EVALUATE THE MUSIC YOU HEAR Does the music you listen to bring out your best? Ask yourself these questions: Does the tune express the meaning of the words? When pesukim are sung to music that doesn’t match, it defeats the purpose of the niggun, which should be to arouse the emotion present in the posuk. Does the emotion aroused cause you to feel in any way more connected to the Hashem? Emotions like hopeless depression, intense anger, or wild, unrestrained excitement have no place in the service of Hashem and do not belong in Jewish music. Does the music invite wild or unrefined, side-to-side movements, or rather elevated dancing motions? The neshama, like a flame, desires to travel upwards, which inspires jumping or shockeling movements, instead of side-to-side.
Richard Wagner was played, zoo animals would course that will be coming out for the public in the become restless and violent. And as reported by a summer, im yirtze Hashem. Many of these girls have major news outlet, a nearby opera house practicing compared the experience to an emotional rollerWagner’s music was the cause of death for an Okapi coaster. Led by a wise woman that has heavily con(a giraffe-like animal) at a zoo in Copenhagen after tributed to this article, these girls have learned to she began hyperventilating when the music be- stop and evaluate how music affects their feelings gan. An autopsy confirmed that she died from ab- and movement. From the spooky to the spiritual, normal stress levels that appeared to have risen as they’ve become more attuned to the messages hida direct result of the specific music that had been den in the beats of today and of yesteryear. Part of the program explores how music directplayed. Plants, too, have been shown to respond to mu- ly impacts brain function, and the founder tells me sic. In 1973 a researcher set up several rooms of that when music is heard, the brain automatically plants and played music to them in various genres connects to the rhythm and beat, forming patand exposure times, waiting to see if even these terns of expectancy in the brain. Unfortunately, a lower forms of life would respond to the forces of new trend has risen in music in which the unexmusic, which they did. The plants exposed to continuous music became weak, though several hours The brains and feelings of these of classical music per day boosted their growth. In the chamber where humans were hijacked by the rhythmic, wild, angry, metallic-sounding music was played, however, the plants animalistic beats they heard, which were grew abnormally tall and bent away carefully formulated by Greek musicians. from the music source, as if they were trying to run away from the sounds they were bombarded with. Despite their pected frequently takes place, such as in songs that height, they were quite sickly. Within sixteen days, end mid-note or have a sudden and drastic change nearly all of the plants in that room were wilted in tempo. The outcome of frequently hearing such and dead, though in the chambers where calm- music is that the brain patterns that people have ing music was periodically played, plant life flour- worked for years to build are distorted, training the person to no longer trust what they see and ished. It seems then, that all forms of life are drasti- experience. They learn that life is not predictcally influenced by music. And lest anyone still able — which is the opposite lesson they’ve learned doubt the effects of music on man, let him only ex- through years of hard work learning to walk, talk, perience it firsthand. Hundreds of high schoolers etc. Human beings need to have a sense of predicthave already gone on an exploration of neginah in a ability in order to function optimally. It would be
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