Sir Anthony Gormley, 'Another Place', 2005 (One hundred Cast-Iron Figures)Crosby Beach, Liverpool, U.K.

FINDING OUR VOICESTherefore Let Us Sing A New Song!

Beth Huppin & Rabbi Samuel KleinApril 2 2020

I. Breath before Speech

1. Genesis 2:7 בראשית ב:זAnd Hashem, God, formed the human, of dust from the soil, God blew into his nostrilsthe breath of life and the human became a living being.

וייצר יהוה אלהים את-האדם, עפר מן-האדמה, ויפח באפיו, נשמת חיים; ויהי

האדם, לנפש חיה.

2. Targum Onqelos Genesis 2:7 תרגום אונקלוס בראשית ב:זAnd Hashem, God, formed the human, of the dust from the soil, God blew into his nostrils the breath of life and the human became a being that communicates.

וברא יי אלהים ית אדם עפרא מן ארעאונפח באפוהי נשמתא דחיי והות באדם

:לרוח ממללא

3. Rashi Genesis 2:7 רש"י בראשית ב:זA living being - even domestic animals andwild animals were called "a living being," but what distinguishes human from them is that, additionally, the human has knowledge (understanding) and speech.

- אף בהמה וחיה נקראו ז לנפש חיהנפש חיה, אך זו של אדם חיה שבכולן,

:דעה ודבורשנתוסף בו

4. Elana Stein Hain, “Soul and Breath”: A Prayer (March 18, 2020)

”נשמה ורוח“

Lord of souls and breaths,We seek out Your face, and Your spirit to hover over the deep that has opened upTo breathe into us once again the breath of lifeFor we are in great travail – all who bear the breath of lifeAnd we do not know what to do

אדון הנשמות והנשימותמבקשים אנו את פניך ואת רוחך לרחף

על פני התהום שנפתחלהפיח בנו עוד נשמת חיים

כי בצרה גדולה אנחנוכל אשר נשמת רוח חיים באפיו ובאפיה

ואנחנו לא נדע מה נעשה

II. Song, Exalted Speech

5. The Soul of Every Living Being .... נשמת כל חיThe soul of every living being shall blessYour name, Lord our God; and the spiritof all flesh shall always glorify and exaltYour remembrance, our Ruler. Frometernity to eternity, You are God, andother than You we have no Ruler,Redeemer, or Savior, who liberates,rescues, sustains and shows uscompassion in every time of distress andanguish. We have no Ruler but you ...

נשמת כל חי תברך את שמך ה' אלוהינוורוח כל בשר תפאר ותרומם זכרך מלכנו תמיד

מן העולם ועד העולם אתה אלומבלעדיך אין לנו מלך גואל ומושיע פודה

ומציל ומפרנס ומרחם בכל עת צרה וצוקה איןלנו מלך אלא אתה

6. Were Our Mouths ... אלו פינו מלא שירה כיםWere our mouths as full of song as the sea,and our tongue as full of jubilation as amyriad waves, if our lips were full of praiselike the spacious heavens, and our eyesshone like the sun and moon, and ourhands as outstretched as eagles of the sky,and our feet as swift as hinds – we still couldnot thank You sufficiently, Lord our God andGod of our ancestors or bless Your name foreven one of the thousand thousand, thou-sands of thousands, and myriad myriads offavors You did for our ancestors and us. Youredeemed us from Egypt, Lord our God,and liberated us from the house ofbondage ...

אלו פינו מלא שירה כיםולשוננו רנה כהמון גליו

ושפתותינו שבח כמרחבי רקיעועינינו מאירות כשמש וכירחוידינו פרושות כנשרי שמים

ורגלינו קלות כאילותאין אנחנו מספיקים להודות לך ה' אלהינו

ואלהי אבותינוולברך את שמך

על אחת מאלף אלף אלפי אלפים ורבי רבבותפעמים הטובות שעשית עם אבותינו ועמנוממצרים גאלתנו ה' אלהינו ומבית עבדים

פדיתנו

7. Therefore, the Organs ..... על כן אברים שפלגת בנוTherefore the organs You formed within us,the spirit and soul You breathed into ournostrils and the tongue You placed in ourmouth – they will thank and bless, praiseand glorify, exalt and esteem, sanctify anddo homage to Your name O our Ruler.

על כן אברים שפלגת בנוורוח ונשמה שנפחת באפנו

ולשון אשר שמת בפינוהן הם יודו ויברכו וישבחו ויפארו וירוממוויעריצו ויקדישו וימליכו את שמך מלכנו

III. Songline Through the Sea

8. Exodus Chapter 15 שמות טו15 Then sang Moses and the children ofIsrael this song unto the Lord, and spake,saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hathtriumphed gloriously: the horse and his riderhath he thrown into the sea.20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

אז השירהישירא את ישראל ובני משה

גאה כי לה אשירה לאמר ויאמרו לה הזאת

גאה סוס ורכבו רמה בים

התףכ את אהרן אחות הנביאה מרים ותקח

בתפים אחריה הנשים כל ותצאן בידה

ובמחלת.

גאהכא גאה כי לה שירו מרים להם ותען

סוס ורכבו רמה בים

9. Commentary of Rashi to Exodus 15:1 רש"י שמות טו:אTHEN SANG MOSES — with regard to theusage of the future ,ישיר the meaning is:THEN — i.e. when he saw the miracle it en-tered his mind that HE WOULD SING asong. ישיר here signifies: his heart told him thathe should sing, and thus did he actually do

:אז כשראה הנס עלה בלבואז ישיר משה

שישיר שירה

: אמר לו לבו שישיר, וכן עשהישיר

10. Excerpt from "Place a Cup for Miriam"Esther Shkalim, Israeli Poet (1954-)

שימו כוס למרים

On Seder night

Place a cup for Miriam

First among women prophets

From her were drawn

Vigorous (waters) to slake the thirst!

בליל הסדרשימו כוס למרים

הנביאההראשה

ממנה נשאבתעצומות לרויה...

11. Adapted from R. Tamara Cohen "Miriam's Cup Blessing" (1996)

There are many legends about Miriam’s Well. It is said to have been a magical source of waterthat followed the Israelites for 40 years because of the merit of Miriam. The waters of this wellwere said to be healing and sustaining. Thus Miriam’s Cup is a symbol of all that sustains usthrough our own journeys, while Elijah’s Cup is a symbol of a future Messianic time.

12. Avivah Gottleib Zornberg, The Particulars of Rapture (2001) p.214

Their fate hangs in the balance. As they run along the miraculous corridors betweenthe surging waters, they sense the pursuit of the Egyptians and also the plagues ofdisease from which they are assured of no immunity ... Terror, anguish, the knowledgethat their lives tremble on the verge -- these are the modes in which the sages conveythe experience of those ominous corridors.

13. Avivah Gottleib Zornberg, The Particulars of Rapture (2001) p.218

[...] it is while in the suspense and anxiety of the crossing that Moses suddenly finds it in

his heart to sing. the meeting of terror and joy, destruction and birth, takes the people

beyond the normal places of speech [...] The mysterium tremendum that is the entry into

the Sea, the tearing apart of the Sea, the birth of fearful energies held in tension as Israel

crosses -- this reduces the people to speechlessness. And it is from the heart of that silence that Moses conceives of a Song. What is uncontainable and inexpressible, he

put to words that are written in the Torah. What remains unwritten of course, is the

melody that gives voice to the mystery.

14. David Brooks, On Conquering Fear, NYT Opinion, (April 3, 2015)

Once people start speaking to each other and telling stories to each other, theygenerate alternate worlds. A story isn’t an argument or a collection of data. It containsmultiple meanings that can be discussed, questioned and reinterpreted ... Storytellingbecomes central to conquering fear. It’s a way of naming and making sense of fear andimagining different routes out. Storytellers expand the consciousness, waken thesleeping self and give their hearers the words and motifs to use for themselves. Jews tellthe story of the Exodus each generation to understand the fears they feel at thatmoment. Stories create new ways of seeing, which lead to new ways of feeling andthinking ...After the plagues, Pharaoh is compelled to accept the truth of the story that Moses hasbeen telling about his people. The Israelites are now strong enough to make the leapfrom bondage. The nature of that leap is illustrated by an incident that takes place at thestart. The normal version of this episode is that God parts the Red Sea, the Israelitescross, the Egyptians are engulfed and then the Israelites sing in celebration. But thealternate version is that the Israelites are singing at the moment of crossing. Theyare not singing in celebration. They are singing in defiance of terror.

15. Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev (1740–1809)Trans. R. Jonathan Slater

קדושת לוי פרשת בשלח

“Then sang Moses and the Israelites this song to the Lord, they said to say: [‘I will sing to Adonai, for God has triumphed gloriously; horse and driver God has hurled into the sea’]” (Ex. 15:1)

The primary experience of joy is in the heart. So, why do we feel compelled to speak and sing when we feel joy? The reason is that the joy in the heart is felt only for a short period, anhour or so; but, when we put the joy we feel into words, those words affect us in turn, and the joy expands.

This is how it was for Israel when the Sea split before them. They wanted to increase their joy and delight in their Creator, and they didn’t want this joy to cease. Therefore they opened to the realm of speech, and divine beings joined in singing to Him (cf. Ps. 29:1), to increase their joy. This is the intent of our verse:“Then sang – they said to say (az yashir – vayomeru leimor)” – they “said” words in order that they will be able “to say” even more. (If we do not interpret in this manner, then the concluding word “to say (leimor)” makes no sense; all of the people sang together, so to whom would this have been addressed?)

אז ישיר משה ובני ישראל את השירה הזאת

לה' ויאמרו לאמר (שמות טו, א)

יש להבין דהא עיקר השמחה הוא בלב ואם

כן מה צורך לדבר ולשיר בעת השמחה.

והענין הוא, דהשמחה שבלב היתה נפסקת

לשעה או ליותר אבל כשהאדם מדבר

דיבורים בעת שמחתו השמחה מתפעלת

ונתרבה יותר ויותר

ולכן עם בני ישראל כשנקרע הים לפניהם רצו

להרבות השמחה ולהשתעשע עם בוראם

ושלא להפסיק על כן נכנסו לגדר הדיבור

ושוררו לו בני אלים בכדי להרבות התענוג.

וזהו פירוש הפסוק אז ישיר כו' ויאמרו לאמר,

רצה לומר שאמרו דיבורים בכדי לאמר יותר

ויותר

וזולת זה אין למלת לאמר הבנה דהא כולם

אמרו והאיך שייך כאן לאמר לאחרים

IV. As I am UnMusicked, I Must Be ReMusicked

16. Sacred Fire, Torah from the Years of Fury, Rabbi Kalonymos Kalmish Shapira, Piacezna Rebbe, B'Shalach January 31 - 1942 [trans. J. Hershy Worch]

– מאדמו"ר מפיסצנהספר אש קודשבשלח תש"ב

Everyone acheived a state of prophecy and

they could sing without first hearing the

words from our teacher Moses. So when

our teacher Moses started to sing they were

able to sing the words along with him. This

was not the case however when they were

still in Egypt. There, though the people

wanted to sing and praise God, they had

not acheived the high level of prophecy, so

they had to listen to Moses and respond

after him.

אז יוכלו הם באצמם גם כן לומר השירה אף שלא שמע אותה ממשה רבינו וכשפתח

משה רבינו גם הם אמרו עמו יחדמה שאין כן כשעודם במצרים ורצו לומר

שירות ותשבחות להשלא היו במדרגה גדולה כזו

הוצרכו לשמוע ממשה רבינו ולענות אחריו

17. Avivah Gottleib Zornberg, The Particulars of Rapture (2001) p.244

The essential attribute for spiritual health, R. Nachman characteristically declares, is "joy"

[...] Music arises from joy, but the power of a "true singing" comes from sadness. In every

niggun there is the tension of the struggle between life and death, between falling and

rising: the tremolo that marks the human voice. This means the affirmation of a line

(Shira [song] Shura [Line]) that threads through the waste places. The revelation of a

good place, of inspiration and attaraction, is not sufficient since "It will end". It is the

continuum, the vibrating thread, that generates "true singing"...

18. Christain Wiman, My Bright Abyss, Meditation of a Modern Believer (2014) p.19. Quoted in "Song of the Sea: Making a Space for Joy and Sorrow", Zach Truboff, (Lehrhaus.com, April 24, 2019) [Delivered as a Yizkor Sermon on the Last Day of Pesach 2019]

Sorrow is so woven through us, so much a part of our souls, or at least anyunderstanding of our souls that we are able to attain, that every experience is dyed withits color. That is why even in moments of joy, part of that joy is the seams of ore that areour sorrow. They burn darkly and beautifully in the midst of joy, and they make joy thecomplete experience that it is. But they still burn.

19. R. Zach Truboff, "Song of the Sea: Making a Space for Joy and Sorrow", (Lehrhaus.com, April 24, 2019) [Delivered as a Yizkor Sermon on the Last Day of Pesach 2019]

We lost our twins just days before Shabbat Shirah, the Sabbath of Song, when the Songof the Sea is read. At the time, I found comfort in a midrash that during the Song of theSea, even the babies still inside their pregnant mothers raised their voices in song withthe Jewish people. It enabled me to realize that even in the short time that our twinswere present in our lives, they too were part of the Jewish people. They contributedtheir voices if only briefly to the Divine symphony that we strive to sing. Rebbe Nahmanteaches that even their absence is part of the song. Absence when consciouslyremembered creates its own unique form of presence, and if we listen closely, we canhear how even the absence of our loved ones adds to the harmony of the Jewishpeople.

20. Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 5b תלמוד בבלי ברכות ה:R. Johanan once fell ill and R. Hanina went in tovisit him. He said to him: Are your sufferings welcome to you? He replied: Neither they nor their reward. He said to him: Give me your hand. He gave him his hand and he raised him. Why could not R. Johanan raise himself?— They replied: The prisoner cannot free himself from jail.

רבי יוחנן חלש, על לגביה רבי חנינא. אמר ליה: חביבין עליך יסורין? אמר

ליה: לא הן ולא שכרן. אמר ליה: הב לי ידך! יהב ליה ידיה ואוקמיה. אמאי?

לוקים רבי יוחנן לנפשיה! - אמרי: אין חבוש מתיר עצמו מבית האסורים.

21. Psalms 115:17-18 (Haggadah Text) תהילים קטו“Neither do the dead praise God, nor they whodescend into silence; but we will praise God from now unto the world. Hallelujah”

לא המתים יהללו יהולא כל ירדי דומה

ואנחנו נברך יה, מעתה ועד עולם - הללויה

22. Commentary on Passover 1941, Sacred Fire, Rabbi Kalonymos Kalmish Shapira (Rebbe of Piacezna) translated by J. Hershy Worch, pg 181.

אש קודש מפרוש לפסח תש"א

Who are “they who descend into silence”? They who go silent and inarticulate to their deaths, who do not sing God’s praises with their lives. But we who sing God’s praises in this world “will praise God from now unto the world. Hallelujah!” because we will still be singing His praises in the future world.

"ולא כל יורדי דומה", אותם שיורדים אל המות

בדממה, ובחייהם אינם משבחים את ד',אבל

"אנחנו שנברך י-ה בעולם הזה" אז מעתה ועד

עולם הלליוה גם שם בעולם הבא.

23. Oliver Sacks, Awakenings (1990) p.60 note 45 [From the section describing Frances D.]This power of music to integrate and cure, to liberate the Parkinsonian and give him freedom while it lasts (‘You are the music/while the music lasts,’ T. S. Eliot), is quite fundamental, and seen in every patient. This was shown beautifully, and discussed with great insight, by Edith T., a former music teacher. She said that she had become ‘graceless’ with the onset of Parkinsonism, that her movements had become ‘wooden, mechanical – like a robot or doll’, that she had lost her former ‘naturalness’ and musickness’ of movement, that – in a word – she had been ‘unmusicked’. Fortunately, she added, the disease was ‘accompanied by its own cure’. I raised an eyebrow: ‘Music’, she said, ‘as I am unmusicked, I must be remusicked.’ Often, she said, she would find herself ‘frozen’, utterly motionless, deprived of the power, the impulse, the thought, of any motion; she felt at such times ‘like a still photo, a frozen frame’ – a mere optical flat, without substance or life. In this state, this statelessness, this timeless irreality, she would remain, motionless-helpless, until music came: ‘Songs, tunes I knew from years ago, catchy tunes, rhythmic tunes, the sort I loved to dance to.’ With this sudden imagining of music, this coming of spontaneous inner music, the power of motion, action, would suddenly return, and the sense of substance and restored personality and reality; now, as Edith T. put it, she could ‘dance out of frame’, the flat frozen visualness in which she was trapped, and move freely and gracefully: ‘It was like suddenly remembering myself, my own living tune.’

24. Avivah Gottleib Zornberg, The Particulars of Rapture p.246

On the way to Mount Sinai, it seems that the Israelites too, must be remusicked. Their

music is to be, like Miriam's Well, a contiguous accompaniment, rolling through

vicissitudes, connecting the disjoined moments of Joy ... The work of Miriam's Well is to

trace a songline through the forty-year long indirection that is the Wilderness narrative ...

Day after Day, they are to become attuned to the inner music that will allow them to

move spontaneously, from a newly powerful center. This is the work of "Remusicking":

thoughts and questions, fears and fantasies are to be given free play, while the habit of

pure desire takes hold of their bodies. Given world enough and and time, the vibrations

of a new music may liberate them from the decrees of Egypt.

VI. Therefore Let Us Sing a New Song!

25. "Out of the Darkness, On Pesach, Stigma and the Redemption of Speech" R. Yosef Goldman, Shabbat Hagadol 5775, March 28 2015Rav Kook teaches that there are two types of speech. There is the worldly, mundane,everyday speech. And then there is a higher speech, a holy speech. Through this speechGod created the world and God instilled in us the potential to access this holy speech. Inan essay entitled ‘The Redemption of Speech,’ Rav Kook writes that, “Sometimes we cansense the connection between our speech and the universe… As our soul is elevated,we become acutely aware of the tremendous power that lies in our faculty of speech. Werecognize clearly the tremendous significance of each utterance.” (Orot Hakodesh vol III)

Pesach is the festival of finding our voices, of redemption through speech,of haggadah, of envisioning ourselves as redeemed and using holy speech to tell ourstories. The stories we tell possess great power. The stories we tell about ourselvesbecome the form through which we view our lives and our identities. They constitute ourmemories and determine the meaning we find in our lives. We can choose to reclaimour own stories, to look beyond the lenses of shame and of stigma to tell stories that arelife-affirming and healing, to tell stories that are truly redemptive and shift our collectivenarratives. When you tell your story, you never know who will be touched by your words.You never know when telling your story might save someone’s life.

26. Shir Meruba, The Fourfold Song, A.Y.H. Kook (1865-1935) [Trans. Bezalel Naor]

The Song of the SelfThere is one who sings the song of his own life, and in himself he finds everything, his full spiritual satisfaction.

יש שהוא שר שירת נפשו, ובנפשו הוא מוצאאת הכל, את מלא הסיפוק הרוחני

במילואו

The Song of the PeopleThere is another who sings the song of her people. She leaves the circle of her own individual self, because she finds it without sufficient breadth, without an idealistic basis. She aspires towards the heights, and she attaches herself with a gentle love to the whole community of Israel. Together with Israel she sings her songs. She feels grieved over her afflictions and delights in her hopes. She contemplates noble and pure thoughts about her past and her future, and probes with love and wisdom her inner spiritual essence.

ויש שהוא שר שירת האומה, יוצא הוא .מתוך המעגל של נפשו הפרטית,

שאינו מוצא אותה מרוחבת כראוי ולאמיושבת ישוב אידיאלי, שואף למרומיעז, והוא מתדבק באהבה עדינה עםכללותה של כנסת ישראל, ועמה הוא

שר את שיריה, מצר בצרותיה,ומשתעשע בתקוותיה, הוגה דעותעליונות וטהורות על עברה ועל

עתידה, וחוקר באהבה ובחכמת לבאת תוכן רוחה הפנימי

The Song of HumanityThere is another who reaches toward more distant realms, and he goes beyond the boundary of Israel to sing the song of humanity.His spirit extends to the wider vistas of the majesty of humankind, and their noble essence.He aspires toward humanity's general goal and looks forward toward their higher perfection. From the source of life he draws the subjects ofhis meditation and study, his aspiration and his visions.

ויש אשר עוד תתרחב נפשו עד שיוצאומתפשט מעל גבול ישראל, לשיר את

שירת האדם, רוחו הולך ומתרחבבגאון כללות האדם והוד צלמו, שואף

אל תעודתו הכללית ומצפהלהשתלמותו העליונה, וממקור חייםזה הוא שואב את כללות הגיונותיו

ומחקריו, שאיפותיו וחזיונותיו

The Song of Existence

Then there is one who rises toward wider hori-zons, until she links herself with all existence, with all God's creatures, with all worlds, and she sings her song with all of them. It is of sucha one as this that tradition has said that whoev-er sings a portion of song each day is assured of having a share in the world to come.

ויש אשר עוד מזה למעלה ברוחב יתנשא, עדשמתאחד עם כל היקום כולו, עם כלהבריות, ועם כל העולמים, ועם כולם

אומר שירהזה הוא העוסק בפרק שירה בכל יום שמובטח לו שהוא בן העולם הבא

[מסכת ברכות יז ע"א

All Songs Co-joined

And then there is one who rises with all these songs in one ensemble, and they all join their voices. Together they sing their songs with beauty, each one lends vitality and life to the other. They are sounds of joy and gladness, sounds of jubilation and celebration, sounds of ecstacy and holiness

ויש אשר עולה עם כל השירים הללו ביחדבאגודה אחת, וכולם נותנים את קולותיהם,

כולם יחד מנעימים את זמריהם, וזה לתוך זהנותן לשד וחיים, קול ששון וקול שמחה, קול.צהלה וקול רנה, קול חדוה וקול קדושה

The Song of Songs

And this simplicity in its fullness rises to be-come a song of holiness, the song of God, The song of Israel…Yisrael - Shir El. It is a single song, a double song, a threefold song, and a fourfold song. It is the Song of Songs of Solomon, the "Song of Songs which is Solomon's" (Cant. 1:1), the King to Whom Peace belongs.

והתמימות הזאת במילואה עולה היא להיותשירת קודש, שירת אל, שירת ישראל, בעוצםעזה ותפארתה, בעוצם אמתה וגדלה, ישראלשיר אל, שיר פשוט, שיר כפול, שיר משולש,שיר מרובע. שיר השירים אשר לשלמה למלך

שהשלום שלו

27. Sir Anthony Gormley, 'Another Place', 2005 (One hundred Cast-Iron Figures)Crosby Beach, Liverpool, U.K.

28. Tens of Thousands, Assembled ... (Haggadah Text, hyperlink to You Tube Video )

ובמקהלות רבבות עמך With Musical Arrangement by R. Yosef

Goldman with the Hadar Ensemble (2017)

And in the assemblies of tens of thousands of your people, the house of Israel, with joy-ous song, shall your name our Ruler, be glorified in every generation!

ובמקהלות רבבות עמך בית ישראל ברנהיתפאר שמך מלכנו בכל דור ודור

29. Sir Anthony Gormley, interview with the Artist (2015)"The Sefton Council Directory" website: Sefton.gov.uk

"I always wanted this to be an open work. The sculptures that comprise ANOTHERPLACE are not statues of ideal or heroic figures from history, they are simply copies ofmy own body that I used to indicate a human space in space at large. In 2005, when theworks were first installed on Crosby, I loved the way they took their place so wellamongst the great drainage outflow pipes, the estuary and the passing ships.

Here is a beach where art and life intermingled, where questions would naturally arise of who we are, where do we come from and where are we going?"