“And he will serve in the name of Hashem… like all brothers, the Leviim, who stand there before Hashem.” (Devarim 18:7)
Chazal (Arachin 11a) explain that the “service of Hashem” referred to here is the singing in the Beis Hamikdash.
I’m a Levi, so I’ve always found it interesting that while the Torah speaks highly of Leviim, when it comes to the actual mitzvos, Leviim seem to have very few in comparison to Kohanim. Even this mitzvah of singing in the Beis Hamikdash is only alluded to here, but not mentioned explicitly in Torah shebichsav.
Rav Shimon Schwab in Maayan Beis Hasho-eivah says rather cryptically that singing is primarily performed with one’s mouth, and this is therefore part of Torah shebe’al peh. Is this just a play on words? (Rabbi Yisrael Reisman, Shiurim on Chumash)
Trending: Song of the Hour.
Not me. I’m not a huge music person. I like music, enjoy hearing it, but I wouldn’t say I’m particularly musical. (True confession: I rarely know the songs and singers referenced in EndNote…) Still, I know what I like, and I like what I know.
Music and singing have a certain power. There are seven sciences that the Torah recognizes as wisdom, and one of them is music. There’s a koach hashirah. For some, singing is just fun, but for others, this koach brings them closer to Hashem.
In the Pa’as Hashulchan, the author writes that when his rebbi, the Vilna Gaon, made a siyum on Shir Hashirim, he said that song contains the koach of techiyas hameisim.
With these points in mind, we can understand how the power of song is in the be’al peh. To understand a song, you can’t just look at its notes; you have to hear it. Be’al peh. It’s something that a person feels internally. The power of music is something one learns from a teacher; it must be passed down from someone who has a connection to music.
When I was marrying off my girls, I was grateful that the chassan’s side was taking care of the band. How would I know what to pick?
So, when my daughter told me that my new son-in-law had a specific band in mind for their chasunah, I was thrilled. One more thing I wouldn’t have to worry about.
“This band is especially meaningful to him,” she elaborated. “It’s run by a friend of his in his chaburah, and they are particularly careful to only play Jewish songs.”
