Shabbat Shira - Parshat Beshalach
Imagine yourself hearing some fantastic news and you want to express that moment to your friend, you would probably say something like "it was music to my ears". The reason for this idiom is because music makes us happy and when we hear good news, we associate it with happiness and music.
In this week's Torah portion of Beshalach we read of three beautiful songs. First we read about the Shirat Hayam (song of the sea) which was sung by Moshe and the Jewish people after experiencing deliverance at the splitting of the sea. The Torah also describes the Shirat Miriam (Song of Miriam), where the great prophetess Miriam led the women in song and music. The third song is Shirat Devorah (song of Deborah) in the weekly Haftarah (Shoftim Ch. 4-5). In this song the great prophetess Devorah sings a song of thanks to Hashem for the salvation of Jewish people from Yavin King of Canaan and Sisra his general.
The juxta positioning of these three songs are purposeful. As this Shabbat is called Shabbat Shirah - the Shabbat of Song, our sages found it appropriate to dedicate the Haftarah to the theme of song as well.
But why the big deal about song? Should song or music really play such an important role in theology and faith?
The Kabbalah tells us "Music is the pen of the soul". It is for this reason that Niggun or Song plays such an important role in Judaism. Music allows us to take the negative and transform it into positive. In other words, music allows us to reach beyond words. Music is the expression of pure happiness and connectivity. That is why Niggun plays such an important role in our prayers, life cycle events and faith.
As we go through life and deal with our daily challenges and pressures, we often feel overwhelmed. Everyone has challenges. Everyone has moments of despair. We may even feel that there is nothing to smile about, let alone sing about.
While we cannot control our challenges, we can control our attitude and demeanor. So, we need to ask ourselves the following; what type of person am I going to be? When my child looks at me, what will they see?" Do they see a happy person? Do they see someone who loves Hashem? Do they see a person who sings a happy song or will they see a resentful and angry person. That is how our children will view their Judaism and form their outlook on life.
Make no mistake about it, Music has the power to transform and we just need to learn how to bring that music into our faith and lives.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Y. Marrus
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