Singing
Why is it that when someone talks, the more you look at him while he’s talking the more you can understand what he is saying, but when someone is singing, when you close your eyes you hear the nigun [tune] better?
And why is it that when someone is talking, “trei koli lo mishtama [you can’t hear two people’s voices at once]”? But with neginah, singing, the more people who sing together, the more beautiful it is.
Rebbe Nachman says: Words are on the level of the asarah ma’amaros, the Ten Pronouncements with which the world was created. Therefore, when someone talks, he’s using worldly tools. Singing, however, comes from the world which is beyond Creation. If I sing one thing, and you sing something else, it can become harmony.
When someone talks, you look at the person. But when someone is singing, you close your eyes, because singing is so heavenly. The less you’re in this world, the less you’re looking at the world, the more you know what to sing about.
