COMMENTARY
BY CANTOR ARLENE BERNSTEIN
APRIL 2005
The Sound Within
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Photo by
Chris Gaines |
In the midst of a sea of the approximately five thousand souls of Beth Israel,
stand some 70-plus young people and adults who comprise the golden sounds
of our worship services. Congregants all, they join together the gift of voice
and instrument and bring God’s presence into our sanctuary in powerfully moving
moments. Whether it is the soft conversation of violin and cello calling us
to worship or the piano, guitar and multiple drum beats driving us to raise
our voices, and infusing the sanctuary rafters with praise, longing and joy,
or the sounds of voices from six years and up bathing the congregation in
a wash of holiness, like the dew that kisses the earth, CBI is being renewed
in spirit each time we hear them.
They are one sound within.
Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav said,
… You should know that for every shepherd
and shepherdess, every blade of grass … each of them have a special niggun
[a melody without words] that is their special signature … and that niggun
comes from the heart …
Each of you have that special melody, that niggun that defines your soul – the
essence of your being. When that melody transforms itself into the sound of your
own voice within the sacred walls of our sanctuary, you are the other sound within.
And when two melodies, two niggunim find each other as they do in marriages,
friendships and communities, they create a symphony of sound, the likes of which
are unique in the world. You have a unique opportunity each week, whether on
Erev Shabbat or Shabbat Morning to add your voice to create renewed spirit.
You don’t need to know all the words of the prayers. You don’t need to know how to sing. You only need to know how much you are adding to the spirit of the universe, the healing of bodies and souls and the joy that you will increase for us all when you participate.
The sound you add is holy. The sound you add makes a difference for us all.
You are the other sound within.
Help us renew our spirit.
Cantor Arlene Bernstein
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