There is a specific difficulty of Jewish prayer. There are laws: how to pray, when to pray, what to pray. There are fixed times, fixed ways, fixed texts. On the other hand, prayer is worship of the heart, the outpouring of the soul, a matter of kavanah (inner devotion)..... These principles are two poles about which Jewish prayer revolves. Since each of the two moves in the opposite direction, equilibrium can only be maintained if both are of equal force. However, the pole of regularity usually proves to be stronger than the pole of spontaneity and as a result, there is a perpetual danger of prayer becoming a mere habit, a mechanical performance, an exercise in repetitiousness. The fixed pattern and regularity of our services tends to stifle the spontaneity of devotion. Our great problem, therefore, is how not to let the principle of regularity impair the power of spontaneity (kavanah).

-My Jewish Learning, by Rabbi Arnold J. Wolf

Maimonides declares, “Prayer without kavanah is no prayer at all. He who has prayed without kavanah ought to pray once more. He whose thoughts are wandering or occupied with other things need not pray until he has recovered his mental composure....."

1. Do you agree that regularity tends to be stronger than spontaneity?
2. Do you have an easier time with keva or kavanah
3. What gets in the way of your kavanah? What helps you?
4. Is there keva and kavanah within music itself?

Entering Jewish Prayer - Rabbi Reuven Hammer
The Hasidic practice of emphasizing song was part of their method of attaining true prayer. The wordless melody-the niggun–was a brilliant method of demonstrating the extrasemantic dimension of prayer. We may even go so far as to say that words can be impediments to the deepest communication, for what words can adequately express our feelings about God? Nor can they truly capture the depths of our emotions at times of grief or of overwhelming joy. In the words of the Hasidic master R. Dov Baer, "The ecstasy produced by melody … is in the category of spontaneous ecstasy alone, without any choice or intellectual will whatsoever."
Words can become idols. They concretize that which cannot be concretized. Ideas can intellectualize experience. Melody is pure soul.

1. Do you agree or disagree with this?

And Rabbi Shefatya said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Concerning anyone who reads from the Torah without a melody or studies the Mishna without a song, the verse states: “So too I gave them statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live” (Ezekiel 20:25), as one who studies Torah through song demonstrates that he is fond of his learning. Furthermore, the tune helps him remember what he has learned.

1. Why do you think it is so important that Torah be chanted?

1. Do you relate to this verse that says that "God is song"?
2. What is the connection between God and Music?

1. Why was music and singing the way the Israelites celebrated?
2. What role does music play in celebrations?
3. What are some examples of Jewish music that is associated with celebration and rejoicing?

SING TWO SETTINGS OF MI CHAMOCHA
1. Dan Nichols
2. Hannah Tiferet Siegel

1. Does one version seem more celebratory?
2. Does the 2nd one fit the text and mood of the prayer?

I Samuel 16:23
(23) And it came to pass, when the [evil] spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; so Saul found relief, and it was well with him, and the evil spirit departed from him.

1. How does music help with healing?
2. Have you ever experienced music in that way in your life?

PLAY CANTOR BENJIE SCHILLER'S PSALM 150
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R85-6N1KT5o

Majestic: A Sense of Awe and Grandeur
Our first mood is majestic: that which evokes within us a sense of awe and grandeur. A classic example is the music of the First and Second Temple periods. The Levites, with full choir and orchestra, assembled a magnificent offering suited only for God. What is our equivalent of majesty in musical prayer?........How can we create awe and grandeur when inclusivity has become the hallmark of our age?

Meditative: Inward and Reflective
Our second mood is meditative: that which leads us inward, toward reflective, contemplative prayer. It is to know the “still small voice” within ourselves, the one that often eludes us. Consider the Silent Prayer, “May the Words,” Mi shebeirach, or even Kol nidrei. Is our liturgical music conducive to moments of genuine meditation?

Meeting:Creating and Encountering Oneness
Our third mood is meeting: moments in which we become aware of the larger community and literally meet other souls through prayer. When all voices join to create a resounding chorus of prayer, when every voice contributes its sound to the whole, a new expression of prayer is born. Even among strangers, we sense both a personal and a spiritual connection with those with whom we pray........ Whether majestic or meditative— whatever the musical style—the meeting of voices defines this type of prayer.

Moving Along: Creating Momentum
Of course, not every melody fits into one of these categories. Some music functions as the “connective tissue” of the liturgy, carrying the worship from one section to the next—the Chatzi Kaddish on Shabbat evening, for example, may not readily be identified as music of meeting, meditation or majesty— although some of us no doubt experience it in each of these ways. Mostly, I think of it as the music of “moving along”or “momentum.” In this case, its music is traditional and connects us to our musical history. Its familiarity is comforting; its specific melody, chant or prayer mode, is a reminder of where we are in Jewish sacred time. As an individual piece of music it is relatively neutral; its function is simply to punctuate one section of the service. But “connectors,” such as the Chatzi Kaddish, fulfill an important task—they create momentum, so that one prayer flows smoothly into the next.

Memory: Connecting to the Past
Some people suggest that a fifth function should be added to the list: memory. Sometimes it is the associative connection that one’s memory makes to a particular melody that moves people the most. In these situations, the melody and/or the words are symbols. The significance of these associations may be private—“The melody that my grandmother sang as she lit the Shabbat candles” or “The song we always sang at our family seder”—but if many people in the community have the same memory and bring similar associations, then the memory is a mood of shared prayer. If the music of meeting establishes connections with our community today, the music of memory creates continuity with our communal past. In Jewish tradition, particular musical themes serve as leitmotifs for corresponding Holy Days: imagine Yom Kippur without the Kol Nidre melody! While style and our own musical tastes have changed over time, we must nonetheless respect the power of the music of memory to evoke and embody the sacred. Memory is not a separate mood from the four M’s of meeting, majesty, meditation, and momentum; it is an over-arching category that is often experienced simultaneously with the others.

1. What is the balance of these categories of moods in our services at Shaaray Tefila? Is one type more prevalent than others? Is one less prevalent?
2. Is the balance different depending on the type of service (ie. Friday night, B'nei Mitzvah, High Holy Days, Festivals)
3. What is a piece of worship music that represents memory for you?

PLAY MUSICAL EXAMPLES
1. Hashkiveinu by Craig Taubman (Shaaray Tefila "Songs for the Soul" Recording)
2. Kol Nidrei: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAJbrenxqDU
3. Oseh Shalom by Nava Tehila: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM5Nm1TUVG0
4. Oseh Shalom by Nurit Hirsch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMbEJUfnllk
5. Ma Tovu by Louis Lewandowski: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oMfo5fOKZQ
7. R'tzei by Stephen Richards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv-XRbzGEjk
8. Hashkiveinu by Dan Singer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75ROWXzs7p0

For each example, which categories does it fit in for you?

MERRI ARIAN'S FIVE E'S FOR THE PURPOSE OF MUSIC IN WORSHIP
From Leveling the Praying Field

Enhance and Elevate the prayer moment
Engage the congregation
Educate & Enlighten the congregation, through new interpretations of the liturgy