Wordless Verses

“Music touches us in a place that’s beyond the rational mind,” writes Rabbi Naomi Levy, “and it reaches into the heart.” She continues:

It is the language of the soul. We’ve all had the experience of knowing how a piece of music is a prayer in itself, without the words attached. We can pray through the music itself.
— in Making Prayer Real by Rabbi Mike Comins, p.72 (details)

 
This quote comes in a chapter on “Engaging the Body.” Comins counts music and chant as methods for approaching mochin d’gadlut [expanded consciousness] — “the open, mature, listening, caring state of awareness that is considered in itself an experience of divine presence,” opposed to mochin d’katnut [small consciousness] of self-occupation and self-interest (ibid p.250).

In the same chapter, Rabbi Diane Elliot says:

When I take the time to work with a word or a phrase — chanting it in my own time, rolling it around in my mouth, and letting it move through my whole body — then when I say the phrase quickly, all of that backstory is there for me. It can move me into a stream of consciousness.
— ibid, p.74

In the spirit of both ideas — the power of music alone, and the power of backstory — I share this musical piece, which is wordless until 2:51. For those who recognize the tune, the instrumental section will likely have a “backstory” of some kind; for others, especially those who do not know Hebrew, perhaps the listening (prayer) experience will be quite different.

If anyone would like to share their impressions of the music, as music alone and/or as a meditation on Psalm 30, please either include in the comments or write separately to songeveryday at gmail.

More to come on this particular tune, as well as more on music and Psalm 30.

10 of 30 on Psalm 30
As a National Novel Writing Month Rebel, I write each day of November while not aiming to produce a novel. This year I focus on Psalm 30 (“Thirty on Psalm 30”) in the hope that its powerful language will help us through these days of turmoil and toward something new, stronger and more joyful, as individuals and as community. Whole series (so far)…apologies for multiple-post days as my blog catches up with my notes.


Making Prayer Real: Leading Jewish Spiritual Voices on Why Prayer is Difficult and What to Do About It by Rabbi Mike Comins (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights, 2010). More about the book and Rabbi Comins’ teaching at Making Prayer Real website.