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Music:
- A holy melody gives strength to the forces of holiness. But the music
of the Sitra Achra, the Other Side, damages these forces and lengthens the
exile. It makes people stumble and traps them like birds in a snare. Be very
careful never to listen to this kind of music at all. The musicians and singers
who produce it have no religious intentions whatsoever. On the contrary,
they only want to make money or become famous. Listening to this kind of
music can seriously weaken your devotion to God. But the melodies played
by a truly religious, God-fearing musician can be very inspiring. They can
strengthen your devotion immensely (Likutey Moharan I, 3).
- Studying the Gemarah at night is a protection against being influenced
by the music of the Other Side (Ibid.).
- A holy melody has the power to bring one to the level of prophecy.
Music is the foundation of true attachment to God (Ibid.).
- One who sings with purity has kingship and power. He has the power
to do whatever he wants. He can give life or death to whomever he wants.
But he must be careful to judge all people in the scale of merit so as not
to destroy the world. For God desires lovingkindness, and He wants the world
to endure (Ibid.).
- When a person achieves moral purity, his voice is also purified. Simply
through hearing the sound of his voice singing, God sees which enemy is oppressing
us, which of the seventy nations with their seventy languages. Then God saves
us from trouble. When a harsh decree is passed against the Jews, God forbid,
and one of the nations rises up against us, it is very good to sing the song
or anthem of that nation. When our cries and singing are directed towards
Heaven, it arouses God's love. He looks down upon us in our trouble and saves
us from the people oppressing us (27).
- From a person's voice you can tell whether he is powerful or not and
to what degree. Everybody has a certain degree of power and influence, and
it is recognizable in his voice (30).
- Music sweetens the harsh judgements. When you sing the words of the
prayers in a clear, bright voice, the Shechinah is robed in radiant garments,
and this is how the harsh judgements are sweetened (42).
- Man is endowed with an image-making faculty, which is one of the most
powerful forces in his life, because it is through this that he forms his
concepts. But because it is linked to the imagination, it is seriously prone
to error. Good and evil are mixed up. But music played by a truly God-fearing
player for the sake of Heaven has a wonderful power to subdue the wildness
of the imagination, and the good is sifted from the bad. Such music has the
power to lift you from depression and inspire you with joy. This is the way
to develop a good memory, which means to remember at all times the goal of
the World to Come and to understand the things God sends every day to draw
you closer to Him. When you have a good memory, you are free of the deceptions
of surface appearances (54).
- There is a form of atheism from which there is no return. But the melody
of the truly great Tzaddik has the power to raise up the souls which have
fallen into this (64).
- The miserable wailing of the songs of the wicked does a great deal
of damage because people are easily influenced by them. But when the Tzaddikim
sing these songs on Shabbat they elevate and purify them (226).
- Music has a tremendous power to draw you to God. Get into the habit
of always singing a tune. It will give you new life and send joy into your
soul. Then you will be able to bind yourself to God. It is especially good
to sing on Shabbat and the festivals, and at a wedding celebration (Rabbi
Nachman's Wisdom #273).
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