My oldest sister knew how to sing on tune. The rest of us, no. Our family hardly ever sang Shabbat zemirot anyway, but we did sing Birkat HaMazon. Actually, the first time I heard Shabbat zemirot was in Israel. What a novel idea, I thought, but didn’t join in, because I can’t sing on tune. As I moved into more yeshivish circles, this became less awkward, because women weren’t singing at meals anyway.
Three years later, Sheryl, my newly religious roommate, asked me to sing Birkat HaMazon into a tape recorder so she could learn the words and tune. I felt sick at the idea. No! But how could I not? So, I sang into the tape recorder and vowed never to listen to it. One time I heard a sweet lilting sound coming from Sheryl’s room. Could that be – me? But the person sang on tune! How could it be?
I had an aha moment. See, I’d been singing Birkat HaMazon since childhood. I never had stopped to consider how it sounded to others. Which is the best way to sing of all. Now I sing all the time. On or off tune, I don’t know or care.
