Shabbat Shira January 29, 2010
Delivered as part of a Choir Exchange with Congregation Shir Ami and First Presbyterian Church of Greenwich
When I hear the song “For all we know” sung by the Carpenters, I am immediately transported back to February 17, 1971. I am driving in a limousine with my two older sisters and father and this song came on the radio as we were returning home from my mother’s funeral. It brought a wave of sweet sadness as I thought about my parents’ 35-year loving marriage.
When I hear Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, I am transported back to July 5, 1971 when Harold and I sang in a performance of this lustful ancient text set to the choreography of the Pennsylvania Ballet. What made this moment significant is that Harold proposed to me backstage following the performance.
When I hear disco music, I am transported back to pre-children days in the mid-70s when Harold and I would dance the night away at clubs in the city.
When I hear the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling, I am transported back to 8th grade when I had to recite it from memory. I am suddenly in the classroom at Weeks Jr. High School and can easily visualize classmates and friends I haven’t seen in almost 50 years.
The sights and sounds we experience at defining moments in our lives stay with us long after the event. OK so my memories are clearly those of a choir geek! But I am sure that you have your songs that transport you back to defining moments. Your first kiss, your first prom, your first live concert, a family trip.
As Jews, we have collective memory that brings us together year after year to remember and recall defining moments is our history. Tonight is such a night. This Shabbat is called Shabbat Shira, which means the Sabbath of Song based on the reading from Scriptures designated for this week. We read about the moment in our epic story when we escaped slavery in Egypt and safely crossed the Red Sea. Notice, by the way, that I didn’t say “when our ancestors escaped slavery in Egypt,” but rather “when we escaped slavery in Egypt.”
What makes us unique as a people and one of the reasons why I believe we are still here after thousands of years of dispersion throughout the world is our sense of “us.” We say “we were slaves in Egypt,” “We crossed the Red Sea.”
We all know the story of the Exodus from Egypt. On God’s behalf, Charlton Heston – I mean Moses – has convinced Pharaoh to “Let My People Go.” And then Pharaoh had a change of heart and sent his soldiers after us. Picture it. With all of our worldly possessions in hand, we were running as fast as our group of well over five hundred thousand men, women, and children could move. We were forced to stop in our tracks when there in front of us was the rushing waters of the Red Sea as far as the eye could see.
With the Red Sea in front of us and the soldiers approaching in hot pursuit from behind, we had two choices. We could be over taken by Pharaoh’s soldiers and brought back to slavery in Egypt or worse. Or we could forge ahead and drown in the sea. We all know how the story ended. The sea miraculously parted allowing us to cross safely on dry land.
And when we found ourselves standing on freedom’s shore, Moses’ sister Miriam and all the women took timbrel in hand – tambourines – and burst into a song of praise and thanks. This is the song we sing tonight. This is the Song of the Sea. This is the Sabbath of Song. This is our defining moment when God redeemed us from slavery and we became a people bringing the glories of God to all the peoples of the earth. Miriam’s Song by Debbie Friedman
And each year on this Shabbat we remember our redemption from slavery. While every other verse of Torah is chanted to a special ancient melody, the Song of the Sea has its very own sound, the sound that transforms us back to this defining moment. The Song of the Sea by Corey A. Weiss
The central text of this song is so significant that it is part of the liturgy found in every worship service in Jewish practice. Michamocha ba-eilim Adonai, mikamocha needar bakodesh nora t’hilot oseh feleh. Who is like You among the God’s that are worshipped? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders? The Lord will reign forever and ever.
This text not only defines us as a people, redeemed by God; it also defines the seasons of the year. Listen to how we sing this sacred text when we assemble in synagogues throughout the world for the Jewish New Year. Michamocha S. Sulzer
Here is the special melody for Chanukah Michamocha German Synagogue Melody
This melody is found in Protestant Hymnals that sit in the pews of churches throughout the world. As we have lived in the Diaspora for thousands of years, our music has been influenced by the culture of our hosting country. So listen to this version and think about when and where you think it might have been written. Michamocha Solomoni Rossi
That was written by Solomoni Rossi who was a court musician in 16th century Italy. In addition to his composition for the court, he wrote music for the synagogue in the style of the music of his generation. Interestingly, this was a very anti-Semitic time and he would sign all of his compositions Solomoni Rossi, Hebrew.
The final version of Michamocha is embedded in a beautiful song from The Prince of Egypt, the recent movie version of the Exodus. We hear expressions of thanks and praise at the miracle we witnessed when the seas parted, when we were redeemed from slavery and stood at the shores of the Red Sea, the defining moment when we became a people. When you Believe by Stephen Schwartz
So this Exodus from Egypt, which we recite this week in the annual cycle of Torah readings and repeat each year when we sit down to our Passover Seders, was a defining moment for the Jewish people in our epic story which continues to today. We were redeemed from slavery as a promise from God for ultimate redemption at the end of days. We have to ask ourselves what is taking so long for this promise to be fulfilled? And what is ultimate redemption?
For some people of faith, redemption is the second coming. For some redemption is a return to Zion. There are those who believe that redemption will come when every Jew walking this earth attends Shabbat services two weeks in a row!
When God created the world, God did not complete the act of creation. God created us to act in partnership with the Divine to finish this sacred task – to act in a way that would transform this imperfect world into a world filled with truth and love and peace, a world where in the words of the Prophet Isaiah, “the lion will lie down with the lamb and none shall be afraid.”
When I hear disco music, I am transported back to pre-children days in the mid-70s when Harold and I would dance the night away at clubs in the city.
When I hear the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling, I am transported back to 8th grade when I had to recite it from memory. I am suddenly in the classroom at Weeks Jr. High School and can easily visualize classmates and friends I haven’t seen in almost 50 years.
The sights and sounds we experience at defining moments in our lives stay with us long after the event. OK so my memories are clearly those of a choir geek! But I am sure that you have your songs that transport you back to defining moments. Your first kiss, your first prom, your first live concert, a family trip.
As Jews, we have collective memory that brings us together year after year to remember and recall defining moments is our history. Tonight is such a night. This Shabbat is called Shabbat Shira, which means the Sabbath of Song based on the reading from Scriptures designated for this week. We read about the moment in our epic story when we escaped slavery in Egypt and safely crossed the Red Sea. Notice, by the way, that I didn’t say “when our ancestors escaped slavery in Egypt,” but rather “when we escaped slavery in Egypt.”
What makes us unique as a people and one of the reasons why I believe we are still here after thousands of years of dispersion throughout the world is our sense of “us.” We say “we were slaves in Egypt,” “We crossed the Red Sea.”
We all know the story of the Exodus from Egypt. On God’s behalf, Charlton Heston – I mean Moses – has convinced Pharaoh to “Let My People Go.” And then Pharaoh had a change of heart and sent his soldiers after us. Picture it. With all of our worldly possessions in hand, we were running as fast as our group of well over five hundred thousand men, women, and children could move. We were forced to stop in our tracks when there in front of us was the rushing waters of the Red Sea as far as the eye could see.
With the Red Sea in front of us and the soldiers approaching in hot pursuit from behind, we had two choices. We could be over taken by Pharaoh’s soldiers and brought back to slavery in Egypt or worse. Or we could forge ahead and drown in the sea. We all know how the story ended. The sea miraculously parted allowing us to cross safely on dry land.
And when we found ourselves standing on freedom’s shore, Moses’ sister Miriam and all the women took timbrel in hand – tambourines – and burst into a song of praise and thanks. This is the song we sing tonight. This is the Song of the Sea. This is the Sabbath of Song. This is our defining moment when God redeemed us from slavery and we became a people bringing the glories of God to all the peoples of the earth. Miriam’s Song by Debbie Friedman
And each year on this Shabbat we remember our redemption from slavery. While every other verse of Torah is chanted to a special ancient melody, the Song of the Sea has its very own sound, the sound that transforms us back to this defining moment. The Song of the Sea by Corey A. Weiss
The central text of this song is so significant that it is part of the liturgy found in every worship service in Jewish practice. Michamocha ba-eilim Adonai, mikamocha needar bakodesh nora t’hilot oseh feleh. Who is like You among the God’s that are worshipped? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders? The Lord will reign forever and ever.
This text not only defines us as a people, redeemed by God; it also defines the seasons of the year. Listen to how we sing this sacred text when we assemble in synagogues throughout the world for the Jewish New Year. Michamocha S. Sulzer
Here is the special melody for Chanukah Michamocha German Synagogue Melody
This melody is found in Protestant Hymnals that sit in the pews of churches throughout the world. As we have lived in the Diaspora for thousands of years, our music has been influenced by the culture of our hosting country. So listen to this version and think about when and where you think it might have been written. Michamocha Solomoni Rossi
That was written by Solomoni Rossi who was a court musician in 16th century Italy. In addition to his composition for the court, he wrote music for the synagogue in the style of the music of his generation. Interestingly, this was a very anti-Semitic time and he would sign all of his compositions Solomoni Rossi, Hebrew.
The final version of Michamocha is embedded in a beautiful song from The Prince of Egypt, the recent movie version of the Exodus. We hear expressions of thanks and praise at the miracle we witnessed when the seas parted, when we were redeemed from slavery and stood at the shores of the Red Sea, the defining moment when we became a people. When you Believe by Stephen Schwartz
So this Exodus from Egypt, which we recite this week in the annual cycle of Torah readings and repeat each year when we sit down to our Passover Seders, was a defining moment for the Jewish people in our epic story which continues to today. We were redeemed from slavery as a promise from God for ultimate redemption at the end of days. We have to ask ourselves what is taking so long for this promise to be fulfilled? And what is ultimate redemption?
For some people of faith, redemption is the second coming. For some redemption is a return to Zion. There are those who believe that redemption will come when every Jew walking this earth attends Shabbat services two weeks in a row!
When God created the world, God did not complete the act of creation. God created us to act in partnership with the Divine to finish this sacred task – to act in a way that would transform this imperfect world into a world filled with truth and love and peace, a world where in the words of the Prophet Isaiah, “the lion will lie down with the lamb and none shall be afraid.”
We read in our prayerbook –
When will redemption come?
When we master the violence that fills our world.
When we look upon others as we would have them look upon us.
When we grant to every person the rights we claim for ourselves.
Once we were in bondage, then we were free.
In this first liberation, our people saw revealed the power of the Most High.
Michamocha baelim Adonai, Mikamocha needar bakodesh
Nora t’hilot oseh feleh.
They perceived that God’s presence redeems time and event from the hands of tyrants.
We too acclaim the power that makes for freedom.
We sing the song that celebrates our deliverance from Egypt and all bondage.
May the story of our suffering push us to act on behalf of others who suffer, to hear the cry of those who are afflicted, and to know that they, like us, yearn to be free.
Kein y’hi ratson – be this God’s will.
When will redemption come?
When we master the violence that fills our world.
When we look upon others as we would have them look upon us.
When we grant to every person the rights we claim for ourselves.
Once we were in bondage, then we were free.
In this first liberation, our people saw revealed the power of the Most High.
Michamocha baelim Adonai, Mikamocha needar bakodesh
Nora t’hilot oseh feleh.
They perceived that God’s presence redeems time and event from the hands of tyrants.
We too acclaim the power that makes for freedom.
We sing the song that celebrates our deliverance from Egypt and all bondage.
May the story of our suffering push us to act on behalf of others who suffer, to hear the cry of those who are afflicted, and to know that they, like us, yearn to be free.
Kein y’hi ratson – be this God’s will.
No comments:
Post a Comment