Celebrating and Connecting Through Song and Dance

It might be just me, but music and poetry have the power to transport me through time and make me feel emotions from different periods of my life. Some songs from the early 1980s, for example, instantly transport me to the back seat of my parents’ car at the start of my adolescence, bringing back that unique mix of emotions so characteristic of that age. Choref 73 (Winter of 73) revives the tears I shed in the late 1990s, when I was living in Israel and the country was struggling to recover from the trauma of Yitzhak Rabin’s z”l assassination. Some songs stir feelings of indignation, excitement, and political activism. Others awaken our romantic side, and there are those that help us mend a broken heart.

There are also songs of collective celebration. I’ve heard that when South African teams win major championships, “Shosholoza” is the song that best captures the joy and excitement of these moments. Watching videos of the street celebrations after the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup in 2023, I could clearly see the pride and national unity it evoked.

Now try to imagine how the Israelites must have felt as they crossed the Sea of Reeds and, upon reaching the other shore, realised they were finally safe after centuries of oppression and enslavement. When I try to picture that moment, I see an explosion of happiness and relief, a crowd almost out of control, crying, singing, dancing—some in absolute ecstasy, others struggling to believe what was happening.

This Shabbat’s parashah includes Shirat haYam, the song Moses, Miriam, and the people sang after they had crossed the Sea of Reeds. According to scholars, it is one of the oldest sections of the Torah, and its unique layout on a scroll resembles concrete poetry. (Come to shul on Saturday morning to see it for yourself!) It is a song of victory, expressing gratitude for God's redemption of the Israelites and, at the same time, a sense of satisfaction over the fate of their oppressors, the Egyptians.

All things considered, Shirat haYam reveals the humanity of the Israelites, celebrating with song and dance as they embrace the new reality of freedom. Even though these events happened thousands of years ago, the poetry of the text and the many melodies created for it over the centuries can transport us to that very moment and to the raw emotions it elicited. This is the power of music and poetry, as well as of tradition and ritual: they connect us to previous generations, allowing us to feel their emotions and celebrate their victories.

May this be a Shabbat of peaceful emotions, of calm presence in the moment, and of songs that soothe the soul and rekindle the spirit.

Shabbat Shalom.