bnewman | A new song about Love, G♥d, Relationships, and the Law of Contracts

I've been filking my way through the Jewish calendar for a while now, and am pleased to announce that I am finally (according to some interpretations) done! There are two groups of Jewish holidays which could each be viewed as a single extended holiday, and I've now got one song for each group (and for the other major holidays) but not for each individual holiday within each group. (See below for the complete list.)

The song which completes the sequence is "Love Letter" (MP3), which picks up the biblical narrative at Pesach but is really about Shavuot. On Shavuot, we celebrate the revelation of the Torah at Sinai. The Jewish interpretive tradition likens G!d and Israel to lovers, the revelation at Sinai to a wedding, and the Torah to a marriage contract, and reads the Song of Songs as an allegory of this story (which it is, and...). It's touching, it's meaningful... but let's look at the particulars: The contract is written unilaterally, and Israel accepts it without reading it first and (according to one midrash) under duress. If your sensible Jewish mother heard that you were in a relationship like that, she'd tell you to find a lawyer (maybe your uncle Reuven...?)!

Because of that, reading the plain text of Exodus as a love story doesn't really work for me. The problem is not that I don't experience myself, and the Jewish people, as in love with G!d — I do. Neither is it that I feel love and law to be in conflict (this is one of the major points of divergence between Judaism and Christianity) — I hold to the very Jewish idea that clear agreements, written if necessary, ennoble a relationship and raise love above the level of mere sentiment. The problem is simply that, in the last few thousand years (and mostly in the last few hundred), there has been a radical change in the common understanding of both relationships and contracts: That the best kind (of either) are those entered into through the mutual negotiation of parties who come to the table on more-or-less equal terms, and that unilateral ones are accordingly less real.

I am a person of the Western world of the late 20th century. That concept of relationship, or of contract, as essentially rooted in mutuality, seems — to me — more ennobling and sacred than any other. Thus, when approaching my or the Jewish people's relationship with G!d as a romantic one, the modern concept of love is the one I apply. That doesn't mean I can't place myself at Sinai, it just means we're going to have to talk things over a bit... which, of course, the Jewish people — including, if not especially, those who hold to the more ancient view that of course G!d has the authority to contract unilaterally — have been doing ever since.

Incidentally, yes, the tune is very similar to "Circle Story" (MP3), which is a coincidence but not an accident — compare the section of "Circle Story" covering the corresponding part of the calendar and you'll see why.

List of My Jewish Holiday Songs:

Shabbat: "Shechinah" (MP3)
Pesach/Shavuot: "Love Letter" (MP3)
Tisha B'Av: "Cracked" (MP3) (with reference to The Dark Crystal)
Sukkot: "Starlight through Woven Branches" (MP3) (with reference to Elvish poetry)
Chanukah: "Dedication" (MP3)
Purim: "Masquerade" (MP3) (really, more of a ta'anit Esther song)

I have a midrash for the Days of Awe which may eventually find its way into the form of a song, in which case I would of course consider it part of this series, but in the meantime I feel that my "filk the Jewish calendar" project is complete for the time being. Enjoy!