The Kosher Bookworm: Alan Jay Gerber

A literary lead-up to the High Holidays

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As a follow-up to last week’s essay on music and its role in our faith’s observances, consider the following sent to me this week by one of Israel’s leading theologians, Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo, entitled, “The Divine Word Is Deadly, Only A Melody Can Rescue It.”

“The function of music is to connect the Word with Heaven. It is not so much the music that man plays on an instrument or sings, but the music of his soul, which is externalized through the use of an instrument or song. It leads man to the edge of the infinite and allows him to gaze, just for a few moments, into the Other.

“Music is the art of word exegesis. While a word on its own is dead, it is resurrected when touched by music. Music is the refutation of human finality. As such, it is the sweetness that G-d added to His Word when the Word alone was wreaking havoc. It is able to revive man when he dies as he is confronted with the bare Word at Sinai. Life without music is death — poignantly bitter when one realizes that one has never really lived.”

When one reads these lines one should consider seriously what our services would be like if they were without melody and song. There are religious traditions in this world which do conduct themselves in plain verse, silence, or speech without the tune that would make for a deeper mental, intellectual and emotional response to the content of the liturgy. Their numbers are small, and for good reason. I leave it to you to go figure out why.

The word “piyut” plays a crucial role in the liturgy of the High Holiday service. Recently, Yeshiva University, together with Maggid Books, published the latest volume in their “Mitoch Ha’ohel” series, this one subtitled, “From Within The Tent: The Weekday Prayers.”

While this work focuses upon the everyday liturgy, an interesting essay by Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman, M.D., of Woodmere, does touch upon the importance of the Rosh Hashanah liturgical construct.

In “The Anatomy of Prayer,” Dr. Reichman touches upon an interesting historial and literary sidelight. As you read the following, remember that Rabbi Reichman is a medical doctor as well a rabbi, which might help explain the title of his essay as well as the content of what is to follow.

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