Celebrating Shavuot with Music

By Cantor Baruch Koritan

Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley

"Blessed is our God who created us for God's glory, who distinguished us from erring, who gave us the Torah of truth."  This reassuring liturgic prayer is sung in the Hassidic tradition. on Shavuot, which begins at sundown on May 21^st this year.  In Harry Coopersmith's book, More of the Songs We Sing, he indicates this chanted prayer is to be sung "ecstatically." Why not? How many peoples on this planet were given such a gift as our Torah? 

    The lyrics to the "Shavuot Hymn" by Zangwill further express our gratefulness for such a gift:  "Could we with ink the ocean fill; were every blade of grass a quill, were the world of parchment made and every man a scribe by trade, to write of the love of God above would drain the ocean dry; nor would the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky."  This holiday has music filled with wonder and awe that help lead us, perhaps unknowingly, to our higher selves.  The dances, also, as recreated in modern melodies, such as "Shibolet Basadah" (Stalk in the Field) are aural windows for the soul.

    Another aspect of the harvest holiday is the recitation of the Book of Ruth. As a convert to Judaism who pleads to her Jewish her mother-in-law, Naomi, ("Entreat me not to leave thee, whither thou goest") remains a source of religious and musical inspiration for Jews, and, subsequently, Christians.  For all of us, the delicious music of this early harvest drives us forward to sow the seeds of our yearning to produce a crop of newfound wisdom that will 'open the gates' of righteousness when the next harvest yields its glorious gifts.  Several months later, we are fully ripened, and can honestly pray to find our true selves included in the Book of Life.

    Incredibly, Shavuot was originally called "Festival of the First Fruits." Folk songs, along with mysticism. abound to glorify and preserve this agricultural event with its original revelations:  Our Torah was revealed at this "once in a world happening!"  We stood at the foot of Mount Sinai as it spewed volcanic splendor as a backdrop for Moses when he presented the Ten Commandments.  Had Rodgers and Hammerstein II been celebrating Shavuot instead of helping frightened Austrian children get through a thunderstorm (not that different from Sinai in mood), "My Favorite Things" may have begun: "Blintzes and kugel, rugelach and cheesecake."   Many secular Jews only remember the holiday as a time for dairy foods, fattening or diet.  Shavuot is, of course, so much more ---not in calories, but in major significance. With music added, we surely will reach the joy of feeling God's love.  Our true desserts are on their way when we will voice, "Chag Sameach!"