מועדים לשיחה; מהדורה משפחתית, חג הפסח, הלל, מעמיקיםCeremony and Celebration Family Edition, The Hagim, Pesah, Hallel, Deep Dive
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1Song plays a vital part in Judaism. At the end of his life Moshe gave the Israelites the last of the commands – that in every generation we should write a new sefer Torah. On that occasion he used an unusual word. He called the Torah a “song” (Devarim 31:19). Words are the language of the mind. Music is the language of the soul. Whenever speech is invested with deep emotion it aspires to the condition of song. Thus we do not say our prayers; we sing them. We do not read the Torah; we chant it. We do not study Talmud; we intone it. Each kind of text, and each period of the Jewish year, has its own melody. Thus Moshe was saying: to transmit Torah across the generations as a living faith, it must be not just a code of law, but also the song of the Jewish people.
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2☛ REFLECT
How does song change the experience of our prayers and the way we praise God?
How does song change the experience of our prayers and the way we praise God?