WELCOME TO THE MUSICAL MIDRASH PROJECT
Midrash is a form of commentary, used by the Rabbis who shaped Jewish life, to draw out the meaning of holy writings. Typically, midrash would start wherever there was something unusual in the text - a striking juxtaposition, a grammatical twist, an unclear meaning. With imagination and deep care, rabbinic midrash opened up a vast arena of insight that continues to inspire and guide.
Mark Sherman, a musician, teacher and service leader, launched the Musical Midrash Project as a way to use music to gain - for himself and others - a greater sense of connection to a text that is both deeply meaningful and essential, yet hard to understand.
The Musical Midrash Project began by looking for notable instances of lyrical beauty in the Biblical text. In each of the traditional divisions of weekly Torah readings, one of these lyrical texts became the starting point for musical midrash - using song to draw out the emotional impact and spiritual power in the words. With melody, and interpretive English lyrics to match the cadence of each text, the songs of the Musical Midrash Project join a living tradition that continues to find new ways of interpreting Torah, and life itself.