As a Jewish songwriter and composer I sometimes think about the question: What makes a Jewish song?
There are many ways of responding to the question of what makes a Jewish song. Over the years, I’ve discussed and reflected on many of them. Today I stumbled upon a new answer. It came to me while listening to a student of mine chant the opening lines of the Song of Sea (Exodus 15:1). Since the Song of the Sea is one of the oldest recorded songs of the Jewish people, it seems like a natural place to gain insight into the question of what makes a Jewish song.
Exodus 15:1 begins…
אָז יָשִׁיר-מֹשֶׁה וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת-הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת, לַיהוָה
Which means…
And thus Moses and the Children of Israel sang this song to God.
In this short phrase I find two answers to the question of what makes a Jewish song.
First, a Jewish song is a song that is sung to God. That doesn’t mean it has to be a prayer, or even a God focused piece of music. Instead, it means that the song is animated by a spiritual core, by a vision of something larger than the self, by the possibility of meaningful and purposeful universe.
Second, and of greater interest to me at this moment, is the idea that a song is Jewish when it is sung by the entire community. Here I’m leaning on the fact that the verse states, “Moses and the Children of Israel sang…” Jewish songs are those songs that are sung by the entire community. They aren’t performance pieces, they are, literally or figuratively, the ingathering of all the voices that make up our community. The Shema is only a Jewish song when it is sung by the entire community. The Mishebeirach is only a Jewish song when it is sung by the entire community. Otherwise, these and other scriptures, prayers, and poems may be still be scriptures, prayers, and poems, but they are, in some way, not a Jewish song.
I’m not interested in making a definitive statement here. Instead, I think I’m trying to express something of the heart of Jewish music. Namely, that a Jewish song is one that unites the voices of a community and that can only be truly appreciated and understood when lifted up by these same voices, joining together to lift up the melody and the meaning.