As we approach the Days of Awe, we are more conscious of the din of daily and the omperative to screen out noise.

As i watch my granddaughter move from babble to speech, I am again entranced by the way we humans acquire language. What begins as goo and ga, moo and ma will become more developed sounds, distinct words,short sentences and full conversations. Linguistic research indicates that children are born with the capacity to learn language, gaining necessary skills by listening and practicing the words they hear. But how do they know what is language and what is simply sound?

While some thinkers contend that language is an innate, human ability (perhaps a “deep grammar” built into our genome), others contend that children learn syntax from the linguistic input of their environment and their interaction with other people. Over time, children distinguish between the confusing clatter and clamour of the world around them and meaningful signs, gestures and words intended to convey messages of significance.They learn the difference between signal and noise.

In communications science, signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) compares the level of a desired signal to the amount of the background noise. Signal-to-noise ratio can also refer to the quantity of useful information in relation to extraneous, erroneous or intentionally false data transmitted via conversation, messages or other forms of communication.

In online discussions, off-topic posts are the noise that interfere with the signal of appropriate comments.  If you have ever attended a lecture and rolled your eyes as you listened to a lengthy, irrelevant statement masquerading as a question, you know the difference between signal and noise.

As we try to sift important email messages from spam, significant phone calls from telemarketers and valuable news from background information, we all seek to discern signal from noise. Skilled physicians listen to hundreds of patients describe all sorts of symptoms and must be alert for the one piece of information that might be critical. Similar sorting occurs in law, commerce and in our most intimate relations with our loved ones.

Moneyball, the book and film, explored the use of statistics to project player performance in baseball. A more advanced form of this was developed by Nathaniel Read “Nate” Silver, an American statistician and writer. More recently, Silver applied his methodology to politics. His blog, FiveThirtyEight.com, correctly predicted the results in all fifty states in the last American presidential election. In his book, The Signal and the Noise, he writes, “The signal is the truth. The noise is the distraction.”

I think of S/N when I recall the Biblical narrative of Elijah at Horev: And [God] said, ‘Go stand upon the mountain before the Eternal. Hineh, the Eternal will pass by’. There was a powerful strong wind that split the mountains, and broke the rocks… but the Eternal was not in the wind. After the wind, an earthquake; but the Eternal was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire; but the Eternal was not in the fire. And after the fire a quiet, silent voice (kol de’mamah dakkah). When Eliyahu heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak, went out, and stood at the entrance of the cave. And hineh, a voice (kol) spoke to him and said, ‘What are you doing here, Eliyahu?’ (1 Kings 19.11-13).

As we approach the Days of Awe, we are more conscious of the din of daily life and the imperative to screen out the noise in order to listen to signals of spiritual significance. We often ask ourselves, “What are we doing here?” Even in Synagogue, we have to filter the noise of the crowd—strangers and family—in order to hear the “quiet, silent voice”.

There is another sound during these Days of Awe. It is not quiet. It is actually encoded within what appears to be noise. It is the core mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah. With its staccato, short and long blasts, this most ancient mystical, magical and majestic sound signals us each year. We listen to the kol, the voice of the shofar summoning us to reconsider our lives, reconfigure our actions, restore our bond with the Jewish people and return to a relationship with the Holy One. To those unfamiliar, the shofar sound may appear to be noise, but to the person that understands, it is a signal, a “gesture of generations” (Sacred Attunement, Fishbane), calling to us.

There are so many claims on our attention and time. So much noise. During the Days of Awe, we are reminded to be God’s children (God becomes “aveenu malkeynu” and we become children, “anu vanekha”), just learning the language of life. We listen to the sound of the shofar. We try to discern whether it is simply another noise or a signal of spiritual significance.

We follow the shofar service on Rosh Hashanah with the words from Psalm 89.16: “yode’ey te’ru’ah, Blessed are the people that understand the blast [of shofar]. They shall go forward with your light [signal].” 

“The signal is the truth. The noise is the distraction.”

Josette and I thank you for your good wishes on the occasion of the recent marriage of our son, Amir, to Amanda Schneider. We hope that 5774 will be a year of blessing for you and those you love