Weekly Torah Portion

Imagine watching your favorite movie without its soundtrack. How would the experience compare? Unless your favorite movie is a silent film, the experience may leave you feeling underwhelmed. Watching a story unfold, as riveting as it may be, is not nearly as impactful as watching it with a crescendo at the main event.

Music has the power to move. In this week’s Torah portion we are introduced to the song Az Yashir, sung by the Jewish people during their exodus. The Jews had gone from the torture of slavery through the chaos of plagues to the rush of leaving and the fear of facing the Sea, until ultimately reaching freedom.

The emotions felt at the moment could not be transmitted merely through words. They needed a song. Words can limit an experience, but music has the ability to transcend the literal and evoke an emotional and pervasive response.

The power of music is seen throughout Torah and Jewish history, whether through the cantillation of the Torah reading, psalms, or song-linked prayer services. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote, “Words are the language of the mind. Music is the language of the soul.”

Music transcends us beyond ourselves. It is a unified way of expressing our individual stories. There are few bonding experiences like sitting around a bonfire or Shabbat table singing together. And music does not only connect us to each other and to the moment, but connects us to our past. Music is not finite, and thus cannot be taken away.

There is a powerful story that took place years after the Holocaust. An elderly man went to the orphanages that were known to have taken in Jewish children of the war. No longer having parents to collect them, he went to bring them home. However, some orphanages, wanting to convert Jewish children, claimed not to have any.

With a stroke of genius, the man began to chant the words of Shema. The Jewish children, recognizing the words that were sung to them by their parents at bedtime, lit up and followed the man. Their homes, parents, and even identities had earlier been stolen from them, but the songs of their childhood – their Jewish childhood – reverberated in their souls.

Music connects us to each other, our histories, and to G-d Himself. Sometimes when trying to connect, we may feel at a loss for words, or have the words but not the feelings. Torah and tefillah are multifaceted and there are many ways to connect. Music can be an expression of prayer, a way to evoke feelings without the burden of finding the right words.

If we try to connect, regardless of the method, Hashem will be there with us, listening to the song of our souls.