Beshallach: The Blessing of Our Generation

How strange it is that this weekend, which is called "Shabbat Shira" - "The Shabbat of Song," should coincide with the death this week of one of our greatest Jewish singer-songwriters, Debbie Friedman. If you aren't familiar with her work, please look her up online, go to her website, or read any one of the beautiful obituaries written about her. She was an amazing person, a wonderful educator and teacher, and an inspiration to all who heard her music.

I won't copy what others have written about her, though I really do urge you to watch this lovely tribute video about her life. Instead, I would like to share a couple of personal reflections with you. In 1994, my mother brought Debbie Friedman to our Jewish community in Stockholm, Sweden. My mother, then a teacher in the Jewish Day School and principal of the Hebrew School, had translated Debbie's songs into Swedish for years; lyrics that I still remember to this day. The songs themselves are all very catchy, but I was particularly inspired to see how Debbie was able to get all these timid, non-emotive Swedes to stand up and dance to her music! She just had an aura and a glow about her.

I'll freely admit that I have always been a fan of her music. Not perhaps a play-in-your-car-and-sing-along fan, but I still know many of the lyrics, and love the messages she conveyed. She is credited with bringing Hebrew back to Reform services, with her unique ability to weave together Hebrew and English within the same song. I particularly love "Lechi Lach," where she uses the feminine form of the command given by God to Abraham to "go forth." It is a brilliant adaptation of a Biblical quote, because it reminds us that Sarah, Abraham's wife, was just as commanded as he was to leave his home and become a new nation.

In her song, "To Build a Sukkah," she reviewed the requirements of making a Kosher Sukkah, but with a fun tune and light-hearted lyrics. She wrote an Aleph-Bet song to teach the Hebrew alphabet, and it's truly one of the best versions out there! She wrote an adorable song about Thanksgiving; showing that pride in our American heritage is as important as pride in our Jewish one. And who could forget her "Mi-she-beirach" song? Her gorgeous prayer of healing which hundreds of congregations, including Ohev Shalom, sing every week; asking God to heal their loved ones, and which we all sang last week on Debbie's behalf. Debbie Friedman opened up our minds to new insights and perspectives, and she enriched the entire Jewish community, across movement lines, gender lines, and around the world.

In this week's Torah portion, we read the Song of the Sea (which is why this weekend is Shabbat Shira...), a famous 18-verse song about God defeating the Egyptians and hurling them into the Sea of Reeds. Yet we also read a second, much shorter song, known as the Song of Miriam. Like most material about women in the Bible, it was vastly overshadowed by Moses' Song of the Sea for thousands of years. But Debbie Friedman changed all that. She wrote a song about Miriam dancing with the other women, and to many of us, that song is as well-known as its Biblical "older brother," if not more so. That was the power of Debbie Friedman.

This week we dedicate Shabbat Shira to the muse of our generation. In "Lechi Lach" she sang to us that, "on your journey I shall bless you, and you shall be a blessing." She has truly blessed all of our journeys, and she was a tremendous blessing to us all. She will be missed.

Photos in this blog post:

1. Image courtesy of Limmud on Flickr

2. CC image courtesy of Aka Hige on Flickr

3. CC image courtesy of zeevveez on Flickr

4. CC image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons