This week’s Daily Kavanot will be written by two members of our musical team: Cantorial Intern Andrew Paskil and Educational and Cantorial Intern Lauren Roth, who each contributed to the beautiful sound of our High Holy Day services. Andrew was named our Cantorial Intern in July and has been part of our musical team for over a year. Lauren is finishing her master’s in Jewish Education and Leadership this spring, and will then return to New York to complete her cantorial studies.
Before beginning cantorial school, I spent seven years living in New York City, first as a student at a musical theater conservatory, and then as an actor. While I wouldn’t trade those years for anything, it became increasingly clear to me over those last few years that my days in New York were numbered. I realized that I could not see myself living the daily grind of auditions, hustling to pay rent for the rest of my life. In realizing this, I realized what I wanted to do.
There is a big difference between singing in a theater for thousands of people and singing on a bima for 10, 100, or 1,000 people. Performing on stage for thousands of people in a theater is a one-sided conversation: I sing or act and the audience listens. In a synagogue, though, we create something together. I sing, you sing, we all sing together, creating this swell of energy that is hard to describe but is, I think, something we have all felt. It is, as one of my professors calls it, “collective effervescence.”
Think about a time when you were at a Shabbat or holiday service and it started with a niggun (wordless melody) with which you may or may not have been familiar. As these niggunim are designed, the leader starts singing and slowly, more and more people start to join in. It is the best kind of peer pressure: the pull of that “collective effervescence.” I have become addicted to it, and ultimately, it is the reason I am back in Los Angeles, studying at cantorial school and sharing worship with you here at Wise.
A service is not a concert or a play. A cantor is not a Broadway performer. The synagogue is a place where we connect to each other and the Divine. So, the next time you find yourself at a service, try to think about what it would be like without that communal singing. And then, sing louder!
I am honored to be a part of this community and to feel the “collective effervescence” that we will continue to create together.
—Andrew Paskil