[Avodah] shir hamaalot

[Akiva Miller]

.
R' Joel Rich asked:

> MB (3:11) points out that shir hamaalot is said before birchat
> hamazon on Shabbat (and non-tachanun days) in place of al
> naharot bavel. So how did the replacement become fixed and the
> original ISTM become abandoned?

Rav Yosef brei d'Rav Yehoshua said that he saw an upside-down world; what
should be on top was below, and what should be below was on top. (Bava
Basra 10b)

I'm not the first to wonder if this describes some of the craziness that
we're living through nowadays. I think your question is yet another
illustration of how so many (myself included, but maybe this post will
strengthen my yetzer tov) are ignoring the ikar and following the tafel.

How did it happen? R' Micha Berger suggested that our rushed lives may be
to blame. I'll add that the fun tunes for Shir Hamaalos are a lot more
appealing than a dirge like Al Naharos Bavel.

While we're speaking about fun tunes, I'll mention a pet peeve of mine,
which is also in this category of downplaying the ikar and focusing on the
tafel: In shuls where congregational singing is common, my experience is
that in Kedusha of Shabbos and Yom Tov morning (both Shacharis and Musaf)
the Ikar Pesukim (Kadosh, Baruch, and Yimloch) tend to be recited
emotionlessly, whereas the introductory lines and paragraphs (which were
intended to be said specifically by the Chazan, in order to induce an
enthusiastic response from the tzibur) are nowadays sung by everyone
together. (Few events in shul depress me as much as when a chazan sings an
emotional rendition of Carlebach's "Mimkomcha", and then the tzibur just
mumbles Yimloch, instead of continuing the tune for eight more words.)

Akiva Miller
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