Tfillah and Shirah — two legs of the spiritual throne

By Arlene Stolnitz

Recently, I have been reading about Rising Song Circles. These are groups of music lovers in Jewish communities who join together on a regular basis to study and sing all forms of Judaic music. Song Circles include nigunim, nusach, prayers and all forms of known Jewish music, but unlike a traditional choir, everyone may join regardless of musical background.

The idea for the program was originated by Joey Weisenberg, whose mission is to bring people together in song. He believes that where there is song, there is prayer, and that Jewish tradition teaches that music unlocks the door to divine connection.

In his own words, recently published in the online My Jewish Learning, “Music is the most… ephemeral of all art forms. We can’t see music, we can’t grasp it in our hands, but we can feel it working through us and the world. As such, music represents our connection to the divine, to each other, to everything. Music is … a prayer that opens up our imaginations to the divine source of all life. Anyone who has ever sung in a Temple choir has felt that connection. And in the congregation, one can sense the feeling as worshipers join in singing the prayer liturgy.”

So, who is Joey Weisenberg? He is the founder and director of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute and author of “Building Singing Communities” as well as “The Torah of Music,” which won a 2017 National Book Award. His library of over 500 videos teaches topics such as Leading Moving Communal Prayer, Bringing Nigunim into the Community, Shabbat and Festival Melodies, Building Joyous Singing Communities and High Holiday Prayers and Chants. These are only a few ways Weisenberg demonstrates, through song, the Torah of prayer and music.

An interesting interpretation by Weisenberg talks about the idea that, in gematria (which is the code used in biblical times for assigning a numerical value to a word according to its letters), the numerical value for prayer, tefilla, and song, shirah are the same. His thought is that they are two legs of the spiritual throne, mutually supporting each other. He feels that where there is song, there is prayer, that music can open our hearts and minds to better understand what is around us.

Besides referring to the prophets who knew this, he talks about the role of the cantor, or chazzan, whom he describes as a “sacred musician who snatches the song from the place where prophets suckle.” He speaks of melodies forming a divine ladder connecting Earth with the heavens. In Hebrew, the word sulam means both “ladder” and “musical scale.”

The most famous story in the Torah concerns Jacob’s ladder in which the patriarch dreams of a ladder with angels going up and down. Maimonides, the medieval authority, thought the angels had one purpose, that of singing. We can think of Jacob’s ladder as a musical scale then, with angels ascending and descending with our prayers.

When we sing, we can think of ourselves as experiencing a state of our best selves as we enter a state of spirituality. Weisenberg’s idea is that music, although only a bunch of notes, can transform us, if we let it.

Wishing you and yours a L’Shana Tova Tikatevu. Let the prayers and observance of these awesome days pave the way for a renewed spiritual life. This year, I look forward to sharing with you the stories of gifted musicians and their inspirational works.

B’Shalom.

Arlene Stolnitz, founder of the Sarasota Jewish Chorale, is a member of the Jewish Congregation of Venice. A retired educator from Rochester, New York, she has sung in choral groups for over 25 years and also sings in The Venice Chorale. Her interest in the preservation of Jewish music of all kinds has led to this series of articles on Jewish Folk Music in the Diaspora.