Yankel chords by Abie Rotenberg

• Difficulty: Beginner

♫ Intro:

C G AM D G C G AM A F G C




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

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

   F               C                 F   G        C
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
F                         C              F                  C
Everyone would laugh and snicker when he passed them by in shul
           AM    DM                        E            AM
Here comes Yankel Am Ha’aretz, could there be, a bigger fool.

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

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

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

C G AM C D G C G AM C FC

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

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

C              F                 C    F        G        C
He was saying “Master of the world
I know You hear my prayer
   AM  DM               EM      E7                   AM
And I accept my fate in life
Your judgment’s always fair
F                 C            F         G     C
Yet one thing I must ask You, where else am I to turn
     AM     DM        AM      E                     AM
Could I not serve You so much more if I knew how to learn ”

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

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

G C G AM C D G C G AM F G C