Shabbat Shirah - premiere of Elliot Levine cantata

“They went out of Egypt with six hundred thousand singing, and after them ran Pharaoh carrying a red flag...[God says:] Take this rod, Moses, take this rod in your hand! Part the sea with twelve strokes, bring out Your holy people...”

Never do we take this colorful story for granted. It is part of every Jewish sabbath and several holidays. The telling reminds us of our good fortune, the repugnance of slavery, the dramatic roles of God, Moses, Miriam with her timbrel, and yes, the Sea itself. We take from it the image of singing as part of a gigantic choir of many hundreds of thousands. The text from Exodus called Shirat HaYam (Song of the Sea) is central to Shabbat Shirah, the Sabbath of Song. This year we celebrate with musical homage to each of these characters from the Exodus story.

On this Sabbath of Song we celebrate another event – the commissioning of a new piece of music, a new song for future generations. Elliot Z. Levine, whose music has often uplifted our voices over the last decade, has now written for our choir and synagogue a short choral cantata, Ilu Finu malei shirah kayam... (If our mouths were full of song as the sea, if our tongues full of joy as the countless waves..., we still could not thank You enough.) This week Elliot will come to rehearse the piece with the choir and conduct it during its first performance on Friday. Join in this important event in the life of the community. Warning: You may find yourself singing!

Photo © Alison Bert.