Shem Ru´ahh for clarinet solo by David W Solomons
The significance of the title relates to the fact that the clarinet is a wind instrument of great importance
in Jewish culture, and the music reflects a somewhat Westernised view of this culture. The word " "??
(shem) is often translated as "name", although it is not as abstract as the modern meaning of the word
"name" because it also holds the underlying meaning of the name - for example one might call a person
"Adam" and think of it as an abstract sequence of letters, which just happens to be a name, but the
underlying meaning, or "shem", is that the first Adam was so called because he came from out of the
ground ("adamah").
The word " ??? " (ru´ahh) means wind, but is often translated as "spirit". The modern meaning of "spirit"
evokes something incorporeal, but the word ru´ahh represents the very essence of what you are or what God
is. In the case of God, it is a mighty rushing wind which fills the world and is everywhere.
The significance of the title is therefore: The "name is the spirit" or rather, more literally,
"the significance is the wind".