The Power of Song, The Power of Faith

St John’s Wood shul was full to capacity on two extraordinary evenings this week. On Sunday night, more than 1,200 people came together to enjoy the music of the Israeli singer Ishay Ribo. His songs, infused with deep faith and rousing joy, seemed to touch every heart in the shul. Some pieces were deeply reflective, and we listened in silence to Ishay’s meditative music. Yet several times the entire audience rose to their feet, clapping and singing as one. It was an evening of uplift and celebration, a reminder of the power of music both to open the soul and to steady it in difficult times.

On Monday evening, a similar number gathered for a very different kind of event – a conversation between Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin, interviewed by former Ambassador Daniel Taub, at the UK launch of the new Koren–Sacks Chumash. Daniel’s sensitive and skilful questions drew out from Rachel and Jon, reflections marked by extraordinary humanity, courage and faith as they continue to live with the unbearable pain of their son Hersh’s captivity and murder. It was an evening of depth and contemplation, one that left the entire shul moved and reflective.

Both evenings speak powerfully to the themes of Parashat Vayeitzei. At the beginning of the parasha, Jacob, alone and afraid, dreams of a ladder reaching toward heaven, with angels ascending and descending – a moment of pure spiritual elevation, a sudden opening of the heavens. Later, however, Jacob embarks on years of struggle: navigating tension, uncertainty, fear, and emotional hardship under Laban’s capricious domination. Yet it is precisely through these challenges that his character deepens and his faith develops.

On Sunday evening we experienced how the power of song can both strengthen and uplift us when times are tough and help us celebrate when times are good. On Monday night, listening to Rachel and Jon, we felt their pain but also their hope. We saw their courage to live with uncertainty and their confidence that times will, G-d willing, become brighter. They showed us, in their own way, what it means to see a ladder reaching up to heaven.

Vayeitzei reminds us that Jewish life embodies both the soaring moments that lift us heavenward and the painful moments that test our hearts – and that G-d is present in both. This week at St John’s Wood we experienced both faces of the Jewish journey, bringing us closer to one another, and a glimpse of spirituality in action.