Wrongs & songs
A couple of weeks ago when we read Parashat Ki Tetzei, a sidra which contains such a large number of commandments, someone told me that Rav Kook advised people not just to say the words of each commandment but to sing them.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov gives the same advice when he says, “I sing to God b’odi – whilst I am still alive” (Psalm 146:2). Rabbi Nachman says, “When you see a particular mitzvah before you, rejoice that God has given you the opportunity of making this a nicer, more harmonious world.”
The idea is to celebrate the mitzvah and enjoy living the commandment-life.
But how can one possibly sing when there is no-one without their faults? The answer is: don’t obsess about your failings and your faults. Concentrate on your virtues and capacities; use them to sing to God (Likkutei Moharan 282:2).
