Growing up, the custom at my shul was that a Friday-evening bar/bat mitzvah candidate would chant only a haftarah, as halakhically, one does not open a Torah on Erev Shabbos. While preparing my haftarah, I fell in love with cantillation. For me, the signs, their Aramaic names, and their musical notations represented an exciting form of communication that I had not known before. In fact, the alacrity with which I learned my required verses was as esteem building as the autonomy that I felt while practicing in front of family members. Through my chanting, I felt legitimate as a newly recognized Jewish adult. As a cantorial student nine years later, I learned Torah trope, a section of Torah, and became bat mitzvah (again) on a Thursday morning in Jerusalem. I was transformed by this experience. More than any other Jewish educative experience from my youth, chanting inspired me to use my voice for sacred song and renewed my connection to G–d and to my people.

I was reminded of these experiences and the feelings that accompanied them while reading Jeffrey A. Summit's Singing God's Words. In this new work, Summit explores the spiritual and social relationship between sacred chant and synagogue life. Throughout the book, Summit enumerates the customs that accompany the performance of Jewish scriptural chant as well as the ways in which contemporary non-Orthodox Jews differ in their approaches. As Summit maintains, “This book presents a cross-denominational examination of the meaning and experience of biblical chant, and here I briefly discuss both the development of Jewish denominations and their current practice in America” (25). In fact, the book's introduction includes a summary of American Jewish history: Summit chronicles spiritual developments in the evolution of Torah chant primarily within the context of twentieth-century America, as well as the major shifts in gender and synagogue roles that have ensued. Summit makes sure to explain, however, “While this sample is broad, it is not fully representative of Jews in America” (23). Summit also discusses the degree to which these different approaches have influenced social changes among American Jews. Specifically, the author's use of the word “performance” is a metaphor for not only the ritual surrounding the melodic transmission of Torah, but also for ways in which modern changes to the Jewish American landscape have influenced this sacred rite.

In general, Summit's presentation is accessible to a wide readership; the reader need not be a cantor or professor of Jewish music to appreciate Summit's comments. The book is organized into four separate sections, each containing two or more chapters. In “Part I: The Tradition,” Summit discusses Torah chant as well as Torah service rituals at a level suitable for noninitiates. As the author explains, “The Torah service has a complex cast of characters and I explain the roles they play and how women and men understand and approach their participation on in this religious and cultural performance” (40).

For “Part II: The Individual and the Experience of Chanting Torah,” Summit's goal is to elucidate the many types of Torah readers that he has encountered as well these laypersons' motivations. As the author concludes, “In these chapters I examine why large numbers of men and women are passionate about Torah reading, and despite their busy schedules, choose to prepare readings and sing their way into sacred space” (104). For example, Summit mentions the experience of identity building that can take place through Torah reading, as occurred before both of my bat mitzvah ceremonies. As Summit concludes “Many converts said that the experience of chanting Torah provided a singular power to make them feel truly authentic as Jews” (109).

Not unlike Summit's discussion of emotions in part 2, the subsequent sections reveal the importance of making sacred chant appealing to the senses. In “Part III: The Performance,” Summit emphasizes the “core aesthetic values in the performance of Torah” (159). Interestingly, Summit introduces “two contemporary innovations—Bibliodrama and Storahtelling—that have been developed to promote interactive engagement with the congregation during the Torah service” (159). As a cantor who is privileged to mentor future cantors, I benefited greatly from the examination of these educational pathways that can facilitate a congregation's understanding of Torah. In the last section, Summit's inclusion of technical advances does not dismiss the ramifications that such innovations may have on synagogue life. “Instead this chapter examines how the use of these technologies impacts Jewish religious and cultural life in the twenty-first century” (215–16).

Although initiates may surmise that Singing God's Words is a sociohistorical enquiry from a well-known Jewish ethnomusicologist, Summit provides data that appeals to a vast array of readers. Furthermore, the author's exploration of the relationship between these fields and American Jewish history solidifies the evolution of biblical chant as a pathway for change. His clearly defined summaries at the beginning of each section allow him to engage readers with various degrees of Jewish erudition. Consequently, Summit freely offers reasoning for the choices that he has made in emphasizing one topic over another. To this end, each section begins with a “roadmap” through which the author indicates the themes that inform the section. Although some readers may find the “roadmaps” to be more of a justification than a blueprint, the clarifications strengthen the presentation overall.

Further, Summit's consistent use of anecdotes reveals the compelling way that the author imparts his findings via narrative. His stories are rich pedagogic tools that are sociologically germane. In fact, I believe that the well-articulated sociocultural context that Summit provides is incredibly valuable to researchers of Jewish communal worship practices as well as to future Jewish educational leaders. As future clergy educators, rabbinic and cantorial students will find the subject matter most relevant particularly—but not exclusively—with respect to their experiences preparing Torah and leading worship services.