Zissin Zogger Zingt Zmiros

Why did I title this Zingt and Zogt? Primarily because the song here is more or less chanted, not particularly "sung". [Also, I needed to post on the letter "Z" for my alphabet series]

One of the pleasures of older age is the joy of reminiscing on the music you were raised with. If one views my sidebar, there are quite a few Jewish music blogs linked - primarily for that reason.

As I went through elementary school, and was not yet conversant in Hebrew, the highlight of Davening was recognizing the various Pesukim that had been rendered to song. Rosh Chodesh was particularly appreciated, as much of Hallel's prose has been set to music by various singers, most noticeably, Shlomo Carlebach.

Anyone who has had to memorize portions of Tanach, such as Birkas Yaakov, Shiras Devorah and the like, knows that setting the text to song will alleviate much of the difficulty in memorization.

This past Shabbos, known as Shabbos Shuva, I heard one Rav extoll the virtue of a national anthem. Yes, the Jewish People have a national anthem, it is HAAZINU! This is the song that G-d told Moshe to teach to the nation.

Interestingly enough, I chanced upon this music video which aims to put the words of Haazinu to song. As mentioned above, it may not be so catchy, but it is a start. Anyone out there who can put the entire text to a popular tune will merit much Zechus.