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November 1, 2024 - 30 Tishrei 5785 Parashat Noach - Singing Together
Dear Friends, I did something this week that I hadn't done in about 15 years, and I'm thrilled about it: I joined an acapella group. For those unfamiliar, acapella is a style of music that is completely and entirely based in voices. No instruments, no accompaniment. Even percussion is done vocally, and it happens to be one of my strengths. There is nothing in the world quite like singing in harmony with others, who share a love of singing and an appreciation of the universal power of music, without the interference of other musical sounds. I love acapella music. Like, love it. Total acapella nerd right here, if you couldn't tell already! While my passion for music seems to be hard-wired in the Strom DNA, my relationship with singing goes back only as far as high school, my torrid love affair with acapella beginning only shortly thereafter. Once lit, that flame burned brightly and intensely, and by the time I walked onto campus at Colgate University, I knew it was my destiny to join the Colgate Thirteen, the third-oldest collegiate acapella group in the country, thriving now into its 83rd year of existence. Singing with my “brothers in song,” who span nearly as many decades as the group itself, I have experienced so many awe-inspiring, goosebump-inducing, and tear-provoking moments that I have no reservations describing them as holy, as sacred. Many years and countless viewings of both Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2 later, my love for acapella has not diminished one iota. Truly, there is nothing like it. When the only instrument is your voice, you always have it with you, ready to go, so that the simple act of counting can launch you and those around you from complete silence to rich, beautiful harmony, an act of creation and order from chaos and nothingness. Everyone in an acapella group has their own part – sometimes in a section like my beloved baritones, sometimes on one’s own – but since it’s impossible for any one person to do everything, no individual can do it all. Everyone has the chance to solo, to be the star who steps out in front of the crescent, but those moments are infrequent; the real magic happens as a contributing member of the group. No matter how incredible your solo might be, no matter how talented you are, it’s not a song without the group behind you. Without each singer’s voice, something is missing; the harmony thins, the bond of blended voices weakens ever-so-slightly, and the feeling of unfulfilled potential is palpable to all involved. But with your voice, with your harmony, you can singlehandedly alter the dynamics, the sound; the song can reach new heights, maybe touch a part of your soul you didn’t know existed, and suddenly, viscerally, you experience a powerful total far, far greater than the sum of its parts. Acapella music, you see, is a perfect metaphor for what happens when people with diversified but overlapping interests come together to contribute what they have and what they can to a collective bounty so abundant and deep, it never runs out, no matter how much it is drawn upon. It is what happens when human beings are at their best, thinking of, working for, and being part of something much greater than themselves. And that, in and of itself, is very Jewish. Because in both acapella and Judaism it is all about the "we," not the "I." Yes, each of us can sing or do our part to the best of our ability, but only in true, deep connection with each other is all of our individual and collective potential actualized. One of the teachings behind wearing a Kippah or Yarmulke is this: no matter how tall we are, no matter how much we can do on our own with our power and sphere of influence, there is a cap to it all, so to speak, a limit to that which we can do by ourselves. We can pray by ourselves, we can do good deeds by ourselves, but those actions reach maximal impact when they are combined with those of others. That is why nearly the entirety of our liturgy, the words we pray in community, are in the first-person plural. It is about all of us together, so much more than any one of us by ourselves. As we have entered into the New Year of 5785 together, let us look to sing together, in harmony, both metaphorically and literally, so that we may touch the souls within and beyond our community with the joy and beauty of our rich, vibrant Jewish tradition. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Joshua Strom
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