Part One: Friday, 10 January 2014
You’ve
probably noticed that the ‘singing part’ of the service tonight has been –
shall we say – a little more robust than normal. We’ve sung more than usual. And I’ve used unfamiliar melodies in a place
or two. The former aspect was probably,
if surprising at first, ultimately pleasing.
Most of us like to sing. The
latter aspect may have been a bit disconcerting, at least at first. Most of us prefer the familiar. In the case of singing, the familiar makes us
feel competent. And that’s a good
feeling. The unfamiliar makes us feel
incompetent, lost. But expanding our
repertoire sometimes requires that we allow ourselves a momentary
incompetence. If we are willing to
accept that momentary incompetence, then we soon transcend it. We add the new melody to our repertoire. We can sing, in effect, a new song.
This Shabbat, on which the weekly
Torah portion is Beshallah, is known as Shabbat Shira – the
Sabbath of Song. The song referred to,
is the passage found in the first 21 verses of the 15th chapter of
Exodus. It is called, ‘The Song of the
Sea.’ So, we call this Shabbat, ‘Shabbat
Shira’ because it is the Sabbath on which we hear The Song of the Sea.
In many of our congregations, “Shabbat Shira’
is taken to mean Sabbath of song, period.
And therefore, in many Jewish congregations around the world, the
services this Shabbat will emphasize all song. Some of our Reform and Progressive
congregations will go out of their way to highlight and sing, in particular,
the songs of Debbie Friedman. Debbie is
one of the individuals most responsible for bringing the joy of singing back
into our congregations. But generally
speaking, we just emphasize the singing aspect of our worship.
A friend recently pointed out to me
that today, people don’t sing the way they used to in previous
generations. Especially those who came
of age soon after the Second World War, remember sing-alongs as a regular part
of growing up. Whenever there was a
gathering of young people, whether formal or informal, it seemed someone always
brought a guitar and there would be some communal singing. There was a common body of songs that
everybody seemed to know. First it was
folk-songs. If you were Jewish, there
was an additional body of songs, some of them religious and some of them the
national songs of Israel, that you sang.
People still sing, but today it seems
as if singing is more about putting on a show for one’s friends, than about
friends lifting their voices together.
Karaoke is more the style of singing that fits in with the zeitgeist. And I am not criticizing karaoke – I love it. But karaoke is not about a room full of like-minded
individuals raising their voices together.
It’s about standing out.
I’m proposing that we consider Shabbat
Shira to be, instead of a Sabbath of Song, a Sabbath of Leadership. There are lessons in leadership to be drawn
from this week’s Torah reading. And
there are lessons to be drawn from the enterprise of making music, and singing,
in its entirety.
Many of us have a somewhat limited way
to define leadership. We think it means,
exercising control. And that certainly is
one solid definition of leadership, probably the first of several given in
your dictionary. Karaoke certainly
epitomizes this aspect of leadership.
The singer chooses the song she’s going to sing. She in effect, controls the group present for
the next four minutes or so. Forces them
to hear her song choice. In a karaoke
show, it is difficult not to pay attention to the song and the
singer. So those who get up to sing will
often accompany their rendition of their song with some outrageous stage
antics…because they can. And because
karaoke shows usually include the drinking of adult beverages.
Invite me out for a karaoke evening,
and chances are I’ll happily go. But
this week, I went out for a different kind of musical evening. Actually, two of them! This being the second week of the month, I
went out for ukulele play-alongs on two consecutive nights.
I finally figured out why I enjoy
ukulele play-alongs. It’s because of the
awesome feeling that comes from a roomful of people all playing and singing the
same song, in more-or-less the same key, and thus making beautiful music
together. It’s so reminiscent of my
youth, when we would gather informally, someone would take a guitar out of a
case, and we would all sing. Nobody was
self-conscious about how well or poorly they could carry a tune. If you knew the words, you sang along. If you didn’t, you at least sang along on the
chorus.
If leadership is being in control, an
alternative – and just as valid – definition is to join together toward a
common goal. We all exercise
leadership when we do that. Even when
you’re following, you may be exercising leadership. It know that’s a complex concept to grasp,
but we actually do it whenever we lift our voices together.
This Shabbat, I’m reverting to a
method I occasionally use, and using this evening’s drash as a sort of teaser
for tomorrow morning’s. I’m going to
‘flesh out’ this topic more fully tomorrow.
If you come, it will be worth your while. If you do not, then I challenge you to read
the continuation of this drash on my blog, or listen to it on my podcast
site. Because I believe that leadership
is one of the biggest challenges facing us today. I mean in the Jewish world. But also in the greater world. Much of the malaise that we feel, about
ourselves, our lives, our congregations, our countries, comes back to failures
of leadership.
Let’s sing. Let’s sing with relish, and with joy. And let’s recognize that, when we sing, the
obvious result is that we fill the room with music. But there’s more that happens. And perhaps that, not just the music
itself, is why singing is so uplifting to us.
Shabbat shalom.
Part Two: Saturday, 11 January
2014
Last night I
announced that this Shabbat is commonly called, Shabbat Shira – the
Sabbath of Song. That’s because this
Shabbat, we read the Torah portion Beshallah, which includes the passage
found in the first 21 verses of the 15th chapter of Exodus. It is called, ‘The Song of the Sea.’ So, we call this Shabbat, Shabbat Shira
because it is the Sabbath on which we hear The Song of the Sea. But in many of our congregations, we’ve gone
beyond that aspect of this week’s service and made it a Sabbath of song,
period.
Are you a member of the generation
that came of age immediately after the Second World War, or perhaps the next
generation, the ‘Baby Boomers’? If so,
you probably remember communal sing-alongs as being an important part of your
social life with your friends. Whenever
there was a gathering, formal or informal, someone usually brought along a
guitar and at some point, everybody would join their voices together in
song. I remember it, both in general and
in Jewish gatherings. It was what we did. The singing was often the highlight of the
gathering, the most memorable part.
Song is really, at its heart, all
about leadership.
Leadership is an interesting, and
many-faceted, ‘animal.’ When we invoke
the word, we usually think of taking control of a group. And that is, to be sure, one of the
dictionary definitions of ‘leadership.’
When someone, by virtue of position or by force of character, takes
control of a group, we call that ‘leadership.’
Now it may be good leadership or it may be bad leadership. But when we think the word ‘leadership,’
control is what usually comes to mind.
Singing together is not a common
anymore. Perhaps the contemporary
equivalent of the singing we used to do, is the karaoke show. Now, as I said last night, I’m not
criticizing karaoke. I very much enjoy
it. Invite me out for a karaoke night,
and I’ll happily go if I can. I think
it’s fun and entertaining. It’s a hoot
to see what songs people will choose to sing, and how they sing.
Karaoke is the kind of singing that
perhaps, best captures the zeitgeist, the spirit of the age. In life today, there’s very little room to
express our individuality without taking serious risks. When someone steps out of the ordinary to
express his leadership, the instinct of many is to shoot him down. So, many of us learn not to stand out. But when we step up to the mike to perform
karaoke, we feel we are expressing our individuality in a safe way.
Karaoke is also about exercising
leadership in the sense of ‘taking control.’
The one who has the gumption to get up and sing, gets to take
control. She determines what the
gathering will experience for about four minutes. Because karaoke shows often include the
imbibing of adult beverages, the singers sometimes engage in outrageous
behavior in their performance. As I
said, if taking control is a form of leadership, it can be good or bad
leadership.
But there are additional definitions
of the word ‘leadership.’ During my
military career it was constantly driven home that ‘leadership’ does not necessarily
involve taking control. Following
the appointed leader is also a form of leadership. When we follow, we can follow
reluctantly. Or whole-heartedly. Bad leadership…and good leadership. We seldom think of following as ‘leadership,’
but it is. Refraining from taking
control, accepting at any given moment that someone else is in control and
yielding to that person’s control, is an essential element in leadership.
In a communal sing-along, there is
usually someone in control. The song
leader determines the key, the tempo, and the melody. But it’s the lifting of voices together that
makes communal singing so joyful. If
you’re not the song-leader, you can grouse about the key, the tempo, or
the melody. That would be bad leadership
on your part. Or you can work at
blending your voice in with that of the song-leader and the other singers
around you. That would be good leadership
on your part. And ‘blending’ does not
necessarily mean singing the same note.
Some of the most sublime communal singing comes when some member or
members of the group are able to harmonize – to sing different notes,
which compliment the melody. When we’re
here in the sanctuary and I hear harmonizing, it lifts my spirits as you might
not imagine.
Singing together is different from karaoke. But they are not polar opposites, because
they are both music.
In the same way, taking control is leadership. But accepting you’re not being in
control, and adding your efforts to the group’s goals as a follower, is also
leadership. Yes, even when you
follow, you are exercising leadership.
And when you follow, when you’re not in charge, sometimes the
opportunity will arise, to exercise leadership in a way that stands out. In a way that highlights the importance of
initiative. In the Midrash on the Song
of the Sea, that initiative is provided by a man named Nachshon ben Aminadab. His name does not figure in the written Torah
narrative. But the rabbis identify him
as the one who made the splitting of the sea and the safe passage of the
Israelites, possible.
Nachshon was the first man to step into the waters. The Midrash tells us that, until he did, the
waters didn’t part. What was required as
the faith of at least one person, to make it happen.
Most of us have, at some point in our lives, encountered a Nachshon ben
Aminadab. He was the one who, after the
putative leader gave the instructions, was the first to have the faith that the
plan would work. Whilst everybody else
was waiting around to see what the others would do, this Nachshon embraced the
plan and made it his own, and set the tone for the others to fall in step
behind it. This person was as important
as the one in charge. Without him, the
group’s goals would not have been met.
I came of age in the wake of the Vietnam War and the Watergate
Scandal. The message of these events to
my generation was the importance of questioning leadership. We learned that leaders often fail in various
ways, and the consequences of that failure can be onerous for the rest of us to
bear.
But I think the damage inflicted by the consequences of the
Vietnam-Watergate era is that we question – and reject – leadership as an
instinct. Instead of rejecting failed
leaders, we rebel against the very exercise of leadership. Having observed corrupt leaders, we mistakenly
internalize that leadership is, by its nature, a corrupt enterprise. Or at least, a corrupting enterprise. If a leader is not corrupt in seeking
leadership positions, then we at least suspect that being in leadership is
likely to corrupt him.
Of course, rebellion against leadership was known before the
1970’s. We think back to Lord Acton of
the 19th Century, who declared in a famous letter: “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts
absolutely.” His point is certainly
well-taken, but I would have preferred that he nuance it by saying what I think
he meant: “Power has a tendency to corrupt.”
When we question the very notion of leadership, we consign
ourselves to mediocrity. Because
personal greatness requires leadership.
It requires vision and risk-taking.
And group greatness also requires leadership. The aforementioned form. But it also requires the other form of
leadership that says, “I’m not in charge, but I’m going to put my heart into
this enterprise.”
Singing is all about leadership.
And the Song of the Sea, which we have heard chanted this morning, is
about the result of leadership in all its forms. When the Israelites passed through the sea
safely, they did so only because of leadership in its various levels. And the message of this, to us, is
unmistakable.
If we are to achieve greatness together, then we must transcend the
distrust for leadership that the Vietnam-Watergate era taught us. That our other life experiences have taught
us. The failures of leadership that
we’ve observed, should not lead of to reject leadership, period. They should instead provide greater impetus
for seeking out good leadership.
Shabbat shalom.
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