Music plays a regular part in our worlds, from the radio playing during our commutes and music sessions during Shabbat to prayers in school and songs at summer camp. How are the songs we are exposed to in our daily lives shaping us and our values?
In a recent article by Rabbi Paul Kipnes from Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas, CA, he reflects on how his values have derived from the songs he learned throughout his life.
This past summer at a faculty Shabbat song session at Camp Newman in California, Kipnes soaked in the energy and transported back to his formative years spent at summer camp.
"There, first as a teenage program participant and later as head resident advisor and program director, I spent many nights in the dining hall, singing Jewish music," Kipnes said. "Later as a rabbinical student, I dug deeper, noticing that the texts represented in the shiron (songbook) spanned the whole Jewish canon."
Now that Kipnes is raising his own children, he has actively made sure his children are discovering Jewish values through those same songs.
"We taught our children to find contentment with what they had. Instead of getting caught in the endless cycle of trying to 'keep up with the Joneses,' we explain (and sing): Veizeh hu asher - who is wealthy? Hasamei-ach b'chelko - the one who is content with his or her portion."
Behrman House understands the deep and lasting connection students form to music. We also recognize the value of forging those connections all year long, not just in summer camp.
Coming this spring, Behrman House plans to release a new Hebrew prayer curriculum rooted in music.
Hebrew in Harmony encourages students to create meaning from personal prayer and make emotional connections through communal prayer. The flowing words help students learn Hebrew through the music.
Hebrew and Harmony features music from today's top Jewish musicians. Along with arts, movement, videos, and a full digital learning experience, this multimedia curriculum invites students to learn to sing and pray in Hebrew, as well as read, explore, and interpret prayer text.
The first 8 of 22 prayers will be available in early April, but you can be the first to preview Hebrew in Harmony when you sign up for Golem Express.
