C4: Music

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The Torah is the Song

When you hear biblical verses in synagogue, you'll notice that they are never read out as a speech - they are always chanted. Historically, chanting was an aid to learning and remembering the words, but there is much more to it than that. The last command that God ever instructed the Jewish people through Moses was to make copies of the Torah which He specifically called a Song:

Now write for yourselves this Song and teach it... (Deuteronomy 31:19)

So the last of the 613 commandments was not only to write and learn your own Sefer Torah, it was to recognise it as a Song. When you sing something, you bring it alive. In song, the static written word becomes a dynamic flow of feelings and ideas. This flow is thrilling, because like life, it is continuous. Life is not a series of disconnected events, it is a continuous interlinking of these events into a complex pattern where everything effects everything else. Life truly is a rollercoaster. It has no pause button and like an exciting movie, it keeps on moving.

The parallel goes even further. Just as with music you can layer harmony upon harmony, so with each moment we live we fashion a new layer of life experience. Maybe that’s why God calls the Torah, which is our guide to life, a Song. When you ask questions about Judaism and learn new ideas about it, you are adding another layer of harmony to it.

Rabbi Akiva used to say about the Torah: "Sing it every day, sing it every day!” He realised that only as a song can the Torah be alive and meaningful. This message is so deeply ingrained in the Jewish psyche that ever since the Song was given at Mt. Sinai, Jews have loved their music.

The Cutting Edge and Rabbi Nachman

Music can always be found at the cutting edge of culture. New fashions, styles and ideas all have their musical accompaniment. The different eras of history can be characterised by the music they played. Look at the recent past: the 60s, 70s and 80s all have very different styles when it comes to music, and they reflect the attitudes of the time. (You can buy them as compilation albums!) Judaism, as always, has something valuable to say on this. The Chasidic Master, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov wrote:

You should know that every single wisdom in the world has its own specific music; that this music is unique to this wisdom, and that the wisdom is itself the product of the music... (Likutay Maharan 1:64)

Music then is so central that it's the music which gives birth to the ideas, and not, as we might have thought, the other way around. Rabbi Nachman now gets really mystical and comes up with this:

Our faith too has a tune which is unique...and the music which is unique to our faith, which is the highest faith - above all other wisdoms and faiths... that music is also above all the tunes and music in the world... all the tunes and music of all these wisdoms are derivatives of this one music. (ibid.)

Our belief in God is an expression of a fundamental "Music", which absolutely every culture and society stems from. OK, so he's very poetic but what does he mean? Rabbi Nachman wants us to appreciate the awesome power of music. Don't underestimate the rhythm! You might appreciate this from your own experience. Music can make you happy or sad. It can make you laugh or cry. It can drive you crazy or bring you to perfect peace. It's potent stuff so handle with care...

Yuval’s legacy

So you see what Yuval started. Music begins in Genesis, because life begins in Genesis. Yuval's philosophy could be summed up as: "I make music therefore I am." While his family were building their lives through industry, Yuval was building his life through music. The name “Yuval” means river or stream, again the metaphor of music being a continuous flow like life. Genesis describes the basic abilities and needs of Humankind, and music has an important place in that description. Whether listening to the radio, playing a CD, dancing at a club or going wild at a concert, the thrill of music is the uplifting sensation it gives us of being alive.

But Judaism asks for more. Our lives are not just aimless fun, they have direction and meaning. That is why when we do meaningful things, we should do them to music. When we sing our prayers to God in synagogue, when we dance and sing at a Jewish wedding to make the new couple happy, when we sing an Israeli folk song that describes a beautiful Jewish idea or a memorable moment in our peoples' history, then we are making very special music. We are singing the Torah/Song and bringing God into our lives. As the ancient Rabbi Ishmael said:

Blessed is Israel - how much dearer are they to God than the angels! As soon as the angels try to start their songs in heaven the Holy One says: Let every angel that I created be silenced before Me until I have heard and listened to the voice of song and praise from Israel, My children!

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