D'var Torah
Rabbi Barry A. Kenter
Hamvaser – Adar
I and II, 5763
Jews and Angels: Singing Songs to God
Every day, as part of the liturgy, we recite the song of Moses and the Israelites at the Sea of Reeds. Fleeing from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, as the chariots are racing toward them, pending doom, in the midst of fear, with no little anxiety, not knowing what the future holds, our ancestors walked through Yam Suf singing. As we reiterate their praise, it is useful to note just how instructive is the Hebrew. Moses and the children of Israel sang, as with one voice, “I will sing to the Lord, mighty in majestic triumph, horse and rider being thrown into the sea.” Despite the throngs and multitudes, the song proclaims, “I, not we, will sing.”
An assortment of just freed slaves, Israelites and non-Israelites, men, women, young and old, lifted their voices in harmonious song at precisely the moment when their future was the most uncertain and, in the process they transmitted to western culture one of its prime values: the concept and polyphony and harmony.
Bernard Lewis, in his masterful analysis of contemporary Arab culture and society, What Went Wrong: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response, writes:
A distinguishing characteristic of Western music is polyphony, by harmony or counterpoint. This begins in its simplest form with the choir, in which matched voices sing different notes in a planned sequence to produce a combined effect; then comes the keyboard instrument, matching the ten fingers of the two hands, following different routes in a common purpose; and finally, the musical ensemble, from duets and trios to the full orchestra. Different performers play together, from different scores, producing a result that is greater than the sum of its parts [p. 128-129].
Harmony requires synchronization, being on the same page, focused on the same goals, and sharing the same vision.
Jewish tradition suggests that even the angels in heaven, each of whom has a special responsibility, an expertise, or a concern, kulak knead omni vomit b’yirah stand united in their reverent praise of God, kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, Adonai Zevaot, melo kol ha-aretz kvodo, holy, holy, holy is Adonai Zevaot; the whole world is filled with God’s glory
Here on earth, teamwork requires collaboration -- – being in sync, on the same page, as best expressed by Herm Edwards, who said some weeks ago, “Good players don’t win, good teams do.”
A synagogue is larger than the sum of any of its individual parts as they all labor k’ehad, as if one, shoulder to shoulder if not eye to eye, because they share a set of goals, a visions of what the synagogue can be.
Reflecting on their own quest for the rings, in the Lord of the Rings we find the following exchange:
“Those were the stories that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why, but I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand, ...folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going…because they were holding on to something….”
“What are we holding onto, Sam?”
“That there is some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for."
We at the Greenburgh Hebrew Center are engaged in creating a community of Jews in the river towns, Jews who can labor harmoniously to create a community united as a team to come closely to God. I invite each and everyone to join in what I have called TEAM GH C, standing for the following acronym:
T each
E mpower
A ctivate
M otivate
Jews in the river towns in the service of
G od
H oliness
C ommunity
For those of you who missed our Committee Fair on February 2, I invite each and everyone to participate in one of our committees. Your expertise, your interest and your enthusiam can help us all to lift our voices in praise and song.
B’yahad and k’ehad, together, united and as one, as TEAM GHC, we will strive to fulfill the mandate of the late Rav Avraham Ha-Kohen Kook: ha-yashan yithadesh v’he-hadesh yitkadesh, “The old will be renewed and the new will be hallowed.”