At the Or Shalom Retreat, Rabbi Dan Goldblatt led us in a discussion of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

Stanza by stanza, we discussed Biblical allusions in the song.

Before the discussion, I thought Hallelujah was a song about a failed love affair, where the song’s main character alternately speaks to himself and to his lover.

Now I think Hallelujah is a song about prayer. The poet reflects on his offering of song and poetry. He wonders: it’s my life’s work, but is it really adequate? So he says, “God, I tried to love; I tried to write; it often didn’t work. But I prayed to you at every turn. Accept. Please. My song.”

I’ve heard there was a secret chord

That David played, and it pleased the Lord

But you don’t really care for music, do you?

It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth

The minor fall, the major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Psalm 150, the grand conclusion to the book of Psalms says, “Praise God with music.” Even as the poet hints at the Psalm, he wonders, “Do you care for music?” He describes in words the tune of his song “the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift,” suggesting this poem is self-referential, a reflection on the process of writing a spiritual poem. Is my life’s work worthwhile? Do you, God, really want what I have to offer?

Your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you

She tied you to a kitchen chair

She broke your throne, and she cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

We see allusions to Biblical lovers whose passions are out of control. King David sees Batsheva on the roof and lusts after her. She comes to him. After she becomes pregnant, David has her husband killed. Batsheva moves in with David, but their baby dies. After this rocky start, Batsheva becomes the love of David’s life. Strong man Shimshon thinks he’s playing erotic games with his lover Delilah by telling her how to subdue him. But the game becomes dangerous as Shimson’s enemies use Delilah to capture and kill him. Passion leads to love; passion leads to death – and when passion draws me forward, I don’t know where it’s leading.

Baby I have been here before

I know this room, I’ve walked this floor

I used to live alone before I knew you.

I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch

Love is not a victory march

It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Some of the prophets speak enthusiastically about raising up God’s flag on Jerusalem’s holy mountain. But a flag on a marble arch suggests the destruction of the holy mountain. Rome’s Arch of Titus celebrates the looting of Jerusalem’s Second Temple, as soldiers carry off precious ritual objects in a victory march. Psalms were the Temple liturgy; the Temple and its liturgy can be broken. Love can be broken. Is there any lasting way to reach towards God?

There was a time when you let me know

What’s really going on below

But now you never show it to me, do you?

And remember when I moved in you

The holy dove was moving too

And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

A word for “dove” in Biblical Hebrew is yonah. In the flood story, a dove lets Noah know that it’s safe to come home. The prophet Yonah learns that Divine spirit can take him where he needs to go, even when he is confused. In the Song of Songs, one lover calls another “my dove.” In the Gospel according to John, a dove rises behind Jesus as he begins his ministry, showing that wherever Jesus is present, God is present too. There was a time when we moved together, and the dove moved too, a time when we knew God’s spirit guided us. Did I ever know where I was heading?

Maybe there’s a God above

But all I’ve ever learned from love

Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you

It’s not a cry you can hear at night

It’s not somebody who has seen the light

It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Royal rivals Saul and David are simultaneously drawn together and forced apart by necessity and by love. When David becomes a popular war hero, the Israelites sing, “Saul killed thousands, but David killed tens of thousands.” King Saul is angry and jealous and understands politically that he must execute his challenger.  But David is married to Saul’s daughter; he is intimate friends with Saul’s son; and David’s music is the only medicine that can soothe Saul’s depression. When Saul finally confronts David, David gains the upper hand – and then David refuses to kill Saul. The more I try to break free from what troubles me, the more enmeshed I get.

You say I took the name in vain

I don’t even know the name

But if I did, well, really, what’s it to you?

There’s a blaze of light in every word

It doesn’t matter which you heard

The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Jewish tradition teaches that the High Priest knew a secret name of God. Once a year, the High Priest would speak the name and unlock the Holy of Holies. The poet may yearn relentlessly to enter this space, but he does not know the name, and all his words do not unlock the door. But perhaps it does not matter. Genesis says that the first word spoken created light. Now every word holds a blaze of light. Every word, beautiful or broken, is a prayer.

I did my best, it wasn’t much

I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch

I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you

And even though it all went wrong

I’ll stand before the Lord of Song

With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

In the Book of Ecclesiastes, a philosopher reviews his life. He says, “I’ve tried wisdom, wealth, and pleasure, but none has soothed my restlessness. In the end, I have only one teaching to share: be in awe of God.” I did my best, and it’s all I have to offer.

Hallelujah

 

Do you, God, really want what I have to offer? When passion draws me forward, I don’t know where it’s leading. The more I try to break free of my limitations, the more enmeshed I get. Is there any lasting way to reach towards You? I do my best, and it’s all I have to offer. My every word, beautiful or broken, is a prayer. Please. Accept. Me.

 

Image: “Watchmen – Hallelujah” by Dreki-K, http://dreki-k.deviantart.com

Thanks: to Leonard Cohen, Rabbi Dan Goldblatt, Rabbi Ed Stafman, and sixty members of Or Shalom Synagogue.

Musical link: k.d. lang sings Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame induction of Leonard Cohen, 2006.