Black-necked Stilt : The Wordless Message

This is a Black-necked Stilt. The photo’s power lies in its exposure. This photo is less about focusing on the subject, the Stilt, and more about the feeling created by the entire frame. This offering is an appeal to emotion rather than intellect. See less, and feel more. Don’t focus on all the busy elements. Better to narrow the eyes a tad and allow the scene to wash through you. Don’t process, just accept.

Niggunim are wordless melodies. These profoundly simple tunes are expressions of our heart, part our liturgy and part of our daily lives. Some reflect exultant, triumphant moments; others rise up out of anguish, reminders of pains lived and remembered. Niggunim, sung in community, forge strength and deepen bonds. And at times standing alone, when words are inadequate, only pure feeling can tell a soul’s tale. Niggunim are pure emotion given flight.

Our Tradition, of the People of the Book, might seem an odd candidate to embrace wordlessness. Tanakh opens with HaShem’s words creating the universe and closes with the Mitzvah to write our own Torah. Words. To be whole, though, to live Shalom, requires acknowledging all facets of our lived reality, both intellectual and emotional. In our love of HaShem, we embrace and align both heart and head. We direct these entwined complements in service of life’s work. Wholeness comes when we embody both our thoughts and our feelings, whether from an evocative Stilt or a heartfelt Niggun.