This weekend has a special name: “Shabbat Shirah” – the Shabbat
of Song, so called because this week’s Torah portion contains
the song sung by after the parting of the Red Sea. Accordingly,
this week’s essay addresses the soul of song – the power it has
to transform our lives. What gives music its power? How does it
have the ability to transport us to another time and place? To
lift a broken spirit? To bring a tear to a happy soul? Why does
a song have the capacity to reach the depths of our heart, bring
old memories alive, awaken our deepest aspirations and naturally
cause us to dance to its beat? What type of language is this
language of song, and where did it originate? We learn the
spoken language at home and at school. But who taught us how to
sing? What is the soul of song? The mystics explain it How do
souls travel? Bodies move about on legs or in vehicles. But what
moves a soul? A soul doesn’t have legs and cannot be contained
in an automobile or other vehicle. What carries our souls from
one place to