Sandra Boynton writes lovely stories and songs for children. One of my family’s favorites is “Singing in the Shower.” When my son was small, he loved that song. Today he is 12, and he still sings in the shower. My wife and I share a smile when we hear him each night. He loves to sing.
My wife, who is also a rabbi, loves to sing. She has a wonderful voice and leads her community in song and prayer regularly. I do not have a wonderful voice. I have a simple voice. But I love the power of singing and I am blessed to sing with our cantorial soloists at Temple Beth Shalom in Hudson and our student leaders at Hillel at Kent State. Singing unlocks something deep inside me that is freeing. Singing with my community connects me to the songs and prayers we sing, and it connects me to each community member who joins the holy act of singing.
In early June, I joined a new Jewish music project, “Nariya Cleveland.” This group began in the spring. Once a month at synagogue Beth El-The Heights in Cleveland Heights on a Thursday evening, a dozen songleaders, a half-dozen musicians and a handful of rabbis meet to rehearse the liturgy and compositions. Rabbi Micah Shapiro had created and led this type of project in Boston for several years and has now brought it here to northeast Ohio. The next night, at our Friday night service, something magical unfolded. Around 100 people showed up for this gorgeous service. They came from more than 6 different Jewish communities. And we all sat together and sang in a series of expanding song circles. Our songs opened our hearts, and we experienced this deep sense of connection and gratitude for the prayers we sang. We then went downstairs for a delicious Shabbat dinner.
Last week, Temple Beth Shalom hired a new cantorial soloist, Deb Rogers, to lead our Shabbat and holiday services. A few times, a small handful of members joined her for choral songs that lifted our spirits in their beauty. This week, Deb and I began our musical planning for the upcoming High Holiday season.
For the past 18 months, I have been studying in a cohort of rabbis and cantors together. We study mindfulness meditation, yoga, and text study. Every morning, we gather for a transformative hour of songs and prayers that grounds us in our practice, and radically opens our hearts. Our final retreat is next week. I can honestly say these moments of communal prayer and song have opened my heart again and again to the wonder and utter joy of singing in community.
One way to get beyond our divided, polarized times is to come together and sing. As we celebrate the 4th of July this week, let me encourage us all to find our voices in song. And let me encourage the spiritual seekers to fulfill the imperative of Psalm 97, “Sing to God a new song!”
Sing of joy, sing of hope, sing of gratitude. Your soul will thank you.
Michael Ross is rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom in Hudson and senior Jewish educator at Hillel at Kent State University.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Voices of Faith: Singing a new song easy with new Hudson temple voice
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