Sing a New Global Song Together
Ps. 47:10
Louder than the protests and the wails, the brave Jerusalem Youth Chorus sings on - Palestinian and Israeli teens still singing together for the future that they and all of us demand and deserve.
It’s this kind of courageous chorus that is echoed in today’s chapter - a hope for what we all want.
Sing! Five times this command shows up in this chapter, inviting us to sing together in praise of the presence of all. The other musical momentum in this psalm is the sound of the Shofar, blasting to honor the creator.
This is why this psalm is recited on Rosh Ha’Shana - the first day of the Jewish new year, just before we blow the shofar. Rosh Ha’Shana is the day of the creation of humanity and it’s fitting that this psalm addressed the tensions between our tribal and universal affinities. While it IS the Jewish new year that is celebrated - the day is about the human story as a whole. Can we celebrate both? How do we prioritize both our particular and specific sense of being in the world - while also taking pride in being part of the entire human family and the universal narrative?
Today is Shavuot, the harvest holiday that became the marker of the Revelation of Torah at Mount Sinai. There is no better narrative to outline the tensions between the tribal and the global. The Torah was given to the Israelites who just fled slavery in Egypt. It is the sacred text of a specific nation. And yet, the revelation was a cosmic event, and the Torah is meant to be a guidebook for the world - and we, be a light unto the nations. Somehow, we are guided towards both.
This chapter includes both voices - the one that focused on us, our needs, our narratives, our fears and aspirations - as well as the global narrative that is the biggest aspiration of it all.
The chapter includes this notion of exceptionalism:
יַדְבֵּ֣ר עַמִּ֣ים תַּחְתֵּ֑ינוּ וּ֝לְאֻמִּ֗ים תַּ֣חַת רַגְלֵֽינוּ׃
“The God who subjects people to us, who sets nations at our feet.”
Ps. 47:4
But beyond this basic need for triumph and security at the expense of others comes a bigger dream.
After the five calls to sing together in a global chorus of praise, the poem depicts the creator on a mighty throne, as the pilgrims gather:
נְדִ֘יבֵ֤י עַמִּ֨ים נֶאֱסָ֗פוּ עַם֮ אֱלֹהי אַבְרָ֫הָ֥ם כִּ֣י לֵ֭אלֹהִים מָֽגִנֵּי־אֶ֗רֶץ מְאֹ֣ד נַֽעֲלָֽה׃
The nobles of the nations are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham, together: for the shields of the earth belong to God:God is greatly exalted.
Ps. 47:10
The word ‘nobles’ can also be read as ‘generous’. This is the utopian United Nations - where generosity of spirit overcomes specific needs. It’s when we see the bigger picture of this earth and our collective challenges and needs. The visionaries of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus are our role models for this hopeful trope.
The vision for the end of days is universal. The Abrahamic faiths - already alluded to 2,500 years ago - represent monotheistic commitment to values that unite us more than divide us. Perhaps a more generous reading of this psalm will also include all on the planet who are committed to the sacred center and to finding common ground.
What we need today are visions that will bring us all together. If we choose to sing, and focus on the common ground, we have a better chance to survive whatever comes next. When will we gather again to celebrate the Jewish New Year, let’s sing, expand our empathy, increase our tent, to include all beings in our prayers, sound the ram’s horn to remember that our earth is our home, and we are all in this together, no matter the borders, no matter what landscape we call home.
Global choir: Please. Sing on.
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