Inspiring rhymes or harmful misrepresentation? The role of poetry in religion

Parashat Beshalach features the first shira (poetic passage) in the Torah, as the Israelites sang praises to God to celebrate their salvation at the splitting of the sea. Such poetic passages of praise feature heavily throughout the Tanakh, with the book of Tehillim dedicated entirely to such inspirational verse. Rambam’s cautious approach – and sometimes outright criticism – of religious poems therefore comes as something of a surprise.

First in his Moreh Nevuchim, Rambam is highly critical of “orators and poets” on account of their “corrupt imagination”. Writing in Homo Mysticus, Rabbi Jose Faur argues that this is closely linked to one of Rambam’s responsa in which he consistently opposes the recitation of piyyutim (liturgical poems) in the prayers.

Rambam’s main objection does not appear to be the content of such poems, but rather to their structure: particularly the meter and rhyme which he understands to manipulate ideas rather than present them clearly. Notably, biblical passages of verse are largely free of rhyme and meter – a phenomenon that Faur notes has parallels among leading modern poets who opt for a “purer” form of free verse. This being the case, Rambam may have been more likely to embrace the piyyutim which are recited by Ashkenazi communities, that are largely free of meter and rhyme.

Faur argues that Rambam’s reservations of how strict poetic structure can distort and manipulate religious truths reflect a central theme in Rambam’s worldview, which contrasts pagan thought – which is governed primarily by imagination and falsehood with rational monotheists who seek to develop an objectively true understanding of everything they encounter:

“Poetry is manipulative and deceptive because concepts and ideas are developed, approved, or rejected not on substantive grounds but on the trivia of rhyme and meter.”

As Judaism Reclaimed analyses, Rambam has a very particular approach to the function of regular liturgical prayer, which he understands to be designed to focus the mind, with increasing frequency, on connecting with God and divine truths (see more here). This being the case, it is of considerable importance that these truths are presented in their prayer book in the most accurate form possible, and not manipulated in order to obey the external aesthetic demands of rhyme and meter.

For those who approach prayer as being primarily intended to provide an emotional and uplifting spiritual experience, however, perhaps the opposite is true. Aesthetically pleasing poetical structures and catchy tunes, which are more suited to raising congregants to sublime spiritual meditation, ought to play a more central role in Jewish prayer. Does the structure and style of biblical poetry – most particularly the Tehillim which are recited regularly in our liturgy – present a challenge to this more spiritually-orientated approach?

And does the growing practice of minyanim to force chapters of Tehillim into catchy tunes for Kabbalat Shabbat (something which I admittedly enjoy partaking in from time to time) represent a further rejection of this Maimonidean position?

First posted on Facebook 12 January 2022, here.