SAUL KAYE
JEWISH MUSIC ARTIST, SHALIACH TZIBUR, PODCAST HOST, AND THE PIONEER OF JEWISH BLUES
Saul Kaye has been playing piano since the age of five and guitar since twelve. He attended Berklee College of Music and graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures. He has released ten full-length CDs under his name and produced six for other Artists. He has authored three books available on Amazon and performs 100 shows and services annually internationally in the Jewish world. He hosts “The Holy Sparks Podcast,” a podcast that showcases people doing impactful work in the Jewish world and beyond. He also recently completed a two-year certification in leading Jewish Meditation. He is attending the Academy of Jewish Religion’s Rabbinical School to receive Rabbinic Smicha to serve the Jewish community at a higher level.
Divine Downloads
SAUL KAYE
My Parents told me that as a two-year-old, I used to hug our stereo’s sound speakers. I was trying to absorb as much of the music and sounds as possible as I snuggled those giant, rectangular, brown “fuzzy bears.” I used to sit for an hour or more, completely transfixed on the sounds and vibrations.(1) Not surprisingly, I haven’t stopped listening, composing and performing music for over 40 years now.
Music has always been the shoestrings that tie my universe together. I live in a world of sound and kinesthetics. It’s no surprise to me that my proof of the Almighty comes via the vehicle of sound and it’s not what you may think.
There is a concept called “Clairaudience.” This is when we hear words, sounds or music in our own mind's voice.(2) For me, this is part of the proof that God exists. For example, one day in 2010, on a Sunday at 7:45 AM, I had just arrived at a synagogue to record my new friend Elana's voice for her upcoming CD.(3) I sat down, barely awake, blurry eyed, coffee in hand, when a voice as clear as a bell said to me, “That’s your wife!” It was so loud that I actually turned around to see who said it. Turns out that voice was right.
Since then, on multiple occasions, as I lead prayer through music, I have heard that same penetrating voice saying, “this is what you are meant to do” or “this is why you are here.” Is it confirmation bias?(4) Could be, but for me, it is the voice of God speaking directly to me, and I know I am not unique.(5)
As a composer, I believe that songs and melodies come from God. Am I merely synthesizing and harmonizing ideas from our collective listening? There is that aspect, but there’s also the Divine aspect - the “Divine Download” that many artists attest to. When they woke up with a complete song written or when they sat for ten minutes and created their best work. For me, this is the highest expression, being able to simply get out of the way and let God come through us.
When I was a kid, in the 70s and 80s, we had these big stereo systems with glorious round silver knobs for tuning. With great precision we could tune into certain frequencies to access the latest hits. Much like the WIFI and 5G signals that are floating around you currently, God’s frequency is constantly broadcasting. For the great artists, it feels more like getting out of the way, and for many of us, if we are lucky enough to hear it, God is waiting for us.
Is our “intuition” God nudging us? Is “Déjà vu” God reminding us we are on the right path? Could every person and everything you encounter in your life, including this essay on this website, be God sending you a message? We simply need to tune into God’s channel, become receivers and more importantly, transmitters.
Footnotes:
1. As a parent, I now realize just how incredibly rare it is for a child to sit still for long periods of time like I did in front of those speakers.
2. Merriam-Webster.com: Clairaudience - the power or faculty of hearing something not present to the ear but regarded as having objective reality.
3. For young people, or the yet unborn later reading this essay, a CD (short for Compact Disc) is a flat, round disc with words, sounds or music recorded onto it, and played back through a CD player and sound speakers.
4. Confirmation bias - the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories.
5. There’s plenty of evidence of people hearing God speak to them, including in the Torah with Moses and other prophets.