“Rabbi Akiva says sing every day; sing every day” (Sanhedrin 99a-99b). The sages of our tradition rarely repeated words unless there was something particularly significant to be emphasized. My wonderful Hebrew Bible teacher in Israel, Dr. Yossi Leshem, also taught me that, in fact, no detail in the Tanakh is written in the scroll without serving a meaningful narrative or didactic purpose. The great Rabbi Akiva, too, understood when things needed attention, insistence, priority; and Rabbi Akiva absolutely stressed that each of us should sing: “Sing every day, sing every day!” Whether in the shower, on the 405, in the classroom, in the sanctuary, at your desk, or on a hike, music is the heartbeat of our daily lives. The physical benefits of singing are enormous. When you sing, you increase your oxygen intake and lung capacity, release endorphins, reduce stress, improve posture, boost immunity, and even relieve pain; our bodies can [...]

Throughout my childhood, my dad would periodically share with me and my brother, Lee, about where he was and what he was doing when he heard that John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King had been shot. These seemed like distant horrors, things that could not happen in my time. I didn’t fully understand… I’ll never forget that morning. It was my second week as a freshman in high school. I was getting ready for the day, brushing my teeth next to Lee, and we heard our mom scream from the other bathroom. We ran to her and her face was whiter than we had ever seen it, rattled and aghast. “They flew airplanes into New York,” she said, calmly but painfully. “Terrorists flew airplanes into our country, into the Twin Towers.” I didn’t fully understand, but I knew that my childhood was over. For those of us [...]

Every Thursday morning in our 5th and 6th grade tefillah, we sing Psalm 150. The ancient words are no stumbling block for our children–they sing with an understanding of the Hebrew with full spirits. Although they understand current events and are all too aware of the challenges we are facing, they find a way to chant with joy. Just as they did centuries ago in the halls of our ancient Temple, the words of this beautiful psalm resonate throughout the sanctuary in the voice of the next generation. Each week, my heart fills with an almost impossible but extraordinary levity and hope. Psalms are a vehicle for us to process our feelings; our anguish, our grief, while still being lifted by God, by the wisdom of our tradition, by hope and the beauty of life. I am so grateful to the contemporary voices of our tradition who continue the legacy [...]