The Piano Player
- Leann Shamash
- Mar 26
- 3 min read
#parshatpekudei #sefershemot #shemot #piano #thepianoteacher #playingthepiano #praticepractice #practicemakesperfect #onestepforwardtwostepsback
This week we complete the remarkable book of Shemot with Parshat Pekudei. Shemot begins with the names of those in Egypt and ends with God's presence in a cloud over the Mishkan.
Sefer Shemot illustrates a people newly liberated from slavery, but the mind set of slavery still lives within them. The have received the gift of Torah, but they cannot yet comprehend what this means and so they return to their old familiar ways time after time. Later we learn that Gd decides that this people cannot be the ones to enter The Land and it will take years and years for a new generation of people who are not enslaved by their thoughts who can handle what awaits them on the other side of the Jordan.
Although far removed from Shemot and the adventures and travails of this people, I was reminded of the process of training a piano player, which entails taking two steps forward and one step backward in order to achieve gradual success. This is the process that I witnessed with my own children as they worked from a young age to learn the art of playing the piano. Like the Hebrews wandering in the desert, I saw their struggles to learn and their eventual success. I also witnessed their teachers*, who sat by their sides and both corrected them and encouraged them time after time, until they finally got it right. It is through mistakes that we move forward and it is through struggle and even failure that we finally achieve.
Farewell for now, Sefer Shemot. You have taught us much. Next week we will be ready to dive into Sefer Vayikra and continue learning with the anticipation that only comes with this mysterious Sefer.
Wishing you a Chodesh Tov (a good new month). As we head into Nisan and Passover preparations, may we hear good news.
Shabbat Shalom,
Leann
*Thank you Mrs T. and Gwendale
The Piano Player
The piano player sits,Â
his sneakered feet swing back and forth
from the wooden bench,
not yet reaching the pedals below.
The boy's small hands cannot yet reach across
the wide expanse of the octave.
Two brown eyes dart from ceiling to floor,
and the piano player wishes to returnÂ
to the comfort of the striped couch,
to his games and puzzles.Â
The Teacher sits at his side,
not so close to be intimidating
but not too far to be unreachable.
The Teacher points out that the boy should sit tall,
He shows him how to relax a tense hand,
how to lift fingers one by one
and how to hit the key,
gently,
please, gently.
The boy strikes a key and a loud note rings forth.
Plink.
It is the boy's first success.
His eyes smile with delight.
The Teacher nods.
It is but one small note.
A first note.
He knows there is a long road ahead.
For days, weeks, months,
and even for years
the boy returns to the bench.
The keys of the piano capture his fingerprints.
The boy's feet begin to reach the pedals,
his fingers grow stronger,
his back straighter.
Day after day he practices
with days of wrong notes,
confusing sharps and flats.
Key signatures and counting.
So many mistakes.
Sometimes it is just too much.
The boy lays his head on the keyboard.
as he cries, his fingers hang by his side.
He thinks how useless they are.
The Teacher remains by his side.
not so close to be intimidating
but not too far as to be unreachable.
He waits for the boy to rise
and finally the boy,
this piano player
lifts his head.
The Teacher nods.
He knows that it takes time to
create a piano player.
Patience.
Discipline
and many errors.
Years pass.
The boy is now a man.
His fingers now fly over the keys
and the music sometimes floats
and sometimes thunders.
His back is straight,
but at times he bends over the keys,
his eyes closed
and he inhales the music he makes.
He caresses the keys as he plays.
The Teacher no longer sits at his side,
but the teachings live deep in the piano player's long fingers,
fingers that now span more than an octave.
 The notes, filled with bitter and sweet,
mix and rise
and fill the air with music.
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