Since the time of the Jewish people’s redemption from Egypt, the world has been waiting again for us to sing Shira, The Song.
If we want to bring about a transformation of the Jewish people and the world, both internally and externally, we need to be connected to Shira, and connected to The Song.
What does Shira mean? Shira means several things.
Shira is a poem. A spoken word poem expressing the deepest feelings of our hearts and souls. On that day that the Jewish people were redeemed, rescued from their oppressors, they sang poetically the famous Shir Shel Yam, the Song of the Sea.
We were all so moved by the young poet Amanda Gorman on the steps of the Capitol who delivered the inaugural poem. Her words had a transformative effect on all those who listened.
So if a poem like that can have power, can you imagine the transformative power of the glorious poem the Jewish people sang/spoke/offered as they were redeemed from crushing slavery and oppression, and rescued miraclously by God? It’s beyond words. It's the words wrapped in a voice, wrapped in a miracle.
Can you imagine the reverberations of a nation erupting in poetry?
The Children of Israel offered, עָזִּ֤י וְזִמְרָת֙ יָ֔-הּ וַֽיְהִי־לִ֖י לִֽישׁוּעָ֑ה “My strength and song is God, and this is my deliverance.” (Shemot 15:2). I still get goosebumps when I say those words daily with kavanah/intention every morning.
Shira is also a song or singing. When kindergarteners gather together to sing, not to perform for their parents, but to sing for their teacher during song time — do you remember that beautiful sound, and can you see the wonderful sight? The children sing without thinking about if they have a good voice or not. They are not so concerned if they are on the right key. They sing/shout the words a little fast, a little slow. They sing carefree, unconcerned what others may think, from a place connected to their souls. We have to learn to sing from children.
When we sing, our voices unite together; it's a physical manifestation of how our souls are all tied together and all originate in the same place.
If we want to transform ourselves and the world we have to sing together, and not be concerned if we all sing on key or know all the words.
In Hebrew, the word Shira can also mean a caravan or a train. Shira is something that is drawn. The Sfas Emes explains that Shira is to be drawn to the source of life. When the Jewish people sang at the Red Sea, did they sing because they were experiencing a wondrous miracle? Yes, on one level, they sang from the sheer joy of the redemption.
On a deeper level, the Jewish people sang because through the miracle they were drawn to a higher level of faith and knowledge about God. They were drawn to a new realization that God’s involvement with the world is ever present and constant. In turn their realization that the world is constantly benefiting from God’s beneficence and constant involvement, caused the rest of creation to sing Shira as well.
So we want to help transform the Jewish people and the world? Join together in Shira.
When the Jewish people are connected to their source, they prioritize their lives, giving, energy, and time differently.
When the Jewish people are connected in song — and it hurts so much that we cannot be together at the moment singing these songs in person but we will be together very soon — we recognize our commonality and connectedness, we reduce conflict and radiate joy.
When we sing together to our Creator and world, the whole world begins to sing along with us too.
When we are happy, it’s infectious in a good way. When we are full of gratitude it's infectious in a good way.
But if we all go down the street singing and talking to God, people are going to walk away from us, not towards us. That's one of those crazy things. You see a child singing as they walk with their parents down the streets, and it's cute and makes you smile.
You see an adult singing and talking to God as they walk down the street and you walk as fast as possible to the other side of the road.
One of the ways that we can inspire our community and the world is by singing Shira, not in a way that will get us funny looks, but singing Shira by recognizing Godliness in everything and all creation.
Shira is recognizing the daily miracles of everyday life and existence. It’s sharing that poem, that smile, that gratitude, and offering assistance to those around us.
You want the whole world to love Jews and to reverse antisemitism?
We need more Shira.
When the Jewish people are inspired, and connected to their source, more of the world will sing Shira too. More of the world will see Godliness and goodness.
If we as a people are connected to Shira, if we desire unity over divisiveness and sectarian division— we will inspire all the world to sing.
If we are connected to the source of life, if we recognize that everything comes from God, and we are not made great by what we can get, but we are made great by what we can give — we will inspire all the world to sing.
If we are singing inside, if we speak to God in prayer every day, and meditate on the words of the Shema, — Listen, Israel, God the Eternal is in charge, and God the Eternal is One — we will inspire all the world to sing.
If we are loving outside, if we measure our words, transforming anger into praise, expressing deep appreciation, seeing Godliness in everyone, especially those who we disagree with, collect tzedakah for the needy and food for the hungry — we will inspire all the world to sing.
And when we inspire the world to sing, the entire world will experience a powerful redemption, a level of awareness of Creation unseen since the days the Jewish people were redeemed from slavery and crossed through the Red Sea.
We don't have time to wait — we don’t have the luxury of waiting for someone else to make it happen.
The world needs us to sing Shira now.
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Rabbi Yonah Bookstein is co-founder of Pico Shul Alevy Learning Center, and director of Shabbat Tent, and Kesher Institute.