hope.

  FF     C majorC      FF   G+G    C majorC
His ivreh was atrocious, the place he’d always lose
  AM               E MajorE       AM
He’d show up on Yom Kippur wearing shiny polished shoes
FF             C majorC       FF      G+G   C majorC
Everyone would laugh and snicker when he passed them by in shul
      AM               E MajorE        AM
Here comes Yankel A minorAm Ha’aretz, could there be, a bigger fool.

C majorC G+G AM C majorC D MajorD G+G C majorC G+G AM C majorC FC

C majorC            FF    G+G   C majorC
Stubborn Yankel, he just kept on trying
             FF    G+G
They all told him it’s a hopeless cause
FF             C majorC        FF
But he kept saying one day I’ll know how to
          G+G    C majorC
Learn the Torah and keep its laws.

C majorC              FF     G+G
Now one night the Rabbi fell asleep in shul
C majorC            FF    G+G
Only to wake up when he heard a sigh
FF   C majorC            FF
It was Yankel by the aron kodesh
   G+G     FF         G+G    C majorC
And there were teardrops running from his eyes.

C majorC       FF         C majorC  FF    G+G    C majorC
He was saying “Master of the world
I know You hear my prayer
  AM DM        EM   E7E7          AM
And I accept my fate in life
Your judgment’s always fair
FF         C majorC      FF     G+G   C majorC
Yet one thing I must ask You, where else am I to turn
   AM   DM    AM   E MajorE           AM
Could I not serve You so much more if I knew how to learn ”

  C majorC           FF    G+G
The rabbi sent Yankel to learn in yeshiva
C majorC               FF   G+G
They all thought he’d lost his sanity
FF         C majorC
He’ll be back in a week for certain
FF    D MajorD        G+G    C majorC
All the Rabbi said was- wait and see.

    FF       C majorC        FF    G+G    C majorC
Yankel’s now a famous scholar, it just took a few short years
    AM    DM    AM E MajorE              AM
For the gates of heaven never close, they never close for tears
FF         C majorC          FF    G+G   C majorC
And everyone stands to shake his hand as he passes them in shul
     AM    DM        E MajorE             AM
Here comes Yankel Talmid Chacham, how could we… have been such fools!

G+G C majorC G+G AM C majorC D MajorD G+G C majorC G+G AM FF G+G C majorC