Music and Memory

 Music and Memory

At Jewish Newport

September 18, 2020

By Aaron Ginsburg

Thank you to Rabbi Marc Mandel

Also at https://www.facebook.com/groups/jewishnewport

There is nothing like a catchy tune to help us remember something or to put us in the right mood. 

Rabbi Marc Mandel of Newport’s Touro Synagogue shared a message with Jewish Newport,

“One of the reasons why we sound the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah is because it reminds us of when the Jewish people received the Torah on Mount Sinai. When the Torah was given at Sinai, the sound of the Shofar was heard by all, as it is written, וְקוֹל שׁוֹפָר חָזָק מְאֹד, “the sound of shofar was most powerful” (Shemot 19:16). It was at that time the people responded by saying “We will do and we will listen.”  Each year, on Rosh Hashanah, as we hear the Shofar, we relive this unique moment, and once again, we accept the Torah into our lives. Shanah Tova to all. “

There was a little more than the shofar. The entire verse reads,

וַיְהִי֩ בַיּ֨וֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֜י בִּֽהְיֹ֣ת הַבֹּ֗קֶר וַיְהִי֩ קֹלֹ֨ת וּבְרָקִ֜ים וְעָנָ֤ן כָּבֵד֙ עַל־הָהָ֔ר וְקֹ֥ל שֹׁפָ֖ר חָזָ֣ק מְאֹ֑ד וַיֶּחֱרַ֥ד כָּל־הָעָ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר בַּֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃ 

“On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder, and lightning, and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn; and all the people who were in the camp trembled.”

The shofar would have had to have been loud to drown out  the thunder.  

This year the shofar is competing for our attention with Covid-19 and politics. Once again the shofar needs to be very loud to get our attention.  

So what’s the story with music and memory? There must be a book on the subject. And there is, This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel Joseph Levitin. Among his insights are,  “That practice, rather than talent, is the driving force behind musical expertise.”

Does that mean there is hope for me? My usual strategy on the bimah at Touro Synagogue is to go as fast as possible, before the congregation can grasp what I sound like.

This song has been on my mind since I first heard it in before Rosh Hashanah 5768 in 2007  https://youtu.be/yk2cNrRDGO0

Jewish Newport wishes you Shabbat Shalom and Rosh Hashanah greetings for 5781!