September 8th, 2017 17th Elul, 5777 A teacher of mine, Rabbi Marcelo Bronstein, would articulate that while a niggun is often referred to as a wordless melody, it is really a melody searching for the words in us. This teaching operates on the premis
September 8th, 2017 17th Elul, 5777 A teacher of mine, Rabbi Marcelo Bronstein, would articulate that while a niggun is often referred to as a wordless melody, it is really a melody searching for the words in us. This teaching operates on the premis
September 8th, 2017 17th Elul, 5777
A teacher of mine, Rabbi Marcelo Bronstein, would articulate that while a niggun is often referred to as a wordless melody, it is really a melody searching for the words in us. This teaching operates on the premise that there are emotions and sentiments inside of us that words can’t always access. For me, niggunim can be a powerful tool in prayer and community building because each person can have their own experience while singing as a part of a group. But singing a niggun with others, or even a song with words, can be a scary or uncomfortable experience. Most of us aren’t used to singing in public with other people, some might not want to sing because we’re not confident we know the melody or words, or we don’t think we have a good voice.
Because it’s often not easy, there’s usually a moment where we just have to push ourselves and go for it. Making that leap requires trust in ourselves and trust in our community to hold our voices. I like to encourage people to join in a song before they’re confident they know how it goes. Often, if we open our mouths and let a sound come out, we’ll get there. A Hasidic master called the Naom Elimelech writes that the best part of any niggun is the surprise. Every niggun, he teaches, has a moment of surprise. That moment, for me, is often when I’ve realized I’m no longer thinking about how it goes; I am simply singing without thinking. It is a soul oriented experienced, not a mind one.
It’s been exciting to sing with many of you more in our daily minyanim and on Shabbatot, and I’d like to invite you to sing with me in preparation for the Yamim Nora’im. For the next two Shabbatot, I’ll be bringing folks together after Shabbat services to sing melodies we’ll be using on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, in addition to many of the traditional melodies that we all feel connected to. This will be a space to prepare our voices and our spirits for the High Holy Days, and I hope you’ll join me.
Additionally, I’ll invite you to check out our website where we’ve just uploaded videos of melodies we’ll be using throughout the Yamim Nora’im. Of course, no need to memorize anything, but these melodies are here to help get us all in the holiday spirit and to become familiar with some of the melodies we’ll repeat over Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
May this Shabbat be one where we use our voices freely. May it be a Shabbat full of song. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Sarit
