Friday, December 24, 2010

Mashiach from the pen of Handel

Does the language we speak affect the way we think? I haven't had a moment to read all the back and forth on this question in the New York Times Opinion pages, (though Shabbes-Christmas does not entail unusual preparation beyond other Shabbats, and I ran a barefoot Christmas-eve run along the warm sunny beach this afternoon, often dipping toes in the cool sea. We feasted on a whole fish from the Sea of Galilee tonight. And think about this. I am minutes away from Bethlehem right this moment.)
But here is my illustration of language colouring the way we think. There is no pure way of saying "by" in Hebrew, as in "we were brought out of Egypt by Moses", or "that fish was caught by Beno", or "a painting by Golda", or "The Messiah by Handel". You have to say, "at the hand of", or "from the pen of". You have to call this glorious music, "The Mashiach from the pen of Handel", as if to say the music is there, resonating through sea and palms, over forests and snowy mountains. The music was there from Creation (from the pen of Haydn, that one). Yes, the music surrounds us. The white noise of seawaves carries every Oratorio, every Oreo chant. The only question is, when will each of us hold our pen gently enough over blank, welcoming paper, and listen for it?
Now, does this humble quirk of the Hebrew language colour the way we think of human accomplishment? I hope so.

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