Q&A: Why Didn’t They Establish a Melody?
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Why Didn’t They Establish a Melody?
Question
I’ve prayed in many different places, across a variety of circles, styles, and communities.
Everything has melodies, some reasonable and some more successful, more or less.
But for the reader / shofar blower there’s no melody. He reads out in a dreadful voice: tekiah, shevarim, teruah. Something is off there, with no melody at all…
Why didn’t they establish a melody?
Answer
Melodies aren’t instituted. They develop in different ways through the cantor and the congregation. If you feel something is missing, you’re welcome to “establish” a melody and/or dance for the caller and the shofar blower.