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April 13, 2001/Nisan 20, 5761, Vol. 53, No.28
Power of song creates community
Torah Study
CANTOR ILENE KEYS
Seventh Day of Passover/Exodus 14:30-15:21
At my family's Passover seder last year, I had a very trying experience. The day before the seder, I came down with laryngitis and completely lost my voice. How would I celebrate Passover without song?
For me as a cantor, not being able to raise my voice in song was a strong disappointment. But more important, how would I feel that I was a part of my family's celebration without being able to add my voice to our collective singing?
As it turned out, when my family's voices rose together, I sang along inside. I was part of a greater whole, part of their joy and expression. I felt overwhelmed by the power of our collective song, which allowed us to express our joy at being together as a family and show our thankfulness to God.
So, too, did the Israelites express their joy and gratitude to God in this week's Torah portion via the "Song of the Sea," which is recited on the seventh day of Passover. This event marked the first time in our history that we found our voice as a people and sang a collective prayer. In fact, I believe it is this song that created our sense of being a people.
The Torah commentary Exodus Rabbah states that "from the day when God created the world until the Israelites stood near the sea, no one save Israel sang unto God."
Up until this moment in our history, we were merely individuals. As the midrash continues, "God delivered Abraham ... and he did not utter song; Isaac also, when saved from the knife, did not utter song; nor did Jacob. ... As soon, however, as Israel came to the sea, which was divided for them, they uttered this song before God, as it says, "Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to God."
Perhaps as individuals, we were afraid to raise our voices to God in song. Perhaps we did not know how. We needed a community in order to feel safe enough to sing.
The "Song of the Sea" marked the point in our history when we became a community: It transformed us from individuals into a people with a shared experience - the miracle of God parting the Sea of Reeds for us. This song was our expression of gratitude to God as we stood together as one nation for the first time.
This collective song marked the culmination of our Exodus from Egypt. We could only rejoice with song once we realized we were truly a free people. It was this song that had a profound impact on the people of Israel.
In fact, this song is such a seminal part of our collective memory as a people that it has been incorporated into our daily liturgy as part of P'sukei D'zimra (Verses of Song), which immediately precede the Shema rubric in the prayer book.
According to Rabbi A. V. Eiger, the opening words of this song begin with the future form yashir (Moses) and the children of Israel "will sing," because what happens in the future is what proves whether any particular event in the past was of importance.
In the future, "Israel will sing," proving that this historic event will continue to have an impact. And indeed, we do continue to sing this very song.
As you sing together at your Passover tables this year, think of the impact that your collective song has on your family and your community. Then think about how singing together with your congregation makes you feel. Do you think that our prayers are more powerful when they come from individuals or a collective group?
Ilene Keys is the cantor at Temple Sinai in Oakland, Calif.
Torat Hayim, produced by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, is on the Internet at www.uahc.org/growth.
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