Cantor's Blog

This "Sermon in Sondheim" was offered by Cantor Fogelman as part of Broadway Shabbat at Temple Israel of Northern Westchester on June 10, 2022. For the complete audio and video, please click here.

When we ask for forgiveness on Yom Kippur, we differentiate between the sins that we have committed knowingly and unknowingly. Our subconscious plays a significant role in our actions, to the point where it is nearly impossible for us to take stock of the impact of all of behaviors. We do our best to remain self-aware, but our liturgy acknowledges that doing so is a tall order.

Similarly, while there is little evidence that Stephen Sondheim, zichrono livracha, knowingly imbued his beloved musical with Jewish values, it is clear that they are there. Sondheim, who we sadly lost this past fall at the ripe old age of 91, was what you would call “culturally Jewish”.  He never attended Hebrew school, never had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony, and reportedly did not even enter a synagogue until he was nineteen years old.

            Nevertheless, Sondheim characterizes his Jewish identity as being “very deep.” “It’s the fact that so many people I admire in the arts are Jewish,” he told Abigail Pogrebin in an interview for her book Stars of David. “And art is as close to a religion as I have.”

            In the same interview, Sondheim told Pogrebin that he never outwardly considered exploring Jewish themes in his works. Regardless, so many of his works incorporate Jewish values and ideas such as community, forgiveness, remembrance, interfaith relationships, creation, and even Shabbat rest. Tonight, we will explore the presence of these Jewish concepts in four different Sondheim songs and musicals. I’ll explain a bit about what to look for in each song, after which you’ll get a chance to listen to the music firsthand.

“Getting Married Today” (Company)

            There is only one definitively Jewish character in the entire Sondheim canon, and that is Paul from Company. Paul is set to marry Amy, a lapsed Catholic (I’ll be playing that role tonight, going against type). When Amy gets cold feet on her wedding day, she finds solace in Paul’s Jewishness. “I’m just so glad we’re not having a Catholic wedding because next year when I get the divorce, I won’t be a sinner,” she says. “Whoever would have thought I’d marry someone Jewish? Jewish! I mean, I didn’t even know anybody who was Jewish. That was probably my main attraction. Look what a little Catholic rebellion will lead to! The very first moment I met Paul, I said to myself, “That’s what I really like…that Jew!” Oh, he was so beautiful… inside and out beautiful. Paul would kiss me and I would think, ‘Oh, I got my very own Jew!’”

            We’re now going to hear Amy’s pre-wedding jitters in the form of a song, “Getting Married Today.” The couple has planned an interfaith Jewish/Catholic wedding that is clearly set to take place in a church. Along these lines, it’s interesting to note that the music and lyrics are imbued heavily with church imagery. Amy threatens to “collapse in the apse” and urges her guests to “cry at another person’s wake.” The music – especially the part that Marie will sing – mimics the sound of a church organ and choir in such a stereotypical way that it’s almost certainly meant to be a parody. And perhaps that’s exactly what it is – a parody of the pomp and circumstance of formal, organized religion.

Despite Paul’s Jewishness, there is nothing overtly Jewish about the wedding. It’s very curious that Sondheim chooses to set his interfaith wedding in a church without any reference to Paul’s Jewish identity other than his Catholic wife’s admiration of it. It almost seems to mimic Sondheim’s own relationship with Judaism: On the one hand, Judaism was at the center of his world – “Everyone was just Jewish,” he told Pogrebin. “I went to summer camps where everyone was named Nussbaum.” But Jewish ritual and practice were never at the forefront of his life. Despite the plethora of Jewish wedding traditions that he could have showcased – broken glass, anyone? – it almost makes sense that he would choose another focus for his wedding scene. You’ll have a chance to hear it for yourself as I invite Dan and Marie to sing this trio with me.

“Night Waltz” (A Little Night Music)

            Church imagery returns as a marker of time in “Night Waltz” from “A Little Night Music.” Vespers refer to the evening prayers in certain denominations of the church, originating from the Latin word “vesper,” meaning evening. One might argue that this choice has more to do with the setting and religious inclinations of the characters in “A Little Night Music,” which takes place in Sweden. However, the song reminds me of a piece of liturgy found in our former High Holy Day prayer book, “Gates of Repentance.”  At the beginning of Neilah, the concluding service for Yom Kippur, there is a poem that begins “the sun sits low, the shadows fall.” Many composers, including Max Janowski and Edward Stark, have set this poem to music. It even appears in the old Union Hymnal. Some of the melodies for this text incorporate the brooding nusach for “Neilah.” We are impatiently waiting for the sun to finally set after a long, full day of prayer. The same lingering feeling can be found in Sondheim’s Night Waltz, as people wait for the summer sun to finally set over the hills. But they’re in Sweden, where the high latitude delays the sunset – and despite the need for closure and respite, they wait – with the same longing that we feel at the end of Neilah.

We know that Sondheim was not much of a synagogue-goer, but part of me wonders if he ever found his way to a Reform synagogue towards the conclusion of Yom Kippur. I’m thinking maybe he even sat in the hallowed pews of Manhattan’s Congregation Emanuel – where his grandparents were married in 1894 – or even Rodeph Sholom, located just around the corner from the San Remo apartment building in which he was raised. If he did, he may very well have been subconsciously inspired by the words of our old Machzor. Either way, the song expresses that “perpetual sunset is rather an unsettling thing.”

There’s a catharsis that many of us feel as the sun sets on Neilah. To delay its ending would only cause frustration rather than triumph. That same sentiment is captured in this charming piece from “A Little Night Music.” Aviva will sing a short excerpt of this piece to give you a taste of its connection to our Neilah liturgy.

“No One Is Alone” (Into the Woods)

            Sondheim may not have been a man of ritual, but he certainly had a spiritual side to him. In his writing process, Sondheim followed three key rules:

1. Content dictates form
2. Less is more
3. God is in the details

All in the service of clarity, without which nothing else matters.

            Those of you Torah study aficionados will note that these rules are quite similar to what we observe with regards to Biblical analysis. We glean much information about text by studying its form. We know that every little word and detail in the Bible was placed there for a reason – there is no room for extraneous information. And of course, who would dare argue that God is not in the details of the Bible? In fact, those instances of the Bible where God does not appear – such as the Book of Esther – are few and far enough between that they are also notable.

For a self-ascribed non-religious person, it seems curious that one of Sondheim’s major writing techniques stems from God. Perhaps Sondheim is using God imagery to relate to the idea of transcendence – to creating a moment so meaningful and so beautiful that it almost feels otherworldly.

 “No One Is Alone” from “Into the Woods” most definitely fits into this category. In fact, there is so much that is spiritual and – dare I say it – Jewish – in this poignant song. In the context of the show, “No One Is Alone” focuses on memory of loved ones and ensuring that their legacy lives on. It also teaches the importance of community and looking out for our friends and neighbors of all different backgrounds. The song incorporates several characters coming together to figure out how to move on in the wake of a communal tragedy, all the while emphasizing themes related to teshuva and forgiveness. The lyrics explain that “people make mistakes” – and the way to reconcile this natural human tendency is to honor these mistakes. “Everybody makes one another’s terrible mistakes,” wrote Sondheim. The addition of “one another” here shows the importance of accountability. It represents a prime example of finding God in the details. When we make a mistake, we must do right by acknowledging how it affects others. This is precisely what we do on Yom Kippur. We ask for forgiveness from ourselves, from others, and from God and are given a chance to return to a clean slate. We do this in the context of community, memory, and prayer – all of which are incorporated into this beautiful song. 

“Sunday”

            Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel famously described Shabbat as an “island in time.” The island imagery represents the carefree relaxation we are able to experience as we rest in Shabbat. It is a vacation destination; a departure from the mundane.

            Sondheim has a musical based on an island in time – or rather, it is a musical based on a George Seraut’s painting that captures a Sunday Afternoon in the Island of La Grande Jatte. Seraut’s painting is famous for depicting one beautiful frozen moment in time, created by thousands upon thousands of tiny colored dots that converge together to make a singular image. If you look at the painting too closely the colors blur together. The images are unrecognizable. But if you step back and take it all in, the picture becomes clearer. This is precisely what makes Shabbat so special. We work so hard all week, with a narrow focus on the ordinary. On Shabbat, we take a step back to refocus on what is truly most important in our lives.

            Seraut’s painting is staged on a Sunday, representing the day of rest for its characters. When the image becomes clear, we see several different stories taking place, tied together with the common thread of leisure, relaxation, self-discovery, building relationships, and – most notably – creation.  Sondheim tells his fictionalized versions of these stories in his musical adaptation of the painting, which at its core speaks to the enduring legacy that artists and other creators leave for eternity. “Every moment makes a contribution, every little detail plays a part. The art of making art is putting it together,” explains one of the show’s most famous lyrics. This echoes the biblical narrative we read in Bereshit, the story of creation. The story teaches us that God plotted every little detail, including how God’s various creations would work together in symmetry. God put it all together, stepping back to admire God’s work and declaring that it was “tov m’od” – very good. 

            Hallel B’Shir is about to sing the title song “Sunday” from Sondheim’s musical, which describes the swirling colors that blur together to create the island in time that is described in the painting. Even though we’ll be singing about Sunday and not Saturday, to me this piece captures the epitome of Shabbat rest. On Shabbat, we have to be to be leisurely, we have time to observe, we have time to focus. Listen for these things in the piano, in the voices, and in the text.

Shabbat Shalom!