Dvar Torah - Shirat Hayam - Song of the Sea, Rabbi Leonard Cohen

This coming Shabbat, Parshat Beshalach, contains the memorable Shirat Hayam - "Song of the Sea" - which our ancestors sang, during the exodus from Egypt, upon their successful crossing of the Red Sea.
Singing and music are a crucial part of our lives. We sing songs for pleasure or for sadness, to express emotion or distract ourselves, to connect with others or to find our own space. We live our lives surrounded by music; sometimes we even create such music ourselves.
Music touches our soul in a way words alone cannot; it evokes emotions that transcend the ordinary. In Hebrew, we refer to someone’s soul as their ‘neshama’. The Latin source of the word ‘inspiration’ is literally the same as the origin of the word ‘neshama’ - both of these words mean the same thing: breathing! When we find inspiration, such as through music, we enable our souls to breathe.
Shabbat Shira literally means the Sabbath of Song, and the Hebrew word Shira means both singing and poetry. People use prose for information, and poetry & song for inspiration; reading and learning help our minds grow, music reaches our heart. It is no happenstance that Chassidic leaders and Rebbes created their own niggunim, wordless melodies, and taught these to their disciples. This was considered an important aspect of worshipful connection to G-d.
When done right, music can stir our soul, enabling us to transcend our busy lives and connect with the Divine. Each week on Shabbat, in home as in shul, we chant familiar tefillot and melodies, and occasionally learn new ones as well. Each time we sing, we deepen our connection to these tunes and words. In so doing, the music becomes part of our core memory, culture, and even our very identity.
That’s why music is a crucial avenue towards kedusha – a word loosely translated as “holiness”. Many of the sacred Tehilim (Psalms) are introduced as “Mizmor Sheer” – Musical Poem – to indicate that they would traditionally be chanted with orchestral or instrumental accompaniment. Since the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, we Jews ceased playing instruments on Shabbat or Yom Tov, as the use of instruments was uniquely associated with the Temple service.
To make music a meaningful part of religious life, any of the following practices is encouraged:
· Introduce new songs, Tefillot and Zemirot to celebrate Shabbat or Holidays at home.
· Sing the Shema as a lullaby to babies and children before they go to sleep.
· When hearing a favorite song (secular or religious), think thoughts of gratitude to Hashem for the gift of music.
· Search for Jewish songs, recordings and musicians to enjoy.
· Meditate on the link between G-d and music, or slowly chant a Tefillah
during meditation.
· Sing, hum or whistle a favorite Jewish melody when the urge strikes you, or to lift your spirit.
After the crossing of the Red Sea, the Israelite men recited Shirat Hayam to praise G-d. Miriam and the Jewish women then took these same verses, and sang them to the accompaniment of drums and other instruments. The women heightened the kedusha of the moment by taking sacred words and transforming them into heartfelt music. May we succeed in doing the same!