From the Rabbi's Study
In Honor of Jewish Music Month/Shabbat Shirah
by Rabbi Elizabeth Bolton

A member recently asked me about my journey towards the rabbinate. As my answer unfolded, I was reminded about another question I am asked far more frequently: namely, why did I not become a cantor!

The answer to each question is, in essence, the same. For me, and for many, music is the gateway to the soul. It is my path of creative and spiritual expression and the means through which many moments in my Jewish life are most deeply experienced. It's the way I integrate all of my selves.

I always sang. I remember some kind of girls' retreat out in the country, perhaps through B'nai Brith. Many aspects of the memory are fuzzy, like the content of the program, how old I was and who the leaders were. But I remember the songs that were playing on the jukebox and I clearly remember harmonizing on the bus, especially because one of the older girls patted me on the head, remarking, "How cute" when I made up harmonies to "Four Strong Winds" or "Leaving on a Jet Plane."

My impulse to sing, and play piano, didn't necessarily have much opportunity for expression in a Jewish context, though. I always loved ritual and services. I was only able to pick up as much as I could absorb from the other side of the mehitza, the physical divider between the men's and women's sides of the sanctuary. But in Hebrew school we davenned mincha every Tuesday and Thursday where I enjoyed chanting the rhythmic phrases of the amidah.

Though I always knew that music would remain central to my life, I had no idea upon arriving at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College as a student with a previous career in classical singing that I would be able to integrate all of my skills there so fully. From starting a choir, to teaching singing, to joining the faculty upon graduation as the instructor of hazzanut/cantorial arts, that experience was a tremendous blessing.

Here too, at Beit Tikvah, I feel blessed by the opportunity to "make a joyful noise" with the members of Kol Tikvah, our community choir. What happens when we sing together, both in rehearsal and when we present our songs, is truly ….. I can't quite conjure up a single word. Here are a few:

Integration. Creating music with folks who just love to sing, and sing together, brings the strands of who we are, and all of our individual parts, together in a way that powerfully transcends differences in skill level, age, outlook, temperament… well, you get the idea.

Celebration. Whether it's a holiday, an event or Shabbat; the joining together of young voices with older, experienced musicians or those new to the choral experience; the songs and their message; the warm ups that relax while creating energy -- what happens when we sing together is joy-full.

Old-New. There's not even a single word for this concept! Rav Kook said: "The old shall be new, the new shall be holy." We use a very old form and style – group singing with a leader/conductor in canon, in harmony or in unison – and pour into it new forms and styles, through new compositions and arrangements, or simply heartily rendering our favorites.

Annually, January/February brings Jewish Music Month, to overlap with the week called Shabbat Shirah/the Sabbath of song. The Song of the Sea, found in Parshat Beshallach, is chanted. It is the passage that celebrates the crossing of the Red Sea, the release from slavery to freedom and the creative impulse that resides deep in our collective soul (This year, it is also the same Shabbat date as Tu B'Shvat, the Festival of the Trees!).

Listen to Jewish music – try the web or our local Judaica shops. Sing Jewish music – in services, with your children, maybe with Kol Tikvah. Anyway you can, make a joyful noise this Jewish Music Month.