The Agenda

The Agenda

The first two postings on Chant and Torah came easy: a sort of introduction, and a kavanah – a reminder of the attitude I hope to maintain. But where to go from here? The choices are vast. In 1975 when my wife and I took a three month “honeymoon” to Israel, we would wander the labyrinthine alleyways of the Old City of Jerusalem, and were constantly surprised by turning a corner to find a new discovery – a Crusader era church, an even more ancient ruin, a human scene; it seemed impossible that so much could be contained within its walls. Exploring Torah is like that. How can such a physically small book contain so many surprises, so much richness?

What should I write about first? A technical observation about a nuance of technique? A broad comment about Torah and its meaning for the world? An interpretation of the music of a particular passage? The choices are endless. So what I decided to do instead of a regular posting is to set a proposed table of contents for this blog. I would appreciate comments from those familiar with the medium on how this sounds to them. I doubt if I will be wedded to this program, and will likely digress often and maybe go in entirely different directions.

I expect to do some serial themed postings, and will begin with one: “Reflections on the Hebrew Language” and how it affects the process of reading the ancient writings. The first posting in the series, “Living Words”, will go up immediately. Also planned for the first series :

• The argument for Israeli Sephardic pronunciation and the direct experience of Torah
• Lashon hakodesh (Holy Tongue): the difference between biblical and modern Hebrew sound
• The details of correct pronunciation in Torah reading
• Future series/postings will go on to explore, in no particular order
• Reading Torah as theatrical Script
• Character development in Torah
• The problem of the lists, or – List as literature and song
• The individual Trop accents – how they feel to me as I sing them
• Speculation: the evolution of melody, different chant traditions
• Performance: music and emotion
• Stories in the light of Trop. Why stories?
• Thoughts on translation
• Practical utopianism – the Torah’s vision for humankind

To paraphrase Ramban, I hope to write this and more, with the help of The Rock.