Music has been such an important healing tool for me over the years. Feeling good comes in waves, so if you hit a funk, it’s important to have ways to get yourself out. For some it’s being in nature, seeing the grand grace and epic beauty of creation, for others it’s exercising, and for others it’s staying connected to loved ones. For me, staying happy and connected is certainly tied to maintaining a daily spiritual practice, but also an important and key part is music. Music transcends current moods and creates universes to jump into; it’s a powerful way to shift perspective and feelings. Bon Iver‘s self-titled album does it for me everytime– if I ever feel down and I listen to it, I feel that darkness can’t coexist with the light and beauty that those songs exude, and it snaps me out of it. Of course, on an even more connected level are the songs from Jewish singers that blend our rich tradition into their own styles (Ishay Ribo, Eviatar Banai, Akiva, Erez Yechial etc.)
Song is at the center of all our rituals, and singing is the unifying element of communal prayer. King David used a harp to compose the Psalms. The Talmud teaches that the harp hung above King David’s bed, and at midnight a northern ruach (wind) would blow on the five strings, raising him from his sleep to study Torah until day break. The Zohar teaches that the five strings parallel the five books of Torah and are the instruments with which he composed much of Tehillim….
When you listen to music, you can feel some of what the artist is feeling when he sings. In the Talmud it teaches, “Words that emanate from the heart – enter the heart.” Kabbalists explain that music helps banish extraneous thoughts and clear the mind, cutting away impure thoughts that envelop the soul, allowing a person to connect to the Light of the Infinite. Music is also something that can be played in circles infinitely, in fact that is often how the prophets would reach their state of nevuah. It would be a repetitive riff being played until the riff would act as a mantra, a meditation, and prophecy would be reached.
** Read this article/chapter in full in my latest 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, ‘𝙴𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.’ Get your copy on @Amazon, or read it online @ https://lightofinfinite.com/the-song-that-saved-my-life/
Thanks for reading/listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!🪬🤍🕊️
– Erez // @erezsafar
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