1. Awaken, Arise! Isaiah 51:17 and 60:1 ©2000 for Madelyn

Awaken, Arise to the wholeness of your being.
Awaken, Arise to the beauty of your soul.
Hitor’ri hit’or’ri ki va orekh
Kumi Ori

Wake up, wake up, for your light is coming. Arise my light!

Our dear friend, Madelyn, was in a car accident, and she was in the deep sleep of a coma for six weeks. When I prayed for her to awaken in wholeness, I received this song, which I sang to her in the hospital. With the love of family and friends, and the blessing of God she was restored to life. May each of us wake from our deep sleep to greet the beautiful light of our soul.

2. Mah Tovu Numbers 24:5 ©2001

Ma tovu ohalekha Ya’akov mishk’notekha Yis’rael
Blessings flow into the world form the Source of Life.
Be a vessel for the lovesong of God

Bilaam, the gentile prophet, was enticed by Balak, the Moabite king, to curse the Israelite nation as they camped by thebanks of the Jordan River. Bilaam, through whom God spoke, resisted at first but then succumbed, in one of the most fascinating portions in the Torah. Ironically, when Bilaam opened his mouth to curse, blessings came out instead. May we all learn, from Bilaam’s example, to open to the voice of God and allow praise and affirmation to flow through us rather than criticism and hatred.


3. Nigun ©2000

There’s a message concealed in the intro to this nigun. It was too low for me to sing, but the words are, “There’s always enough, my child, when you share, love fills the emptiness in your heart.”


4. HaMakom Yinahem ©2000  A prayer to comfort mourners

HaMakom yinahem etkhem
B’tokh sh’ar aveyley Tziyon viYrushalayim
May the One who dwells in every place
Comfort you and bring you peace, among all those who mourn

We use this phrase to comfort those who are in mourning. It calls on God as “the Place,” for in our time of pain and loss, we are grounded by the Presence of God, even in the darkest of places. The verse also reminds us that we are not alone, but are supported by all those who have mourned and not lost hope.

5. Ata Hor’eyta Deuteronomy 4:35 ©2000

Ata hor’eyta lada’at ki YaH hu haElohim
Ayn ode, ayn ode, ayn ode milvado

You have been made to see, to know that God permeates all of existence - there is nothing else

Parashat Va’etchanan is rich with powerful Torah verses, including the Shema and the repetition of the Ten Commandments. Moses, in his farewell address to the Israelites, reviews the miracles and wonders that they have witnessed in their desert travels and reminds them that it is all God. The words of Ata Hor’eyta are traditionally chanted in the seven hakafot (circling with the Torah) on Simhat Torah. In Sefardi nusah, the words are also sung throughout the year, before the Torah is taken from the ark.


6. B’yado Last verse of Adon Olam ©2000

B’yado afkid ruhi
B’eyt eeshan v’a’eerah
V’im ruhi g’viyati
Adonai li v’lo ira

Into Your hand, I trust my soul
Night and day, Your light is near
All that Iam is one with You
I’m not alone, I shall not fear

The last verse of Adon Olam is a prayer unto itself When we trust that our soul is being held and guided by God’s love, we know that we are never alone. This melody can also be used for the entire hymn of Adon Olam, using B’yado as the refrain, rather than Adon Olam.


7. Shiviti YaH Psalm 16:8 ©2000

Shiviti YaH l’negdi tamid
Panim el panim
Face to face I embrace You, in all things and all places.

This verse fragment from Psalm 16 is a meditation on compassion and equanimity. Not only do I set God before me, but God is reflected back to me in everything I see and do. By actively seeking God’s Presence in every person and situation, including myself, I live in connection and harmony with the Divine Spirit.

9. Gomel Blessing ©1999
    A prayer after surviving a dangerous ordeal

Individual
Barukh ata YaH sheg’malani kol tov
Humbly I stand before You today, blessed with the gift of life.

Community response to a woman:
Mi sheg’malekh kol tov yigm’leych kol tov selah
May the Gracious One who heard your prayers, guide your steps in peace.

Community response to a man:
Mi sheg’malkha kol tov yigmalkha kol tov selah.
May the Gracious One who heard your prayers, guide your steps in peace.

When an individual has experienced a life-threatening ordeal - an illness, a traffic accident, or a long journey - and has safely returned to her/his community, with humility s/he publicly expresses gratitude following an aliyah to the Torah. The community responds by affirming the grace of this miracle and asks that this renewal of life be for everything that is good.

9. Please, God Numbers 12:13 © 2000 for Nathan

El na refah na la
El na refa na lo
Please, God heal her
Please, God heal him
Please, God heal us
Body, Heart, Mind and Soul.

When we sing the healing words of Moses’ prayer for his sister, Miryam, the chant is usually soulful and heartfelt. This melody came to me as I prayed for my son Elisha’s good friend, Nathan. I knew that a seventeen year old needed an energetic melody and this joyful tune came as a blessing that he be healed on every level.

10. Mikolot Mayim Psalm 93:4,3 © 2000 for Noah

Mikolot mayim rabim
Adirim mishb’rey yam
Adir bamarom YaH

Nas’u n’harot Yah
Nas’u n’harot kolam
Yis’u n’harot dakhyam

Greater than the sound of many waters
More exalted than the breakers of the sea
Raised up on high are You, YaH

The rivers rise up, YaH,
The rivers rise with a roaring sound,
The rivers rise with raging waves.

For many years, we lived in British Columbia, and when life got to be too much, we would retreat to Long Beach on Vancouver Island. There, the roar of the ocean waves washed away our problems and brought us into the power of the present moment and the awesome glory of the Creator. Since that time, my blue-eyed son, Noah, jumps into any inviting body of water. I’ve been trying to write a good melody to these words for him since his Bar Mitzvah. When this Sefardi melody came to me, I knew it was for him.

11. V’atem Hadveykim Deuteronomy 4:4 ©July 2000

V’atem hadveykim b’Yah eloheykhem
Hayyim kulkhem hayom
Hayyim kulkhem hayom
You who yearn to be one with God are renewed in life each day

In Parashat Va’etchanan, Moses prepares the Israelites for entry into the Promised Land. He recalls the power of God to both destroy and preserve. These words affirm the powerful renewing effects of daily drawing close to the loving presence of the Holy One. They are said when the first person is called for an aliyah to read from the Torah. This is also a joyful round to sing at the end of the reading, as the Torah is being tied and dressed for return to the ark.


12. Bless Who You Are  ©1998 for Deb

I am the child, yearning for love
I am the mother, so full of dreams for you
I am the angel, guarding your way
I am the voice of truth within you saying

Walk in the light of love
Dance through the darkest times
Reach out to those in need
Bless who you are

Driving home from a birthday celebration for my friend, Deb Barsel, a light snow fell on rain-soaked roads and they became ice. A 40 minute drive became a 3 hour ordeal in which I repeatedly faced the shadow of death. I got through it by singing God’s praises and when I reached my home, this song was in my heart, a passionate call to our essential human nature.