I have just returned from the ACC/GTM Convention (the annual Cantors’ convention), held this year in Boston, for which I was honored to be one of four national co-chairs.  The theme of our convention, which I put into words, was Enriched By History, Nourished By Knowledge, Sustained By Our Growth.  We tried to encompass the theme in our choices of scholars-in-residence, and I’d like to share with you some of their wisdom.  Though the three are incredibly diverse, there were certain motifs that were echoed in each of their keynote addresses.

Anita Diamant was the most well-known of our scholars within the general population, as author of the novels The Red Tent and more recently Day After Night, both of which I count among my favorites, as well as many guidebooks to Jewish life.   She also founded and serves as the Board President of a mikveh in Boston called Mayyim Hayyim: Living Waters Community Mikveh, which is a magical place, completely welcoming and open to all.

She shared a conversation with musician Josh Nelson and Cantor Benji-Ellen Schiller, during which each of her guests sang a song they had composed specifically for the mikveh.  In Josh’s song, called Beneath the Surface, there was a line that inspired the title of this article…”The Source of life is holy if you make it so.”  Judaism has blessings for every little thing, presumably to help us remember that life is a series of ritual moments if you pay attention.  As Anita said, we must be mindful and full of intention, which in prayer is called kavanah.  Intention is the difference between passive praying and active praying.  This dedication to being consistently present and deliberate can be taken into every part of our lives, creating occasions of separation and holiness.  One of the tasks with which I am charged as your clergy is to craft points within the service that allow for these “spontaneous spiritual moments,” as Benji called them.

Cantor Ellen Dreskin, who moderated the discussion, wondered how we can incorporate the regularity of ritual, which we know allows congregants to feel at home and comfortable in a setting, and yet avoid our groove devolving into a rut.  Anita brought up the idea of hiddur mitzvah, which literally means beautifying the commandments.  She said that something must be beautiful to be transformative.  This can be seen in care and attention to every detail, from the specifications of the building of the Mishkan all the way to making certain that our sound systems are optimized to allow the beauty of music to be fully appreciated.  Benji suggested that we continue uncovering new things in the texts within the liturgy and the Torah.

Josh told a story of his two-year old son, who, upon being given an old guitar, unzipped the case and found, with delighted surprise, the guitar within it.  He then proceeded to re-zip and unzip the case many times, each time with palpable delight.  This reminds us that if we are open to experiencing something with intention, we can continue to see it differently and find a new element within it.

Another one of our scholars this week was Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, Executive Director of Hillel at Tufts University, as well as Professor of Music, ethnomusicologist, and author of The Lord’s Song in a Strange Land: Music and Identity in Contemporary Worship, which I highly recommend each of you consider as an addition to your reading list.  Jeff talked about actively participating as well – saying that creative, receptive and critical listening are a part of participation (though please don’t take the word “critical” too much to heart!). 

Jeff developed the idea that music can give us a sense of unity and community, particularly when we utilize historical connections, real or imagined.  An example of imagined historical connections in our congregation is Steve Klaper’s L’cha Dodi.  After I had introduced it at a service early in my time at Beth El, I used it many weeks in a row and in the majority of Friday nights over the next couple of months, so that people would get comfortable with it.  I had no idea just how well that had worked.  At a service a couple of months later, a congregant commented, with regret, that I hadn’t sung “our” L’cha Dodi.  These attachments create a sense of authenticity and connection to our community, which then allow us to be comfortable enough to be challenged and excited, necessary aspects of a full experience.  Other important elements, according to Jeff, are focusing on one thing at a time (again, the idea of being present), which can lead to transcendence.  I can help to facilitate that experience with nigunim, which in their repetition can be meditative, singing beautiful pieces of music that allow for active listening, and offering congregational songs, where we have the experience of our distinct individual voices blending together to create a whole.

Our third scholar was Professor Joshua Jacobson, Director of Choral activities at Northeastern University, who is best known as an arranger and choral conductor, as well as being the founder and director of Zamir Chorale of Boston.  Josh’s views are illuminated mostly through the prism of choral music, which, by fostering this sense of connection, can help one’s mental and physical well-being.  He showed documentation supporting this hypothesis, with one study proving that kids who sing in a choir have improved memory, self-discipline, and self-confidence.  Within our society, where isolation is increasing, it is important to sense one’s individual importance, interconnection, and interdependence, which can all be found singing in a choir or singing within the congregation. 

Josh also stressed the need for congregants to be challenged in order to be fully present.  Just as rabbis’ sermons often try to engage congregants by taking them out of their comfort zones and challenging them, in order to facilitate growth, certain points in the flow of the service should do this musically.  If congregants are actively listening, they can attain a richer aesthetic experience.  These moments can be truly inspiring, making the text come alive and land in the heart, but, again using the idea of hiddur mitzvah, it must be beautiful.

Together, let us move into the coming year with kavanah, creating moments of holiness and beauty.  I believe that with that intention, we can “make it so.”