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xtreme hopes are born from
extreme misery," observed
Bertrand Russell. We may
invoke the words of this outspoken
atheist as a prayer as we look forward
to a better 2012.
Les Miserables, Victor
Hugo's sublime story of sal-
vation, is the fictional quin-
tessence of hope rooted in
misery. The long-awaited cin-
ematic adaptation of the West
End/Broadway tour de force
will finally be realized this
year — the production propi-
tiously timed to coincide with
the novel's sesquicentennial.
Like the "Song of the Sea"
that punctuates our parshah,
each act of the musical culminates in a
rousing finale celebrating the redemp-
tive power of the Lord and His faculty
to free us from physical and spiritual
servitude.
As with every well-scored libretto,
each major scene in the biblical
canon concludes with a show-stopper
musical number: Beshallach's Shirat
Hayam (Exodus 15), the Song of Moses
(Deuteronomy 32), the song of Deborah
(Judges 5, this weeks haftarah), David's
eulogy in verse for Jonathan (2 Samuel
1). The correspondence is not coin-
cidental, but reflects an artful under-
standing of the role that music has
always played in concert with faith.
Moses' rendition at the Reed Sea gives
the illusion of being a spontaneous out-
burst of poetic and vocal virtuoso; but
like all great performances, it was corn-
posed by harmonizing skill, preparation
and practice. To quote a contemporary
cantor, "When singing, one should
always improvise; but the best improvi-
sations are always rehearsed:
Sacred song was a serious business
in ancient Israel and its Temple; music,
like all high ecclesiastical offerings,
was left to the experts. Pieces were
performed by professional guilds, and
a learned Levitical chorus sang the
psalms. This human choral harkened
back to the angelic a cappella that
heralded God each day in His celestial
home; an inspiring execution made you
feel like you were in heaven.
The obligation to employ trained
musical staff to conduct earthly ser-

MILIS,1

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Parshat
Beshallac
Shabbat Shirah:
Exodus 13:17-17:16
Judges 4:4-5:3

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vices was codified in the great halachic
opus, Joseph Caro's Shulchan Aruch, the
masterpiece of Jewish law (0.H. 53:22-
24). The maestro is such a key player
in the congregation that Caro's code
mandates in most cases the
hiring of a cantor before,
and even to the exclusion of,
a rabbi.
When searching to find a
lead for the Hebrew produc-
tion of Les Miserables, the pro-
ducers turned to Dudu Fisher,
then cantor of the Great
Synagogue of Tel Aviv. His
depiction of Jean Valjean was
so dynamic that the young
chazzan was invited to reprise
the role on Broadway, then
later before Queen Elizabeth II (neither
the anti-monarchical subject nor the fact
that it was being intoned by an Orthodox
Jew seemed to unseat the supreme gover-
nor of the Church of England).
Religious writers as early as
Ecclesiastes have questioned the purity
and piety of rehearsed religious recit-
als, choral compositions and the paid
precentor. Perhaps this accounts for
the paucity today of both cantors and
choirs in our synagogues and temples.
But is there really truth to the accusa-
tion that worship with meticulously
mastered music performed by an artist
is simply a secular show?
Explaining the power that delivered
him from the pulpit to the stage and
back again, Dudu Fisher reflected,
"There are times when I sing before
God's Holy Ark and feel like I am per-
forming in the theater, and there are
times when I perform in the theater
and feel like I am singing before God's
Holy Ark:" Fisher's reflections refer to
the number from Les Miserables, "Bring
Him Home:' It is a father's petition for a
child's safe passage, a prayer of sincerest
solemnity whether sung on the stage or
at the edge of an uncertain sea.

❑

Rabbi Eric Grossman is head of school at
Frankel Jewish Academy

Conversations

• What role does music play in
your religious experience inside or
outside the synagogue?

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