{"id":89275,"date":"2021-02-22T09:29:21","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T07:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=89275"},"modified":"2021-02-22T09:29:21","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T07:29:21","slug":"all-people-are-false","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/all-people-are-false\/","title":{"rendered":"All People Are False?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I was in my forties when I started to learn how to lead portions of the service. First, I learned how to close the weekday service, then how to open it and then \u2013 big, hard-won accomplishment \u2013 how to chant the repetition of the Amidah. Over time I learned other things until one day I asked to learn the group of Psalms that comprise the Hallel, chanted on holidays and Rosh Chodesh.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now if you\u2019ve experienced Hallel with a talented and knowledgeable cantor, it\u2019s like a medley of David\u2019s greatest hits. Each psalm, or section thereof, has its own melody, and joining in the congregational singing can be one of the highlights of the service. However, what I was learning to lead was a weekday version, where it was presumed the people assembled for a morning service would be going off to work and were not interested in musical virtuosity or participation. Yes, it\u2019s a longer service, but let\u2019s get to it, grab a coffee and bagel, and be on our way.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, while I enjoy the variety of melodies that can be settings for these psalms, what I learned was a simple melody that could be repeated throughout, with a slight flourish at the end of each section. After all, this was still Hallel. However, when we got to Psalm 116, which like most of the rest is done in sections, I was told this was different. When I got to the last line of the first half of the psalm, I was instructed to go downbeat and quickly end it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The reason was simple. After many lines about how gracious and beneficent and compassionate God is, it concludes, \u201cI trust [in the LORD]; out of great suffering I spoke and said rashly, \u2018All men are false.\u2019\u201d (Psalm 116:10, 11). This is a hardly a triumphant note to end on, and I subsequently noticed that even those who relished the musical opportunities presented by the Hallel follow the tradition of momentarily being subdued with these lines.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of the ways we acknowledge problematic verses instead of glossing over them. The curses of the <\/span>tochecha<\/span><\/i>, the reproof<\/span> (Levitcus 26:14-29), are chanted quickly by the Torah reader in an undertone. Similarly, a haftarah that concludes on a negative note will often add a previous line from the reading in order to accentuate the positive. As with Psalm 116, <\/span>how<\/span><\/em> something is said (or chanted) can add to our understanding of <\/span>what<\/span><\/em> is being said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Really - All People Are False?","main_caption":"We acknowledge problematic verses instead of glossing over them: how something is said (or chanted) can add to our understanding of what is being said.","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","preview_embedded":"\r\n","preview_image":false,"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89275"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89275"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89276,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89275\/revisions\/89276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}