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Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Elul 11 - Comfort My People - by Cantor Seth Warner

Deep in the book of Isaiah we read:
     40:1Comfort, oh comfort My people,
     Says your God.
      2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
     And declare to her
     That her term of service is over,
     That her iniquity is expiated;
     For she has received at the hand of the Lord
     Double for all her sins.
     3 A voice rings out:
     "Clear in the desert
     A road for the Lord!
     Level in the wilderness
     A highway for our God!
     4 Let every valley be raised,
     Every hill and mount made low.
    Let the rugged ground become level
     And the ridges become a plain.
     5 The Presence of the Lord shall appear,
     And all flesh, as one, shall behold —
     For the Lord Himself has spoken.


For a student of music or even the more casual appreciator of classical music, this text is a part of George Frederic Handel’s most popular work, the Messiah oratorio (hear this piece on YouTube).

Usually associated with the Christmas season and its famous Halleluyah section in the latter section of the work, the beginning of the oratorio incorporates this text from our tradition in a beautiful music way. 
What I love the most about Isaiah’s text when combined with the Handel’s music (2:50) is “Let every valley be raised, every hill and mount made low.”  The image of the valley and the hills all being made the same is a very interesting notion to me: the ground will be even for all.  

Wouldn’t it be great our lives could be smoothed over the same way?  Our relationships made level?  Our struggles made flatter and our anxieties annulled? This time of year is the time of balancing – balancing our lives, our thoughts and relationships.  We are all human.  

Listen to the words of Handel’s music as tenor, the late Jerry Hadley makes the text come alive.  While the idea of everything being even is somewhat crazy – think about restarting one relationship, perhaps a strained one – in which you make it a point to treat that person in that way you’d like to treat them without the baggage from the past.  It’s hard.  It’s taxing.  And, it’s freeing. 

Cantor Seth Warner


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4 comments:

  1. The music accompanying the verses of Isiah allowed them to go straight to my heart. Thank you.

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  2. The music accompanying the verses of Isiah allowed them to go straight to my heart. Thank you.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Thanks, I'm listening to the inspirational music now!
    ~Jan Fishman

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