The Thinking-Feeling-Doing Loop

There are two reasons why a person might sing: Expressive singing and therapeutic singing. We sing to express joy, but we can also sing as a way to make ourselves more joyful.

Researchers have recently focused on the therapeutic values of singing, (even if you think you have a bad voice, and even if others agree with you that you have a bad voice.)

There are physiological benefits: Singing exercises major muscle groups. It is an aerobic activity in that it forces you to breathe deeper and take in more oxygen. Aerobic activity is linked to stress reduction, longevity and better overall health. Singing may improve efficiency in our cardiovascular system. Studies have shown that singing may help people recover from strokes and heart attacks. Singing can boost our immune system and prevent the spread of bacteria in our bodies.

There are also psychological benefits to singing. Singing has been shown to improve neurological function. Studies have shown that people who sing feel a sense of contentment. Perhaps this is due to the rush of endorphins that often accompanies signing.

Singing as part of a group has its own unique and additional benefits: It helps foster a sense of community. It can increase self-esteem. A study published in the 2004 Journal of Music Therapy described how people with chronic pain coped better when they had opportunities to sing as part of a group.

Perhaps Bnei Yisrael sang at Yam Suf as a therapeutic tool. The importance of their Shira is not only seen if we focus on their accomplishments, but also if we appreciate their aspirations. They were teaching us an important lesson: Our actions not only express our feelings. Our actions can set the agenda. We can change how we feel and even what we think by how we act.

Kabbalists explain the difference between first and last days of Pesach: Firrst days celebrate Itaruta Dl’eilah, a stirring from Above; it’s all G-d’s doing. The Last days of Pesach celebrate it’aruta Dl’tata- a celebration of human initiative.  We not only commemorate Nachshon jumping into water. But we also appreciate the Jews’ capacity to utilize shirah as a means of changing their attitude and their perspective.

Sefer Hachinuch is a 13th Spanish work, published anonymously, that systematically discusses and explains the 613 Mitzvot. One theory is that the book was written for the author’s son on the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah. In explaining one of the particulars associated with the Korban Pesach, the author raises a question that he’d expect his son to have. The purpose of many many mitzvot is to remember the Exodus. Shouldn’t one mitzvah suffice? To which the Sefer Hachinuch responds:

How we act sets the agenda for what we think and how we feel. This flips many people’s assumption on its head. Many people think that in order to act, for example to act charitably, we must feel charitable. But the lesson of the Jews at the sea is that our actions can precede our feelings and can even generate our feelings. So if we want to feel charitable – we should give. If we still don’t feel charitable after doing/giving then we should give some more.