7 Tishrei, 5781

From Bruce Bierman

I love this song.  Music by composer Jerome Kern (‘Showboat’) and lyricist Dorothy Fields (‘Annie Get Your Gun’) both first generation Jews of immigrant parents. The song was written in 1936, 6 years into the Great Depression.   

I remember a story from Buber’s ‘Tales of the Hasidim’ where a student came to their Rebbe during Yom Kippur beating themselves and crying out in their guilt and repentance that they were beyond repair.  Worse than the Devil!  Damaged goods that had missed the mark too often. The Rebbe asked the student what horrible sin was committed that could cause such anguish?! The student whispered it in the Rebbe’s ear.  There was a long silence.  And then the Rebbe laughed……and laughed and laughed.  “Is that all?!’  The Rebbe continued to buckle over.  Soon the student’s burden was lightened and the student returned back home as if a huge weight had been lifted.  

Something like that… 

Somehow this song always encourages me to make a  fresh start with it’s wit, humor and optimism as I can often be like the student in the tale.  

“Pick Yourself Up” performed by Diana Krall, music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Dorothy Fields