Aug 18/07 - Parashat Shoftim: Singing Every Day

Commentary by Chazzan Aníbal Mass

 

"If a Levite moves from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he lives and comes to the place the Lord will choose, he may serve ("sheret" in Hebrew) the Lord his God. He will be like his fellow Levites who serve there before the Lord"

(Deuteronomy 18: 6-7).

Which were the main tasks of the Levites? According to the Bible, they had many tasks: they "assembled and disassembled" the portable Tabernacle (in the desert), assisted the Kohanim in the daily sacrifices and with the incense that accompanied them, educated the children of Israel in the observance of the mitzvot, and so on.

Now then, if we return to the opening verse, is the Torah talking about a task that has not been mentioned previously?

Our sages (T.B. Arachin 11a) interpret it as follows: "... What is the meaning of the words 'to serve the Lord his God?' They respond: ‘singing’ (shir, or song, is the root of sheret)." The song is, according to our rabbis, a "service to God".

We can deduce from this that singing is a norm according to the Torah. But let us also say that music doesn't have to be limited to the environment of the Sanctuary. On the contrary, it should be present in all our places and situations. "Serve God with happiness" is a way to reach our faith and our traditions. It is interesting that our sages see the Exile of Israel as a consequence of "... since you did not serve your God with happiness and kindness of the heart", in accordance with the Biblical approach. Let us notice that the emphasis is not only on serving God, but in not having served Him with happiness and joy.

But, why were the Levites the chosen ones to sing in the Sanctuary? Actually we see that the Children of Jacob, Shimon and Levy, attacked an unprotected city to take revenge against the men of the city who had dishonoured Dina, their sister (see Genesis 34). Four generations later, we see Pinchas, son of Eleazar the priest, from the tribe of Levy, killing a sinner without a trial (see Numbers 25: 7-8). There is a history of some violence and aggressiveness in the tribe of Levy. What does this have to do with song and music?

The Zohar—the book that studies the Torah from a mystic perspective—implies that the purpose of song is to reduce the violent tendencies of the Levites. The truth is that our lives are overwhelmed by violence. There is a constant tension between our dreams and reality. We have obstacles that prevent us from achieving our expectations and we must overcome them to avoid the same mistakes of Shimon and Levy. We have conflicts and crossroads that sometimes generate aggressiveness that is difficult to manage.

And here comes the "healing balm". Here comes the song, the melody, to alleviate the tension, slowly suppressing that violence, re-establishing our bonds with the world, with our environment, with ourselves, with God. Just as it did with the Levites when they entered the Sanctuary.

Shabbat Shalom.