Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschutz on Semitones

Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschutz (1690–1764), one of the great Torah scholars of his generation, served as rabbi of Prague and later as rabbi of the communities of Altona, Hamburg, and Wandsbek. He was the author of the renowned halachic works Urim Ve-Tummim and Karti U-Palti.

In one of the discourses in his Ya’arot Devash,[1] Rabbi Jonathan discusses the seven sciences, corresponding to the seven lamps of the Menorah. In the course of this discussion, he mentions that he had composed a special work devoted to these seven sciences, their roots in the Torah, and the ways in which they serve the Torah:

“All the sciences unfold from our Torah; from there is their source, and there they return . . . as I have discussed at length and composed a special book on this subject. The entire book is built upon this foundation: that all the sciences adorn our Torah and serve it.”

Later in the same discourse, Rabbi Jonathan turns to music:

“Of the wisdom of music there is much to say. Through it we may understand all matters pertaining to the cantillation marks and the musical notation of the Song of Songs in the Torah, the beauty of the Levites’ musical expression,[2] and the like. These are harmonious melodies that gladden the heart, dispel melancholy, and bring the soul to a state of joy in which the Divine spirit may rest upon it, as in the case of the prophets.

“And how great is the power of this wisdom! For all the angels on high and the heavenly spheres make music and sing, in song and beautiful melody, according to the proper ordering of sounds and half-sounds. All of these have their root in the true wisdom—that is, the wisdom of Kabbalah—and every musical movement has its roots. I have already discussed this at length in the aforementioned book as well: how, in their playing, their singing, and their musical movements, their intention was directed toward the movements of the higher worlds, in accordance with the beauty and melody of the aforementioned wisdom, with voice and instrument, ‘to make one sound.’”[3]

This work of Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschutz on the seven sciences—including the wisdom of music—has, as far as is known, not come down to us.

It is difficult not to wonder: was the work lost entirely, or might a manuscript still lie somewhere in a library or archive, yet to be identified? I contacted Prof. Maoz Kahana, who has studied the writings of Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschutz and has discovered previously unpublished works of his. He replied that this is certainly something worth continuing to search for. Perhaps these very lines will reach someone who can help in the search for this precious treasure.

For the time being, at any rate, all we possess are these brief words in Ya’arot Devash—yet even within these few lines, there is much to contemplate.

The expression “sounds and half-sounds” refers to whole tones and semitones. This same terminology is used by Rabbi Immanuel Hai Ricchi in Hon Ashir[4] in his well-known commentary on Perek Be-Shir, a musical treatise on the song of the Levites.

The very mention of sounds and half-sounds already indicates that Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschutz was familiar with the finer points of music. More than that: he knew how to relate them to spiritual meanings and to the hidden wisdom of Kabbalah.

Why, in such a brief description of the wisdom of music, did Rabbi Jonathan choose to mention specifically “sounds and half-sounds”?

At the simplest level, because these are among the fundamental measures from which musical structure is built—much as a cubit and half a cubit are measures from which a physical structure is built.

But it seems that something deeper is contained here.

Within these few words, Rabbi Jonathan may be pointing us toward an exalted meaning. In the very same sentence he goes on to say that the “sounds and half-sounds” have their “root in the true wisdom.”

What secret lies behind tones and semitones?

For a complete and certain answer, we will have to wait until Rabbi Jonathan’s lost work is discovered.

In the meantime, I would like to suggest an understanding of his words as I see them.

A whole tone is a whole step on the musical scale, whereas a semitone is a half step.

The difference between them is not merely quantitative, but qualitative. Musically and experientially, they can fulfill entirely different—and even opposite—functions.

The whole tone creates a sense of space and fullness, whereas the semitone creates a sense of contraction and incompleteness.

The distinction between whole tones and semitones underlies the distinction between major and minor intervals and, in its fully developed form, between major and minor.

In its inner spiritual meaning, this reflects the distinction between Chesed and Gevurah—between expansive giving and restraint, between sweetness and bitterness—the two fundamental lines upon which musical creation as a whole is built.

If we take this one step deeper, the “half tones” may be understood in light of the teaching of the Maggid of Mezeritch concerning “half-forms” (chatzi tzurot).[5]

The expression derives from a Chassidic interpretation of the Hebrew word chatzotzrot—“trumpets”—as chatzi tzurot, “half-forms.” The underlying idea is that a “half” does not experience itself as a self-contained whole. It makes room for the other, and precisely through this bittul—relinquishing the sense of one’s own self-sufficiency before a higher unity—the two halves can join and form a complete whole.

The whole tone is a complete form. Yet within it are two half-forms: two semitones. The semitone is, as it were, only half a form—a broken heart, bittul, a yearning to unite with the other semitone that completes it into the whole tone, the complete form.

This entire profound idea lies behind the whole tone and the semitone. Here we see how even the smallest detail of musical structure can lead us toward meanings of the highest spiritual order. From now on, perhaps, even a semitone will sound different to our ears.

In the words of Rabbi Jonathan:

“Every musical movement has its roots.”

Even the smallest movement.

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Notes

[1] Ya’arot Devash, Part II, Discourse 7.

[2] See Shirat Ha-Levi’im, p. 206.

[3] “To make one sound” echoes the wording of II Chronicles 5:13 concerning the song of the Levites. The words “with voice and instrument” likewise allude to that verse: “the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound.” See the discussion in Shirat Ha-Levi’im, p. 219.

[4] Hon Ashir, Yoma 3:11. God willing, this source and its interpretation will be discussed at length in a separate article in the Torah Musicology series.

[5] The source is cited in Shirat Ha-Levi’im, p. 299.