What is it about music? Why does a string of random sounds uplift,
transfix and psychologically transport people to a different place.
What is a melody’s power?
In life’s flow, we’re either investing ourselves in an endeavor, or
transcending the grasp of our ‘normative’ lives. As an example:
Imagine that you’re a dentist. During your workday, you’re expending
energy to understand/help your patients and your business. You’re
reaching out of your internal safety zone to invest energy in life.
In the evening, you choose to go jogging. Why? You want to ‘clear your
head’, disengaging from your day’s nitty-gritty so that you can find
your ‘self’ that transcends dentistry. It’s not that your day was
negative; it’s just that you need transcendence for an aerial view of
life; you need mental and emotional clarity, so that you’re not
swallowed up by life and can re-engage in a constructive way.
So we have two rhythms: The ‘downward’ investiture in life, and the
‘soaring’ transcendence of life’s shallower side.
In the week’s flow, these two rhythms are found in the workdays vs
Shabbos. Six days a week, we’re throwing ourselves into externally
productive lives. On Shabbos, we turn our focus ‘inward’ and ‘upward’.
We disengage from the weekday rhythm (Jewish Law asks us to refrain
from even THINKING about our business pursuits on Shabbos!) so that we
can reach higher. On Shabbos, we re-discover ourselves as we exist
deep inside, beyond the reach of the week’s mental/emotional noise.
Song has that Shabbos rhythm. Indeed, the Kabbalistic Masters taught
that Shabbos is a specifically appropriate time for song. Why? Because
with song, we reach a higher place. With song, we can perceive
ourselves and the world in a way that hours of explanation would not
accomplish. It’s beyond essays because it’s pure experience.
This helps explain why Chassidic melodies, known as ‘Niggunim’, are
overwhelmingly designed to be sung without words. Words – even Holy
words, even Scriptural verses - are a specific canister. They are a
body, a distinct message and form. As such, they interfere with the
form-less experience of one’s internal world.
That’s the experience of Shabbos. And the experience of Prayer, which
is a ‘Shabbos-island’ during the work-week.
So work hard.
But Pray. Shabbos. Sing.
ב"ה
Heaven wrote...