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**The RAISE HER UP: NEW JEWISH ACTIVISM MUSIC recording is ready and arriving in registrant email boxes throughout the week of Dec. 25! Below please fifnd an intro as well as lyrics to sing along with the recording plus composer bios, website(s), and their background statement for their pieces.
INTRO: Come celebrate, contemplate, and sing along with this glorious concert of songs rich in timely topics composed through the lens of Jewish values. This is the 5th concert in the Adding Our Voices Initiative for documenting, honoring, encouraging, and highlighting Jewish Feminist and Gender-Inclusive Music. By invitation, courageous and amazing composers and performers of the Women Cantors' Network and collegues are performing original and select works. The energy of this concert is strong and profound, uplifting and utterly unique.
We hope you will love this concert, appreciate the importance of this work, and donate using the yellow donate button (on the upper right of this page) to help us document and promote Jewish feminist and gender-inclusive music.
Share this concert recording link with your family, friends, students, congregants, and colleagues--it's a great concert to watch together. Let's celebrate and sustain freedom of expression! Dynamic and inspiring works cover Jewish values such as ownership and protection of our bodies, welcoming the stranger, climate action, nonviolence, mental health, sing and speaking our truth, all-diversity inclusion, and so much more. You can learn more about this multi-dimensional initiative here.
LYRICS, SONG BACKGROUND, COMPOSERS/PERFORMERS' BIOS AND WEBSITE(S)
1. BATYA DIAMOND, CARILLON (We Won’t Go Back)
© 2022 Diamond/Gundell/Wilson
This is not a song of surrender
This is not a funeral march
But a ripple in a well, the echo of a bell
Tolling from the trouble in my heart
Feels like the world is winding backwards
All around winds of anger blow
The river’s rising quickly, too deep to wade to safety
Now get on board, let’s everybody row
We won’t go back to Babylon
Where we were forced to sing
May we become a carillon
Let freedom ring, let freedom ring
This is not a song of Halleluyahs
Some truths are not self-evident at all
Many voices with one cry, “it’s my body—I decide”
We rock the boat, we rise, and will not fall
SONG BACKGROUND: “Carillon (We Won’t Go Back)” began to arise in me when I learned of the leaked Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. My heart turned to the psalms, feeling into the grief and oppression expressed in Psalm 137, “…by the rivers of Babylon.” Sadness and grief flowed into anger and defiance, and as the words and music poured out I imagined a chorus of defenders of reproductive freedom marching and singing this song.
I realized that the recording of “Carillon” called out for a voice other than mine, and connected with Tiffany T’Zelle, a powerful, Black woman singer who sings songs of empowerment. We hope that you will sing with us and share the message! -Batya Diamond
Batya Diamond is a Kohenet/Hebrew Priestess, songwriter, and activist based on Wampanoag land known as Martha’s Vineyard, MA. Batya leads all types of rituals, weaving original music and ancient wisdom with accessible teachings and powerful messages--in English and Hebrew. Batya’s latest CD is “Infinite Wisdom: Chants of the Divine Feminine.”
batyadiamond.bandcamp.com https://www.youtube.com/c/BatyaDiamondMusic
2. LAURA COPEL, THE STRANGER
You know what it’s like to be the stranger
You know what it’s like to walk alone
All doors are closed, no one gets close
You know what it’s like to be afraid
You know what it’s like to be the stranger
So open up your arms! Let the strangers in
Justify their trust, let the work begin
Open up your heart, open up your door
They won't be strangers anymore
Some people may look different and speak with different words
But look into the mirror and listen to yourself
Your people all were strangers in the land not long ago
You know how it feels down in your soul
Remember how it feels to be the stranger
:
Open up your arms, let the strangers in
Justify their trust, let the work begin
Open up your heart, open up your door
They won’t be strangers anymore
They won’t be strangers anymore
Our people all were strangers in the land not long ago
We know how it feels down in our souls,
We remember how it feels to be the stranger
Open up your arms, let the strangers in
Justify their trust, let the work begin
Open up your heart, open up your door
They won’t be strangers anymore
SONG BACKGROUND: I wrote "The Stranger" as a commentary on the immigration crisis. My lyrics are based on Torah text in the book of Exodus that states: "You shall not oppress a stranger for you know the soul of a stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt."
Laura Copel is a singer/songwriter/educator based in New York's Hudson Valley. Trained as both a musician and a computer programmer, Laura is a musical lay leader at Temple Israel of Northern Westchester in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. Laura co-founded their Tefilah Band, Sh'ma Na Na, in which she plays flute, piano and guitar. Her debut album, If We Had Wings, addresses spirituality, wonder, gratitude, and current events through a Jewish lens. Laura's songs encourage adults and children alike to be the best that they can be by trying to leave the world a little better than they found it.
3. CARON DALE, IM EIN ANI LI, Hebrew lyrics by Hillel 2,300 years ago
If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am only for myself, what will become of me?
If not now, if not now, ooo – ooo
Can you tell me, can you tell me when?
Im ein ani li, mi li?
U'ch'she'ani, l'atzmi mah ani?
V'im lo achshav, ay ma-tye
If not now, can you tell me when?
We care for those dear to us
While we cry out for the stranger
But we can’t make a difference at arm’s length
We can help those far and near to us
With one voice, we are the changers
na’aseh b’yachad is our strength
na’aseh b’yachad is our strength
SONG BACKGROUND: In a world filled with great angst, turmoil and chaos, the words of Hillel are an important reminder that we have control over our decisions and actions as well as responsibilities to those in need. We too have been the strangers. We too have been in despair. We must be the changers.
Caron Dale is a songwriter, singer and spiritual leader. She is founder and lead singer of Lox & Vodka, the renowned klezmer, Jewish and American music ensemble. As Cantor for Hevrat Shalom Congregation in Rockville, Maryland and The Residence at Thomas Circle in Washington, DC, Caron brings her joie de vivre to every Service she leads. Through music and prayer, she endeavors to bring each congregant into the moment and the place, hamakom, to help them on their journey to where they need to be. Caron is a solo artist, workshop leader, wedding and b’nai mitzvah officiant and Cantorial Troubadour across the country. Plus, she is founder and executive of Chords of Courage, a non-profit dedicated to using songwriting as a catalyst for social change.
4. LEALIZA LEE, WE AMERICANS
Daddy why’d you have to go
I waited for you at home
As you climbed up into the smoke
Going from floor to floor
Going from floor to floor
You left a message on the phone
You said, We don’t leave our people behind
We’re Americans, that’s not what we do
Some day I’ll come for you as sure as the sky is blue
We don’t leave anyone behind
Twenty years to the day
I know why I feel this way
It’s a slap in the face
My God, my heart aches
As our leaders run away
We Americans still say
We don’t leave our people behind
We’re Americans, that’s not what we do
Someday I’ll come for you as sure as the sky is blue
We don’t leave anyone behind
Went down to New York Harbor
Searched God’s sky
Yearning to breathe free
I found that torch that guides me home
And cried
We Americans
We Americans
We Americans
We don’t leave our people behind
We’re Americans, that’s not what we do
Someday I’ll come for you as sure as the sky is blue
We don’t leave anyone behind
We don’t leave anyone behind
We don’t leave anyone behind
al tash'iyr af echad meachor--Don't leave anyone behind!
SONG BACKGROUND: On September 11 2021, which was Shabbat, I remember emotions running high over how our disorganized exit from Afghanistan contrasted with rescue workers’ unified “don’t leave anyone behind” attitude about the Twin Towers. Out of the conversation my husband and I had that day, the song quickly emerged; it was completed on September 12. Because of the timeliness of the issue and my need to say something, I channeled that need into releasing the song as quickly as possible. I was especially pleased with the minor chord at the end that left a sense of longing. The following year, I felt a shift in energy. After prolonged lockdowns, many people seemed to be longing for more uplifting messages. I added the bridge, which includes the quote “Yearning to breathe free,” from Jewish writer Emma Lazarus’ Great Colossus, from which the Statue of Liberty inscription is excerpted. I felt the bridge, fueled by that quote, created the evolution of a hopeful nature in the song and I changed the ending chord to major.
Lealiza Lee Whether singing well-known favorites or ear-provoking originals, Lealiza aspires to offer intimate vocals that carry the listener into other worlds through songs that hold to no single genre. She has performed intimate house concerts, and at festivals, and Carnegie Hall. Over the past year Lealiza released songs from Ukraine on YouTube. During lockdowns, Lealiza changed her focus from live performance of traditional foreign language folk songs to re-imagining cover songs and writing songs in English. In the summer of 2022, she recorded selected new songs at Abbey Road Studios, and her next album will be out in 2023. Lealiza has studied voice with Curt Peters, Traditional Ladino Song with Ramon Tasat, songs from Judeo-Arabic traditions with Moshe Tessone, and Flamenco with Alfonso Cid. She serves mainly at Michigan’s Adat Shalom Synagogue. Lealiza resides in the Detroit area where she was trained by Cantor Daniel Gross.
5. ABBE LYONS, SINGING TZEDEK TZEDEK TIRDOF BY SUE HOROWITZ (adapted and performed with permission from the composer)
Chorus: Tzedek tzedek tzedek tirdof 2x
We rise for true equality, we are marching in the street
We rise for human dignity, we are prayin’ with our feet
Chorus: Tzedek tzedek tzedek tirdof 2x
We rise for those without a voice, we pledge to be an ally
We rise for those without a choice, we will not stand idly by
Chorus: Tzedek tzedek tzedek tirdof 2x
We all have a part, you and me
Can’t do it all alone, we need community
And none of us are free until we all are free
We are created b’tzelem elohim
Chorus: Tzedek tzedek tzedek tirdof 2x
We rise to meet the stranger, we make a freedom call
We rise together, justice, justice for us all
Chorus: Tzedek tzedek tzedek tirdof 2x
Sue Horowitz, original song composer video of this song: https://youtu.be/AXmeq2Rq9x4
SONG BACKGROUND: I want to clarify that although lyrics below conform correctly to what I sang and what I put into the chat, that I did make two changes from Sue’s original lyrics.
Original: We rise for inequality
As sung: We rise for true equality
Original: And no one is free
As sung: And none of us are free
Abbe Lyons (performer, adaptor) is a cantor, poet, liturgist and composer. She has also worked in the healing arts and nonprofit sectors. Abbe splits her time between Hillel at Ithaca College, Hillel at Binghamton, and teaching Jewish liturgical music, Hebrew prayer skills and music theory on the ALEPH Ordination Program faculty.
SUE HOROWITZ is a singer-songwriter with a story to tell. Her music is included in congregational worship, and settings for tzedakah, hope, and healing. Sue is the founder and creator of the Jewish Songwriting Cooperative retreat, as she loves to lead songwriting workshops. Her style is authentic and intimate, with a clear voice and her own guitar accompaniment. Sue's warm engaging presence and spiritual music attract listeners of all ages.
www.suehorowitz.com
6. JACQUELINE L. MARX, YOUKARIST
This is my body. It’s not yours to kill.
This my blood. It’s not yours to spill.
This is my son. I raised him to respect you, body and soul
This is my daughter. If she says “no,” it’s no.
First they came for our ovaries,
But I was past the fertile age.
Then they came for the rainbow folks
But I lay safely in a self-made cage.
Then they came for the tan, black and brown
But peach, pink, and apricot blends right down (CHORUS)
Zeh ha-guf sheli: lo bishvil’chem lishbor!
Zeh ha-dam sheli: lo bishvil’chem lish’pokh!
Zeh b’ni: limad’ti oto l’kaved chayekh
Zot biti: im hee tisrav: zeh LO!
V 2:
Then they came for the children of Isaac and Ishmael
So I hid among the children of Esau…
…not for protection from the marching knell
But to leave something bare they’d want even more well
When they passed me, I began to yell (CHORUS)
BRIDGE
There was no one left to talk to. There was no one left to hear.
No one to love, no one to hold to hold.
The muddy silence was so clear.
There was no one left for laughin’.
There was no one left to cry.
Is there anyone left to pray to?
There’s a bigger price to pay than a fear to die
FINAL CHORUS
This is my body. It never was yours to kill
This is my blood. I will never give it to you to spill.
This is my country. I know we are better, we must be better.
This is my daughter.
This is my daughter.
This is my daughter
If she says no….
Jacqueline L. Marx is a cantor who tutors b’nai mitzvah students and teaches Hebrew enrichment at Judea Reform Congregation in Durham, NC, where she lives with her family in an enchanted forest. During the High Holidays, she serves as the cantor at B’nai Sholom Congregation in Bristol, TN.
Reformjudaism.org/author/cantor-jacqueline-l-marx
Go-out-in-joy-ki-vsimcha-teitzeiu.mailchimpsites.com
jcortn.org where I am spiritual leader until 1231
reformjudaism.org/author/cantor-jacqueline-l-marx
7. SARAH MYERSON, STAND UP 4 MEDICARE
They do it in Australia, they do it in Austria,
They do it in Italia, they do it in Slovakia:
Universal health care! They do!
Medicare for me, Medicare for you,
Medicare for all 'cause it's the right thing to do.
Medicare for you, Medicare for me,
Medicare for all in a democracy.
Stand up for Medicare!
They have it in Finland, they have it in Iceland,
They have it in Ireland, they have it in the Netherlands,
They have it in New Zealand, they have it in Switzerland:
Universal health care! (They have it!)
Medicare for me, Medicare for you,
Medicare for all 'cause it's the right thing to do.
Medicare for you, Medicare for me,
Medicare for all in a democracy.
Stand up for Medicare!
Mexico and Turkey, South Korea and Japan
Already have a universal health care plan.
Why don't we, in the Land of the Free?
Have we become a plutocracy?
Medicare for me, Medicare for you,
Medicare for all 'cause it's the right thing to do.
Medicare for you, Medicare for me,
Medicare for all in a democracy.
Stand up for Medicare!
SONG BACKGROUND: In 2017, Justice Democrats ran a campaign to get Members of Congress to publicly commit to fighting for HR 676 (single-payer healthcare). There was a parallel call for artists to put the issue out there in the cultural sphere, and that's how I came to write this song, Stand Up For Medicare. Every political campaign needs good, catchy music! While HR 676 didn't pass, there was more serious discussion of single-payer healthcare in the 2020 presidential election (at least in the Democratic primary) than there had been in previous election cycles. I am still hopeful that someday we will be able to guarantee affordable health care for everyone in the USA.
Sarah Myerson is a cantor who serves the community of Kane Street Synagogue in Brooklyn. She has served Masorti, Conservative, Reform, and Renewal communities in New York, Massachusetts and Israel. Sarah has studied Yiddish in depth and offers Yiddish song workshops with Ethel Raim at Yiddish New York and at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music. She writes and performs new compositions, for example with Jewish spiritual music duo Shekedina, and freelances as a musician, speaker, educator and Yiddish dance leader. Sarah Myerson holds Cantorial Ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary.
8. GEELA RAYZEL RAPHAEL, WOMEN WEAVING
Women Weaving
also achieving
freedom from the chains that bind
Women playing
We're also praying
to see moonlight in the night that blinds.
Chorus:
We're the women
and we're not waiting
we're the motion
Alive! Alive!
We're the laughter
flooding the ocean
sparking emotion
Alive! Alive!
Women weaving threads of scarlet
Women sewing friendships gold,
All the tapestries are changing
Patterns growing brightly bold. (Chorus)
We're the candles
We're the fire
But we won't be the flames of the sacrifice;
Passion fuels a burning desire
Like the sweet soul of Havdalah spice. (Chorus)
Women working
The planets rebirthing
With aches and pains and bloodstained dreams
Women leading, loving and needing
Hesed soon on angels' wings.
BRIDGE
We're in transition
We sense our mission
We have a vision of the work to be done;
We'll be singing, forever bringing
Joy now, and in the world to come. (Chorus)
Women wanting, society's taunting
Our spirit's desire to dance in space.
Souls are yearning
Shechinah returning
Creating a world blessed with grace.
Women healing, begging appealing
Women pleading with all our kin,
Join us now our voices rising
Help this tikkun olam begin. (Chorus)
We're the women
and we're not waiting
we're the motion
Alive! Alive!
We're the laughter
flooding the ocean
sparking emotion
Alive! Alive!
SONG BACKGROUND: To put this song in context, it was 1985-86, I was living in Toronto after spending a fantastic year in Israel. We had discovered Shechinah and I had started to write songs. This is one of my early songs. It was about writing music for the movement of the Jewish feminist rebellion. I sang with the Rebel Maidels at the time, my group in Toronto. After the decision overturning Roe v. Wade came down, I realized it's a 30 year old song that's still needed.
Geela Rayzel Raphael is a rabbi and pioneer in the genre of Jewish feminist music. Also known as “Reb Rayzel,” she is a co-founder of the Adding Our Voices Gender-Inclusion Initiative. Her Jewish music was initially inspired by Torah study of women of the Bible and her first song, Miriam, “felt like a mystical experience of Divine Revelation.” Geela Rayzel has been writing and collecting Jewish feminist music since the 1980s. She is a concert performer, songwriter and musical liturgist, playwright, recording artist, and author of children’s books. Geela Rayzel helped to develop Shabbat Unplugged—featuring musical Shabbat and Havdalah services. She is also a founder and member of the Jewish feminist a Capella group MIRAJ.
9. AVIVA ROSENBLOOM, TAKE ACTION
When you’re feeling down, you’re feeling lonely,
And you think everything you’ve been doing is a cinch to turn out wrong
When you hate the hard life we’ve been living
And you think that you’re weak though you know you are very strong
What’s the use of living like you’re dying ?
Never lovin’ or leavin’ or learnin’ how to find a better way?
Better to be shoutin’ than be cryin’,
To be liftin’ your voice in the song of a brighter day.
When it’s hopeless, you feel helpless,
Well you know just what to do:
Look into your mirror
And Shechinah’s shining through!
We’re all dealing with discrimination
Against Jews, against LGBT folks, against POCs - oy vey!
Join the marches, sign all the petitions,
And lift up your voice in the song of a brighter day.
It’s not hopeless, you’re not helpless,
Yeah you know just what to do:
Postcard, call the voters
Equal rights for me and you. For everybody…
(Instrumental Break)
If we work together, we have power,
Fight for tzedek: we’re told : Justice justice, is important to pursue,
Vote for gun restrictions: ban those weapons,
So school kids can live free of fear, and adults can too.
It’s not hopeless, don’t feel helpless
Yeah you know just what to do
Look into that mirror
Esther’s there, and Miriam too
We have power, working all together,
So lift up your voice and you’ll show it,
And tell everybody you know it
Believe in yourself, and you’ll bring on that brighter day!
BACKGROUND: Based on Aviva Rosenbloom, Believe in Yourself, arr. Tamara Kline, ASCAP
Aviva K. Rosenbloom “As the daughter of a cantor, I have always sung Jewish songs, but I only started composing my own music when I felt that there was something missing. I became the cantor of Temple Israel (Hollywood, CA) in 1976, just when the Feminist movement began to take hold. We started a women’s group there and began to create Feminist Shabbat services, so I started to write the missing songs! Our Bat Kol group was among those who created the Brit Bat ceremony for newborn girls. We created the Simchat Chochmah ceremony with Savina Teuval for women attaining the age of 60 years, and later I held one for myself with a minyan of important women in my life participating. Attending the first ever conference on Jewish Women’s Spirituality in 1984 also had a big influence upon me.” Aviva K. Rosenbloom trained privately for the cantorate with Cantor William Sharlin.
10. LISA B. SEGAL SINGING ‘OUR POWER’ BY RENA BRANSON (sung with permission of the composer) with words from From Amos 5:24
We will not underestimate our power any longer.
We know that together we are strong (x2)
Like drops of water shape the rocks
As they rush down the falls
We know that together we are strong
We will not…..
Mishpat (let justice)
Underestimate….
v'yigal (roll down)
Our power…..
ka'mayim (like waters)
Any longer..
We know….
u'tzedakah (and righteousness)
That together….
eitan (like an ever-flowing/mighty)
We are strong…
k’nachal (like a stream)
Lisa B. Segal (performing) has served as Cantorial Director of the Academy for Jewish Religion. She is a founding member of congregation Kolot Chayeinu/Voices of Our Lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where she has served as cantor for over 19 years.With her unique voice and energy, Lisa leads Shabbat, holiday, and High Holy Day services and observances. She creates and leads all ranges of life cycle events, composes music, teaches and leads community events, and regularly performs in concerts, on Facebook, and on bimahs beyond her synagogue. Lisa B. Segal holds Cantorial Ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion
Rena Branson (Composer) is a Jewish composer, ritual leader, and educator who uplifts personal and collective healing through song. She is the founder of A Queer Nigun Project, which organizes monthly singing events for LGBTQIA+ folks (now on Zoom) and sends Jewish spiritual audio content to people who are incarcerated in NYC jails. She also organizes ritual and community events with Linke Fligl, a queer Jewish farm! Rena composes original compositions and traditional Hasidic melodies.
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/renabranson
Website: https://www.renabranson.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbQuMa61Qo6aGPHwaLz97EA
11. LORI SUMBERG, KEEP ON MARCHING
Chazak chazak…do not despair
v’nitchazek…keep on marching.
Chazak chazak…we do not despair
v’nitchazek…we keep on marching.
Chazak chazak…do not despair
v’nitchazek…keep on marching.
….keep on hoping
….keep on believing
….keep on singing
SONG BACKGROUND: Rabbi Goldie Milgram and I were talking about the New Jewish Activism Concert and she told me she envisioned a song that would unify the voices of the concert. That night, I dreamt we were walking together in the desert and I woke up singing this song. It can be sung when feeling fatigued or discouraged to give yourself and others inspiration and encouragement, to gather energy and express Jewish solidarity. Additional kavannot can be added (keep voting, praying, etc…).
Lori Sumberg, is a singer-songwriter/guitarist who has served as a cantorial soloist in Reform and Reconstructionist synagogues and has produced albums of her original music. Also a chaplain, she has written a Jewish pastoral care guide for Chaplains that includes her original tkhines. Lori resides in her hometown of Larchmont, NY where she serves as an educator and music specialist.
Goldie Milgram, co-organizer and co-host, is also the co-founder of the initiative in which this concert resides, the Adding Our Voices (AOV) Initiative to document, encourage, highlight, and support Jewish feminist and gender-inclusive composers and their music. AOV falls under the auspices of the first consciously gender-inclusive Jewish non-profit and publishing house, which she founded: Reclaiming Judaism and Reclaiming Judaism Multimedia Press.
Goldie came to feminism after hitting the stained glass ceiling of Jewish patriarchal bias on numerous occasions from her youth through rabbinical school, while steadily seeking the important learning and inclusion where girls and women had not been welcome before. She was the second and youngest woman to serve as head of a Jewish Federation. After founding Health Watch, America's first preventive medicine talk television, Goldie next served as founding chair of the Jewish Women’s Studies Project at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, the first such program at any institution of higher learning. She later headed and then consulted on innovative Jewish programming for the New York Open Center and 92nd St Y. Under the mentorship of Rabbi Dr. (Reb) Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Rabbi Dr. Shohama Wiener, Goldie became Dean of Admissions and Practical Rabbinics for the Academy for Jewish Religion, a widely published author, and a traveling teacher known as "the rebbe on the road." Goldie graduated as a rabbi from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and subsequently received Rabbinic, Maggid, Mashpia, and Shaliach ordinations/smachot from Reb Zalman.
When asked what branch of Judaism her approaches represent Goldie Milgram replied: "Post-describable. For are we not all members of the Research and Development Team of the Jewish future?"
PLEASE USE the yellow donate button toward the top right side of this page and at RECLAIMINGJUDAISM.ORG to help us ensure the composers, lyricists, and performing artists have the technical help they need to document their works for sharing. Few artists in this initiative to document Jewish Feminist Music and ensure fullness of Gender-Inclusion throughout Jewish life can afford participation without drawing upon our Fund for Jewish Music.
Questions? Comments: Find typos for us to fix? A link not working? Want to donate from your IRA distribution or a foundation, the Federal EIN for Reclaiming Judaism is 51-0427890, c/o Rabbi Goldie Milgram, 15332 Pelican Point Dr. BA241, Sarasota, FL 34231. Contact: rebgoldie@gmail.com.
THANK YOU!
This page includes the concert recording access information, composers' bios, lyrics, and chat from the first concert, held May 24, 2020.
Adding Our Voices (AOV):
The Torah of Jewish Women in Song Benefit Concert
Co-hosts: Goldie Milgram and Geela Rayzel Raphael
This concert of Original Shavuot Songs, Musical Liturgy, and Musical Midrash is sung by exceptional composers and recording artists who also speak breifly about the motivation for creating their piece in gender feminine, gender neutral, or gender balanced formats since the inception of Jewish musical Herstory!
The professionally edited recording of this concert is available by donating what you wish ($4 and up) to the fund for creating sheet music for all works to make them accessible via our archive for Jewish Feminist Music that is now under development at the University of Hannover.
Please use the YELLOW DONATE BUTTON, a donate-what-you wish link ($3 and up) of our sponsor on the upper right of this page and send an email to info@reclaimingjudaism.org to receive a link to the concert Vimeo and the special password needed to get in.
Please do not share your special password with anyone. Do share this link with others so that they can donate and receive their special link and password, too.
Due to vagaries of the Internet, if your link and pw don't arrive, email our office info@reclaimingjudaism.org or call Goldie at 914-500-5696 and we'll promptly make sure it does.
Donations at this time go to
Mazon's Covid19 hunger response and the
Adding Our Voices (AOV): The Torah of Jewish Women in Song
Gender-Inclusion Initiative
Below, find the essence of this gender-inclusion initiative, the order of the concert and the concert chat with performer bios and lyrics and links to their discographies and programs and projects is below:
Composers, performers and works featured come from the initiative’s 1000-to-date-curated pieces collection of Jewish feminist and women’s sheet music. The initiative plan is to promote gender equality and a full range of inclusion in Jewish sacred music including:
· Regular Zoom concerts to honor the composers and feature their original works going in accordance with each of the songbook themes,
· creating good quality sheet music with chords
· ensuring each composer’s bio, photo, sheet music, sound or video files of the piece(s), and discography are added to the initiative website,
· offering workshops teaching creating gender-inclusion in Jewish music and teaching the Herstory of Jewish songs, musical liturgy, and musical midrash and a
· Herstory of Jewish Music documentary
· Fundraising Goal: $200,000. The organizers are volunteers, this is for the administrative support, notation and engraving, printing, tech, documentary-making, and PR.
AND volunteers are needed to:
· help with gathering information from the songwriters,
· proofreading the sheet music,
· attracting media to cover the story of this initiative and the stories and music within it;
· working with us to create curriculum for this Herstory;
· attracting possible scriptwriters for the documentary/documentary makers;
· asking denominational, educator, clergy, Jewish music and other groups now doing conferences to book Adding Our Voices Zoom Concerts and gender inclusion workshops
Please save the date! The next Adding Our Voices Zoom concert will take place on Sunday, August 9 at 2:00 PM EDT. We will select and reveal the next theme closer to the date.
ORDER OF THE CONCERT
1. Juliet Spitzer "Song of Ruth”
2. Fran Gordon and Naomi Less “Sh’ma Yisrael”
3. Ellen Allard “Be Holy Hear the Whisper”
4. Elizabeth Sternlieb “I Will Follow”
6. Shoshana Jedwab “Where You Go”
7. Linda Hirschhorn “Ruth and Naomi”
8. Myrna Rabinowitz “I Will Follow, Ruth’s Song”
9. Keshira HaLev Fife “We Bless We Count”
10.Judith Kummer “To Ruth Love Naomi”
11. Laura Lenes “Kids Omer Song”
12. Toby Hoffman “On Your Journey Home (Ruth & Naomi)”
13. Goldie Milgram “Hineni Muchana”
14. Navah Tehilla Livingstone-Shmuelit “Shir Shel Rut v’Naomi”
15. Shayndel Kahn “It’s Upon Us”
16. Geela Rayzel “Orpah’s Song: Lech Na”
First Up:
1. Juliet Spitzer, Bryn Mawr, PA. Juliet is committed to promoting the peaceful management of conflict through cultural understanding and tolerance for religious, ethnic, and racial differences. An international award-winning singer-songwriter, she has long-served as Cantorial Soloist at Congregation Beth Israel in Media, PA and is a member of the a cappella trio MIRAJ, the feminist vocal ensemble SheWho, and musical troupes Shabbat Unplugged, Havdallah Live and Tof B'Yada. Juliet teaches widely on Judaism, and also offers Soulful Chanting Circles in the Philadelphia area. Her life has been “a series of sacred encounters, and my music is a reflection of that journey.” www.julietspitzer.com
LYRICS
Song of Ruth
by Juliet Spitzer
Oh, what am I gonna do?
My love has passed away.
I realize no matter what
I'm left behind, I'm here to stay.
You keep telling me–go back home
To my parents I must return.
But you've been my support these years;
this love l cannot spurn.
Chorus:
You are mother, you are sister.
You’re most of all, my friend.
Where you lead me, I will follow
until the very end.
You've always been the solid one,
the answers well thought out.
You’d do my reassuring
when my strength I would doubt.
I'm beginning to see a different part
when I look into your eyes;
there’s emotional vulnerability
in a woman oh so wise.
CHORUS
You've taught me the ways of women.
My youth I spent under your wing.
It’s no wonder I can't leave you,
and in my ears these words do ring:
Eil asher teilchi eileich, uva-asher talini alin, /
ameich ami, veilohayich Elohai. / 2x
CHORUS
14:07:26 Herb Levy: Herstory[!]
Next Up:
2. Fran Gordon. New York, NY and Cleveland, OH. Fran began her love affair with Jewish music as a child singing in her synagogue’s youth choir in Akron, Ohio in the late ’60’s. In the mid-70’s, she used her voice to lead her CRUSY peers in ruach (spirited participation), but not yet in prayer. On Rosh Hodesh Av 5770, Fran’s diverse Jewish experiences led her to join the Women of the Wall minyan at the Kotel. That morning, she witnessed modern Jewish Herstory being made as Anat Hoffman was arrested. Fran vowed, at that moment, to use her voice in support of Women’s Voices in the “Sacred 70’s.”
3. Naomi Less. Brooklyn, NY. A Founding Worship Leader and Associate Director of Lab/Shul, Naomi is also a world-renown concert performing artist, musician, composer, ritualist, activist, educator and radio host for Jewish Rock Radio's "Jewish Women Rock Show". She co-created and performs in TRYmester: Jewish Fertility Journeys Out Loud, a multidisciplinary traveling performance piece based on narratives of fertility journeys. Naomi launched an Omer initiative on Instagram called #SistersCount. She also co-directs the Songleader Boot Camp Teen Program and runs Jewish rock band programs for kids and teens. www.naomiless.com
LYRICS
Sh’ma Yisrael
by Fran Gordon and Naomi Less
Who decides if I’m a Jew?
Who dictates what I have to do
to claim my essence
to bond with my Tribe?
A bribe you say could make a difference? Why this rule and that behavior? I can’t believe Mashiach would be that kind of savior that demands we find the Truth in just one way? Don’t we get something to say?
Chorus
Sh’ma Yisrael l’chol am Israel.
Sh’ma l’kol
Who decides if I’m a Jew?
Who dictates what I have to do
to claim my essence
to bond with my Tribe?
A bribe you say could make a difference? Why this rule and that behavior? I can’t believe Mashiach would be that kind of savior that demands we find the Truth in just one way? Don’t we get something to say?
Chorus
Sh’ma Yisrael l’chol am Israel. Sh’ma l’kolot Yisrael, l’chol am Yisrael. 2x
In a land that values dignity and the rights of free expression, how could one’s identity fall prey to this suppression? In the modern Jewish state, can we begin to celebrate the different ways to be part of one tribe?
Chorus Yisrael…..Chorus
Who decides if I’m a Jew?
Who dictates what I have to do
to claim my essence,
to bond with my Tribe?
In a democracy, more than one voice should decide.
14:15:37 Mitch Gordon : Its one of my favorite videos too Naomi! Fantastic!
14:15:43 Deb Barsel: Great to hear you and you! Love your music.
14:15:53 Robert Lowe: Tears in my eyes. thank you.
14:16:10 Naomi Less: (she, her/s) : Thank you folks.
And follow #SistersCount on Instagram for more @naomiless1
14:16:11 Julie : Beautiful, Naomi!
14:16:28 Naomi Less (she, her/s) : https://www.instagram.com/naomiless1/
14:16:38 Naomi Less (she, her/s) : What a blessing to be here in this moment.
14:16:41 Tamy : Naomi, my hero! love this song xxoo
14:16:42 Fran Gordon: Sh’ma Yisrael” is a part of “Sacred Rights, Sacred Song” - a cantata supporting the modern Jewish democracy movement. The Sh’ma Yisrael video can be found at https://youtu.be/KMoVXB8NONgSh
Next Up:
4. Ellen Allard. Boston, MA. Ellen is strongly committed to building community through music. Concert performer, workshop presenter, composer and music coach, she loves to engage audiences in playful song. Ellen has received six awards for her recordings, including four Children’s Music Web awards and two Parent’s Choice awards. She offers concerts worldwide and is also a Ruach n’Rhythm Facilitator.
“Ellen Allard: Queen of Jewish Early Childhood Music, Award-winning Performer, Music Educator, Composer, and Confidence Coach and Gluten Free Diva”
Ellen Allard Website--->>>https://ellenallard.com
Facebook: Ellen Allard Music https://www.facebook.com/ellenallardmusic
Ellen's Facebook Group - Music Teachers Rock
Instagram: Ellen Allard Music: https://www.instagram.com/ellenallardmusic
YouTube: Ellen Allard: https://www.youtube.com/ellenallard
Twitter: Ellen Loves Music https://twitter.com/ellenlovesmusic
LinkedIn: Ellen Allard https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenallard
Facebook: Gluten Free Diva https://www.facebook.com/glutenfreediva
Facebook Group - Gluten Free Diva In The Kitchen https://www.facebook.com/groups/GlutenFreeDivaInTheKitchen/
LYRICS
Be Holy, Hear the Whisper
by Ellen Allard
Be holy, hear the whisper, a quiet gentle voice.
Be holy, hear the whisper that helps us make the choice
to be like God, to be like God.
Be holy, hear the whisper, present every day.
Be holy, hear the whisper, it teaches us the way
to be like God, to be like God.
Chorus:
Hashchina, b’rucha hi
Hakadosh, baruch hu
Be holy, hear the whisper that guides each word and deed.
Be holy, hear the whisper reminding us we need
to be like God, to be like God.
Be holy, hear the whisper, the warmth of love’s embrace.
Be holy, hear the whisper giving us the grace
to be like God, to be like God.
Hashchina, b’rucha hi
Hakadosh, baruch hu
Next Up:
5. Elizabeth Sternlieb. Nyack, NY. Cantor, singer/songwriter, recording and ritual artist, pianist and performer. Elizabeth writes new music for congregational worship and holidays. She also writes contemporary Jewish/spiritual music and produces engaging educational children’s song-videos in Hebrew and English. She has received awards for her original music, programming and ritual arts from American Conference of Cantors and Association of Rabbis and Cantors. Elizabeth presently serves as the Cantor at Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester in Chappaqua, New York and for sixteen years prior she served as the Cantor and then Cantor/Educator at Sinai Free Synagogue in Mount Vernon, NY.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR6Z3CttsSsH1dd2eNMubIw
LYRICS
I Will Follow
by Elizabeth Sternlieb
To find a true and sacred love of God to share,
maybe it comes along but once in life on earth.
Open hearts intent on finding love to spare,
and that love we find from God, perhaps, was destined from our birth.
Chorus
Don’t ask me to leave you, or to turn away;
wherever you go, I will follow.
I will live where you live and love your people,
and your God will be my God too.
God will always shine eternal grace upon one
who gives the love they have, deep within their soul.
Treasured moments shared between two people combine
two separate lives so that two halves become a whole.
Bridge
May you find your blessings all will come to be–
wondrous music–create your symphony.
If the storms of life rain down, now you have each other,
the perfect gift from God, the gift of one another.
Next Up:
6. Shoshana Jedwab. New York, NY. As a child, Shoshana would drum on parked cars, plates, tables, books and other people's bodies. She is a percussionist, singer-songwriter, worship leader and prize-winning Jewish educator. Her hip-shaking sacred music is channeled and crafted to reboot liturgy in feminist and embodied ways. The original songs of Shoshana’s 2016 debut album, “I Remember”, and her 2018 zipper song single, “Where You Go”, emerged from ceremonies she was leading, and are now being sung, and danced to, in churches, synagogues, mosques, weddings and protest marches. Shoshana gives concerts, leads worship and drum circles, teaches and drums for the Kohenet Institute. www.shoshanajedwab.com
LYRICS
Where You Go
by Shoshana Jedwab
Where you go, I will go, beloved/refugee/Mother Earth/children/ancestors Where you go, I will go (Repeat) And where you lie, I will lie, beloved/refugee/Mother Earth/children/ancestors
Where you lie, I will lie
Repeat
And your people are my people
Your people are mine
Your people are my people
Your Divine, my Divine
Repeat
Purchase Shoshana Jedwab’s music: https://shoshanajedwab.bandcamp.com/
Learn about Kohenet: http://www.kohenet.com/
Support the making of Shoshana Jedwab’s second album:
https://www.paypal.me/shoshanajedwabmusic
Connect: www.shoshanajedwab.com
Next Up:
7. Linda Hirschhorn. Oakland, CA. Putting together choral and yeshiva training, Linda finds the richness, depth and complexities of harmonies elucidate the richness, depth and complexity of text and many other aspects of Jewish life, giving all new meaning. She is a cantor, award-winning composer, performing and recording artist, choral conductor, and Director of the a cappella group Vocolot. Linda found that it was Jewish feminism, with its insistence on and permission of an honest expression of one's deepest self without shame or inhibition, that helped her to integrate her political and Jewish roots and to choose to become an empowered leader in Jewish life. www.lindahirschhorn.com
LYRICS
Ruth and Naomi
by Linda Hirschhorn
We’ll return with you unto your land,
return unto your land.
Go back, go back, my daughters.
I feel the wrath of God’s hand.
Shovna, shovna b’notai
Yatza b’yad Hashem.
Ruth then said to Naomi,
“Keep me not from your side.
Whither thou goest, I will go.
Your land and God shall be mine.
I will go, I will go, I’ll sleep with you.
Eilech, eileich v’alin, and I will sleep.”
A stranger is only as strange
as the distance we keep from our hearts.
It’s not ours to complete the task,
only ours to start.
Do not keep me from your side,
I’ll follow you.
Whither thou goest, I will go.
I’ll sleep with you.
I will go, I will go, I’ll sleep with you.
Eilech, eileich v’alin, and I will sleep, v’alin.
14:36:32 Anna : Hello Rayzel! Hello Goldie! Hello Linda!
14:37:02 Carrie Matez : hi Rayzel- got here late but so worthwhile
14:38:06 Carol Anshien : I took my first Jewish songwriting workshop with Linda at the first Elat Chayyim retreat . . .
14:38:17 Malka Goodman : Beautiful!
14:38:53 Janice Rubin : Beautiful Linda Hirschhorn!
14:38:55 Rinah Karson : oh Linda, I AM / have always been touched by your healing harmonies❤️
14:39:01 Bob Schloss : Yasher Koach, Linda !
14:39:24 Aviva K Rosenbloom : I remember that song, from back in the day, Linda H!
Next Up:
8. Myrna Rabinowitz. Vancouver, Canada. Music and song is Myrna’s vehicle for connecting to the Source and to the soul in all of us. As a young child of survivors growing up in Montreal, she loved to sing along to her father’s treasured Yiddish, chazzanus, and Hebrew music collection. It wasn’t until moving to Vancouver and becoming part of Or Shalom that Myrna was inspired and encouraged to create new music for prayer by Rabbis Daniel and Hanna Tiferet Siegel. Years later, as her work as a spiritual leader and performer grew, Myrna began recording more original music for Jewish prayer and blessings, and Yiddish songs.
LYRICS
I Will Follow (Ruth’s Song)
by Myrna Rabinowitz
I will follow, I will follow you (x2)
Eil asher teilchi eileich, teilchi eileich (2x)
Wherever you go I will follow, I will follow you (x2)
Your people will be my people too.
Your God, my God, I will pray with you.
I will honour your ways, be a daughter for you.
I will follow you.
Wherever you go I will follow, I will follow you
Where you live, I will live, where you die, I will too.
I will be by your side, I will take care of you.
For the rest of your days, I will stay with you.
I will follow you.
14:42:10 Keshira haLev Fife (she/her/they/them) : So beautiful!
14:42:58 Carol Anshien : :-) :-)
14:43:07 Daniella : <3
14:43:25 Carol Ann Fried: Beautiful, Myrna - thank you!
14:43:44 From Rose Zoltek-Jick : Myrna!!!! That was beautiful..... love from Rose from Boston
14:43:48 From sarah leah mazeltov : hi Darla!
14:43:52 From Pat Gill : Myrna, so beautiful. Thank you!
14:44:21 From harriette : go Kesh!!!!!! we love you!!!
14:44:27 From Katy (she/her) : <3 <3 <3
14:44:33 From Marianne Rev : Beautiful, Myrna! Todah.
14:44:37 From Shoshana : Awesome Myrna! Lots of love from another Canadian in Victoria
14:45:19 Myrna Rabinowitz : www.myrnarabinowitz.com
14:46:03 Myrna Rabinowitz : Myrna Rabinowitz
Next Up:
9. Keshira HaLev Fife. Pittsburgh, PA. Keshira is a Kohenet and queer Jewish woman of color who sprinkles sparkles, disrupts expectations, and offers blessings wherever she goes. She pours love into her work as Oreget Kehilah (Executive Director) of the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, founder/leader of Kesher Pittsburgh, Program Director of the ALEPH Kesher Fellowship, and more broadly as a shlichat tzibbur, lifespiral ceremony/ritual creatrix, liturgist, songstress, teacher and public speaker. She has a deep love of music and is amazed by each song that comes through her. We Bless, We Count, included in this anthology, is her first song to be published. www.keshirahalev.com
LYRICS
We Bless, We Count
by Keshira Fife HaLev
Praying for a harvest strong
Burning fires and singing songs
Counting moves us day by day
Giving rhythm to our way
We bless, we count
Recalling teachers through the ages
In this Zoom room, modern sages
Seven weeks of transformation
For this holy revelation
Days will number forty-nine
Practice shifting us through time
Going deeper ever more
It’s a portal, sacred door
We bless, we count
Wandering in the vast expanse
With uncertainty we dance
Spiraling through all space and time
Sephirot we realign
Holy vessels here and now
It’s not what we do, but how
Counting omer each new night
Making room to hold more light
We bless, we count
In community we thrive,
Blessings in each other’s lives
Connected, although miles apart
Tuck this message in your heart
You bless, you count
We bless, we count
14:43:56 From Batya בתיה Diamond : GO KESH
14:45:45 Rinah Karson : KESH YES! Trans-Forming! YAH!
14:45:51 Bonnie Cramer : yes,
Up Next:
10. Judy Kummer. Roslindale, MA. Judy is a Rabbi, composer of rounds and creative Jewish liturgy, and Program Leader for the Community Chaplaincy Initiative at Hebrew SeniorLife in Boston. Formerly the Executive Director of the Jewish Chaplaincy Council of Massachusetts, Judy has also served as a spiritual leader for several Reconstructionist synagogues.
LYRICS
To Ruth, Love Naomi
by Judy Kummer
I’m so glad you came into my life.
You have filled my heart with song, with light.
In a brand new child I can delight,
and so we begin again.
I had turned toward home, a lonely end,
when you came to me, a dear best friend.
Maybe soon my broken heart will mend,
and so we begin again.
I had thought the family tree would cease.
The last week now brings forth bright green leaves.
It’s through you I glimpse eternity,
and so we begin again.
I was sure that love had all but gone.
You have come to fill my world with song.
Now it seems that life will carry-on,
And so we begin again.
I’m so glad you came into my life,
you have filled my heart with song, with light.
In a brand new child I can delight, (x3)
And so we begin again.
Next Up:
11. Laura Lenes, Hollywood, FL. Laura's lifetime mission is to connect young Jewish families to Judaism and the Jewish community through music, Sign Language, and the arts. She routinely writes music, plays, and curriculum, has performed and toured around the USA. She heads a Mommy & Me company called Sing Sign Simcha, and is in the process of branding SSWAG curriculum to be used Nationwide. Laura leads religious services for children and adults and has just applied to rabbinical school.
https://www.facebook.com/laura.lenes.7
LYRICS
Counting Omer–Yodelee Yodeloo
by Laura Lenes
Counting Omer, so much fun,
the 2nd night of Passover is Day number 1.
Counting Omer to Day forty-nine,
Each day we work to be more & more kind.
Yodelee yodeloo, I’ll count each day with you.
Yodelee, Yodeloo, I’ll work on myself too.
Counting Omer, Lag Ba-omer is here.
Each day we learn, but today we cheer!
Counting Omer to day thirty-three,
on Lag Ba-omer, we dance & sing free.
Yodelee yodeloo, I’ll count each day with you.
Yodelee, Yodeloo, I’ll work on myself too.
Counting Omer for forty-nine days,
we’ve been working on ourselves in so many ways.
Shavuot is the fiftieth day,
when we receive our Torah, Hip Hip Hooray!
Yodelee yodeloo, I’ll count each day with you.
Yodelee, Yodeloo, I’ll work on myself too.
14:57:28 Bob Schloss : Beautiful !
14:57:29 Katy (she/her) : Omg so cute
14:57:31 Carol Anshien : this song makes me laugh…thank yiu
14:57:36 Tamy : Oh my dear friend, Laura. So much fun. I love your daughter. xxoo
14:57:37 Shayndel Kahn : Such JOY!!! lOVE IT
14:57:41 Shoshana : Fun! Thanks!
14:57:43 Keshira haLev Fife (she/her/they/them) : Love this intergenerational song!!
14:57:49 Shoshana Jedwab : More more more Laura Lennes and child!!!
14:57:55 Daniella : Harmony was brilliant!!
14:58:03 Bob Schloss : And Laura, your daughter's name is … ?
14:58:10 Lisa Ann Wharton : great harmony!
Tobie Hoffman. Philadelphia, PA. Take a bit of well-worn Peter, Paul and Mary tapes, mix them with treks to the Michigan Women’s music festival for roots of my musical journey. From Holly Near to Linda Hirschhorn to Dar Williams; Pete Seeger to Sweet Honey in the Rock mixed with singing and dancing at Jewish summer camp, these were Tobie’s beloved guides. Her spiritual community, P’nai Or Philadelphia, is filled with juicy Jewish jamming, and the current incubator for her music of Torah, liturgy, and life’s miracles.
LYRICS
On Your Journey Home
By Tobie Hoffman
Chorus: Wherever you will go, I will go too.
The future soon will bring a harvest.
On your journey home you’re not alone, your love will share our destiny.(repeats)
Arm in arm we’ll walk together, whisp’ring secrets on the way.
Look ahead, the gates are opening for you, for me, our path is laid.
Chorus
Side by side we’ll work together, planting seeds from day to day.
Look ahead, the wheat is waving; with your people I will stay.
Chorus
15:04:57 Malka Goodman : Thank you Tobie!
15:05:05 Carol Anshien : ;-)
15:05:08 Robin : Tobie, so beautiful. Wherever you go I will go too or another 55 years!
15:05:12 Aviva K Rosenbloom : Gorgeous! Love the interesting rhythms.
15:05:13 Daniella : Beautiful, Tobie! <3
15:05:17 Carol Anshien : ;-)
15:05:25 Carol Anshien : ;-)
15:05:34 From AAA Shoshana Jedwab : Gorgeous!
15:05:35 Marilyn Bronstein : amazing!
15:05:49 Sara Bensusan : gorgeous Tobin thank you
15:06:06 Mateh Esther : Go pnai or portland! USA!! now in Yerushalayim!
15:02:07 Linda Hirschhorn : I’m loving this but my internet seems to be unstable today… I hope I don’t lose you all but if i suddenly disappear it’s not personal!
Goldie Milgram. Sarasota, FL. Goldie is a co-founder of the Adding Our Voices Songbook and Gender-Inclusion Initiative, under the auspices of the first consciously gender-inclusive Jewish publishing house, Reclaiming Judaism Press, which she founded in 2009. One day a river of song with melodies never-before- heard one day began to arise within while teaching meditation in a Tucson cactus garden and continues. Rabbi, award-winning educator, author, and journalist, Goldie also served as founding chair (1990) of the Jewish Women’s Studies Project at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, the first such program at any institution of higher learning. Co-president of the Association of Professional Jewish Artists (2009-present), and founder, Executive Director, and Editor-in-Chief at Reclaiming Judaism and Reclaiming Judaism Press.
http://www.ReclaimingJudaism.org
Hineni Muchana
Music: Joel Morris
Lyrics: Goldie Milgram & Steven Rubenstein
Hineni muchana [m. muchan] u'm'zumenet [m. m’zuman]
l'kayem et mitzvot ha-borei,
l'kayem et mitzvot ha-borei la-asok,
la'-asoke b'divrei Torah.
I am here, ready and invited,
to fulfill the mitzvot of my Creator,
and to immerse in deeds. 2x
to immerse in deeds of Torah.
Bending my knee at the Pond of Blessings,
at the Threshold of Eternity,
where we are made holy.
My intention, my intention
Is to be fully engaged with mitzvah.
My intention, my intention
Is to be fully engaged with Torah.
I will challenge our tradition while loving it.
I will strive daily to serve You.
I will live my life, 2x
I will live my life through mitzvah.
I will live a mitzvah-centered life.
I will strive to serve You with awe
I will live a mitzvah-centered life.
I will strive to serve You with love.
14:59:43 Lisa Lipkin : Wonderful words, Goldie
15:00:00 rebgoldie : Thank you! http://www.reclaimingjudaism.org 15:07:41 Lynn Taylor : we sing this at PnaiOr and love you!!
15:09:48 Ellen Weaver : this is just wonderful!!!! I'm getting tossed off so trying no video
15:10:23 Keshira haLev Fife (she/her/they/them) : So gorgeous!
15:10:49 Joanne : Thank you everyone this is so wonderful. Shout out to Reb Goldie, Kesherlev, Rabbi Judy k.
15:11:05 Bob Schloss : R Goldie ! ! !
15:11:11 Shoshana Jedwab : Rebbe!!! Thank you, Goldie, for your holy work that believes so deeply in us, the people!
15:11:17 Alison Lynch : Thank you Goldie
15:11:27 Bonnie Cramer : yeah Goldie!
NAVAH-TEHILA LIVINGSTONE-SHMUELIT. Utrecht, The Netherlands. Born and raised in Israel (1943). Rabbi, pianist, singer and composer of Jewish spiritual and liturgical music, singing teacher, spiritual coach, sound healer, painter and writer. “Singing Rabbi” Emerita of the Liberal Jewish community Utrecht, The Netherlands. http://www.orbalev.nl/
15:11:33 Terri Schuster : Love you goldfish
15:11:42 Janice Rubin : Kol HaKavod Goldie!
15:11:51 Malka Goodman : Thank you Goldie!
15:11:51 Lisa Ann Wharton : So deep! thank you Goldie!
15:12:03 Eileen Nathanson : beautiful, Goldie. Thank you from Eileen
15:12:29 Debrah Shenefelt : Goldie-so beautiful. Loved it! Debrah
15:13:10 Carol Anshien : Have to leave . .. this has been so wonderful…. hope recording will be available…. hag haShavuot sameach….
LYRICS
Shel Rut v’Naomi
by Nava-Tehila Livingstone-Shmuelit
Ba-asher tel’chi elech
ba-asher talini alin
(Repeats)
amech ami, velohayich Elohai.
Ba-asher telchi elech 2x
Elech 4x
Shayndel Kahn. San Jose, CA. Shayndel is both a titled Cantorial Soloist and a Rabbinic Pastor and Spiritual Director. She leads joyful services, including High Holiday, Shabbat, and Rosh Chodesh services, blending song, prayer, and story to creates heartfelt experiences that connect meaning to melody and word. She writes Jewish liturgical music, fusing traditional and contemporary Jewish music to create liturgical melodies that have made their way into communities throughout the world. As a hospice chaplain, Shayndel’s gift as a healer includes offering music as a means of spiritual connection and singing to those with demential. She also leads monthly Rosh Chodesh groups. Shayndel sings from her soul to touch the heart, mind, and spirit. www.shayndelkahn.com
15:13:58 Tobie Hoffman : One of the women I talked about was in the audience! Who was the person who has walked the path with you?
15:14:27 Frances Avni : wonderful to see and hear everyone....
15:14:51 Sara Bensusan : much gratitude that you timed this so that it is not the middle of the night here in London England
LYRICS
It’s Upon Us–Aleinu
by Shayndel Kahn
May we feel Your holy power.
May we feel Your holy strength.
May we feel Your holy presence surround us in this holy place.
May we feel the earth beneath our feet as we bend and bow to You.
May our bodies rise to greet you as we feel Your presence pouring through.
It is upon us, it’s upon us to feel Your holy ground.
It’s upon us, it’s upon us to hear Your holy sound.
It’s upon us, it’s upon us to feel the love inside.I
t’s upon us, it’s upon us to face You and not hide.
It’s upon us, it’s upon us to think, to act, to do.It’s upon us it’s upon us to do what’s right and true.
It’s upon us it’s upon us to reach up to the sky.
It’s upon us it’s upon us to take our wings and fly.
Aleinu l’shabei-ach la-adon hakol. 4x
May we feel Your holy power.
May we feel Your holy strength.
May we feel Your holy presence
surround us in this holy place.
Aleinu l’shabei-ach la-adon hakol 4x
ORPAH's SONGLaych-na © RABBI GEELA RAYZEL RAPHAEL written at B’not Aish
CHORUS: Laych-na, shovna isha, ta'aseh Yh imachen chesed.
Go and return to the path that you wander.
Seek and you'll find your own destiny.
May the Holy One bless you with love and protection.
May you find the rest that you need
Though partings are hard and goodbyes painful, adventure abounds behind every bend.
Follow your heart ‘til your soul sets to dancing.
May the joy you find never end. Chorus
Go and return to the path that you wander.
Seek and you'll find your own destiny.
May the Holy One bless you with Harmony, peace, health, goodness, joy, happiness, sweetness, fertility
May you find the rest that you need.
Geela Rayzel Raphael. Philadelphia, PA. Rabbi and pioneer in the genre of Jewish feminist music, “Reb Rayzel” is a co-founder of the Adding Our Voices Songbook and Gender-Inclusion Initiative. Her Jewish music was initially inspired by Torah study of women of the Bible and her first song, Miriam, “felt like a mystical experience of Divine Revelation.” Rayzel has been writing and collecting songs since the 1980s. She is an award-winning concert performer, songwriter and musical liturgist, playwright, recording artist, and author of children’s books. She helped to develop Shabbat Unplugged--featuring musical Shabbat and Havdalah services. Rayzel is a founding member of the Jewish feminist acapella group MIRAJ. www.Shechinah.com
AND BIO FOR OUR INITIATIVE JEWISH MUSICOLOGIST AND CO-LEADER
Sarah M. Ross. Hannover, Germany. Sarah M. Ross is a co-founder of the Adding Our Voices Songbook and Gender-Inclusion Initiative. She is a professor of Jewish Music Studies and Director of the European Center for Jewish at Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media, Germany. Sarah is the author of "A Season of Singing: Creating Feminist Jewish Music in the United States (Brandeis University Press, 2016) and author and editor of "Jüdisches Kulturerbe im Prisma der Zeit. Überlegungen zu einer kulturellen Nachhaltigkeit am Beispiel Jüdische Musik" (Jewish cultural heritage in the prism of time), Reflections on Jewish music and cultural sustainability (Peter Lang 2020) and co-editor of "Cultural Mapping and Musical Diversity" (Equinox, 2020) as well as "Judaism and Emotion: Texts, Performance, Experience" (Peter Lang 2013). www.ezjm.hmtm-hannover.de/en/the-ezjm/persons-to-contact/prof-dr-sarah-m-ross/
15:30:49 NatalieGorvine : Thanks to ALL who have contributed to this concert (from conception to “making it all happen!) Yish’ar kochachen!
15:15:26 From Rinah Karson : Gratitude Goldie & Geela for Great Gifts❤️
Rabbi Geela Rayzel asked everyone to put in a word of blessing:
15:32:29 From Shari Berkowitz : good health
15:32:39 From AAA Shoshana Jedwab : Guts
15:32:52 From AAA Naomi Less (she, her/s) : endurance
15:32:52 From Abby Michaleski : open heart
15:33:00 From AAA Fran Gordon (she, her/s) : song, harmony and breath
15:33:00 From AAA Elizabeth Sternlieb : music and health
15:33:02 From Alison Lynch : purpose
15:33:02 From Lisa Lipkin : sisterhood and music!
15:33:04 From Laura Berman : hope,love,peace
15:33:05 From JUstin Freed : Thank you all
15:33:10 From AAA Keshira haLev Fife (she/her/they/them) : Compassion and connection
15:33:11 From AAA Keshira haLev Fife (she/her/they/them) : Resilience
15:33:14 From AAA Keshira haLev Fife (she/her/they/them) : Song!!
15:33:14 From Katy (she/her) : joy.love, clarity
15:33:18 From AAA Diana - Volunteer - Add Our Voices : Later you can find the saved chat, in a folder called Zoom that gets created in your Documents...
15:33:20 From AAA Tobie Hoffman : holding on to lessons learned at this time of the Omer
15:33:25 From Laura Berman : JOY
15:33:25 From Bob Schloss : inspiration
15:33:38 From Mitch Gordon : Thanks Goldie for inviting me to post this. I am a host and produce Shirim, Jewish music and more on WCUW 91.3 FM Worcester, MA and streaming live at wcuw.org Sunday nights 8-10pm. I've been focusing on the music of #sisterscount (thanks Naomi) and TUNE IN TONGIHT and I'll feature many of the musicians we heard today! And if singers want to send me links here is my FB page - send PM... https://www.facebook.com/mitchgordon06 Bless you all....
15:33:38 From MaryLou McGivney : Thanks so much. It was beautiful.
15:33:42 From Anna : Did I see Chaya Kirchein there??????
15:33:42 From Rinah Karson : shalOMshalOM❤️
Miriam Dancing Image (c) Jackie Olenick
SEE BELOW FOR COMPOSER BIOS, LYRICS, WEBSITE:
If you didn't register for the concert originally, you can click here to reach the link that provides this concert's recording (link coming)
1. Geela Rayzel Raphael (Philadelphia, PA) Rabbi and pioneer in the genre of Jewish feminist music, “Reb Rayzel” is a co-founder of the Adding Our Voices Gender-Inclusion Initiative. Her Jewish music was initially inspired by Torah study of women of the Bible and her first song, Miriam, “felt like a mystical experience of Divine Revelation.” Geela Rayzel has been writing and collecting Jewish feminist music since the 1980s. She is concert performer, songwriter and musical liturgist, playwright, recording artist, and author of children’s books. Geela Rayzel helped to develop Shabbat Unplugged—featuring musical Shabbat and Havdalah services. She is also a founder and member of the Jewish feminist a capella group MIRAJ. www.Shechinah.com
Song Background: Holy Mother Shechinah Soul . Holy Mother Shechinah Soul was written at the Kotel/Western Wall In Jerusalem 1988. Bakol Ruben and I went at midnight. I placed my forehead on the holy stones and her the words: “Holy Mother”, I was stunned- as that felt like Christian language. I put my head again on the stones and heard “ Shechinah Soul”, then the tune tumbled out through my soul. I added the names of God, as a piyyut to show that the Divine is named in many ways, with the English giving an interpretation.
Shechinah Soul, Geela Rayzel
Holy Mother, Shechinah Soul,
Rachamema
Compassion fills Your womb of love
T'hallelu-hah!
Holy Mother, Shechinah Soul,
Mikor Hayim
Fountain of Life flows from You
Uv'shavtem mayim.
Holy Mother, Shechinah Soul,
Shechinat-El
On wings of light we soar to You
Natchil l'hitpalel.
Holy Mother, Shechinah Soul,
Eheyeh Asher eheyeh
You were, You are, You'll always be,
Gam anachnu nihiyeh.
Holy Mother, Shechinah Soul,
Melechet Shamayim
You rule skies and earth with a gentle hand,
Borchi et Yerushalayim.
Holy Mother, Shechinah Soul,
Rachmana Ya
You heal the wounds of a heavy heart,
Ayl na r'phana la.
Holy Mother, Shechinah Soul,
Be'er l'chai ro'i
I drink deep of Your love
Ki At emadi.
CO-HOST: Goldie Milgram. (Sarasota, FL) Goldie is a co-founder of the Adding Our Voices Songbook and Gender-Inclusion Initiative, under the auspices of the first consciously gender-inclusive Jewish publishing house, Reclaiming Judaism Press (2009). One day a river of song with melodies never-before- heard one day began to arise within while teaching meditation in a Tucson cactus garden and continues. Rabbi, educator, author, visual artist, and journalist, she served as founding chair (1990) of the Jewish Women’s Studies Project at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, the first such program at any institution of higher learning. Co-president of the Association of Professional Jewish Artists (2009-present), and founder and Executive Director of Reclaiming Judaism (2002) and Reclaiming Judaism Press (2009). www.ReclaimingJudaism.org
2. Shefa Gold (Jemez Springs, NM) Music helps me to speak the truth and to be courageous. I've been writing songs since I was a teenager and the process has helped me find my voice as a spiritual leader. Everything I learned through music about how to open hearts, transform consciousness, heal, stir up or soothe, I have applied to my work as a rabbi. Through music I can pour out my love, explore the inner realms and add humor and sparkle to the darkest corners of mystery. Shefa is an author, educator, composer and teacher of Jewish sacred chants, and recording artist. www.rabbishefagold.com
Song Background: No More Big Daddy The first time I found myself helping to lead High Holy Day services with the Aquarian Minyan in Berkeley, I began seriously exploring the liturgy and was overwhelmed by the pervasive imagery of God as King and Judge. This song started out as a rant against those images which seemed so heavy handed and counter to my experience of God as Beloved and inner resource. It got me into a lot of trouble.
No More Big Daddy, Shefa Gold
No More Big Daddy
The Monarchy is dead
I take responsibility
for the Devils in my head
My love is like a circle
that spins to set me free
My heart belongs to the Lord
who doesn't Lord it over me.
Sometimes we feel like children
Sometimes we feel grown up
Sometimes we look for God below
and sometimes we look up
When we keep God in the sky
we put Religion on the shelf
I pray with all humility
to find God in my Self
Chorus:
No More Big Daddy
The Monarchy is dead
I take responsibility
for the Devils in my head
My love is like a circle
that spins to set me free
My heart belongs to the Lord
who doesn't Lord it over me.
Let's take our rightful place
beside the throne of the Divine
Open up our hearts
and leave our fear and pride behind
Let's cross that mighty river
into the Holy Land
Just open up your fist
and find the truth inside your hand
Chorus:
No More Big Daddy
The Monarchy is dead
I take responsibility
for the Devils in my head
My love is like a circle
that spins to set me free
My heart belongs to the Lord
who doesn't Lord it over me.
My heart belongs to the Lord
who doesn't Lord it over me.
3. Eliana Light (Durham, North Carolina) is a Jewish educator, songwriter of catchy tunes, and recording artist. She also offers professional development training for educators, clergy, and lay leaders seeking to elevate, deepen, and make their prayer gatherings more meaningful. Eliana envisions a joyful, vibrant, heart-centered Judaism that speaks to the soul and moves the spirit, reminding us that we all are One. www.ElianaLight.com
Song Background: Elohecha. This song was written to be part of a prayer curriculum called "Hebrew in Harmony." How to teach about the Avot and Imahot, our forefathers and foremothers? As a child, I learned that we say Elohei, "G?D of." each of our ancestors, because they each had a unique relationship to Divine presence. In the verses, we get a small glimpse relationship, and in the bridge, honor how our mothers called out to G?D through the naming of their children. Elohecha means "your G?D." I imagine Divine Presence singing to each of us- "just as I knew your ancestors, I can't wait to get to know you too."
Elohecha, Eliana Light
I remember when I called out to your father
And told him that he couldn’t stay
Invited him to go on a journey
And he packed and left that day
I remember when I called out to your mother
She said she didn’t laugh at me
I know it sounded absurd, but miracles occurred
and she grew the family tree
Chorus:
Elohei Avraham, Elohei Yitzhak, Elohei Yaakov
Elohei Sara, Elohei Rivka, Elohei Rachel, Elohei Leah,
Eloheicha
Your father and I didn’t talk very much
But I was with him every day
Saved him from the knife, saved his very life,
Though I know he was afraid
Your mother thought she knew me so well
When she came up with her plan
Helped the younger steal the blessing from the older
And away the younger ran
Bridge:
And when your father ran
We fought all night
I gave him a new name in the morning light
B’nei Yisrael, that’s what you will be,
Now how will you wrestle, how will you talk to, how will you connect with me?
I remember when I called out to your mothers,
Actually they called to me
In each name that was read, a gorgeous prayer was said
For their life and family
Yes I remember your mothers and your fathers,
So strong and yet so sweet
I promised I’d be true, so now I’m calling out to you,
And I can’t wait to meet
Chorus, with ending: Elohecha, Elohayich… [Your God, my God]
4. YofiYah Susan Deikman (Elkins Park, PA) is the originator of her own form of Kabbalah Kirtan, an ecstatic form of worship. Kabbalah Kirtan is a fusion of ancient chanting practices with Jewish liturgy and content. The melodies spring organically from the text and text is selected that speaks to the heart. Rhythms and modes intertwine to call to our soul, inspire our praise, and then carry us into the silence that follows, clearing the path to the Oneness that becomes cluttered by our daily concerns. Yofiyah is a singer, composer, voice teacher and chant leader, and recording artist. www.kabbalahkirtan.com
Song background: Shechinah: This chant enables Shechinah to arise within me less ethereally and to manifest as more tangible, as it adds strong goddess energy. The song is built on the Indian mode of the Kali Raga. Kali can be thought of as the goddess of destruction but really she clears the way for new creation. Shechinah is the light that fills all creation, so I put Kali mode and invoking Shechinah together to achieve an empowering chant that clears the way and invites spiritual connection. This works well at Shabbat services.
Shechinah, Yofiyah Susan Deikman
Shechinah
Shochenet ad marom v’kadosh
Sh’mah
Shechinah inhabits eternity. Exalted and holy is Her name
5. Susan Rothbaum (Saint Paul, MN) wrote these and similar songs after taking a beginning Hebrew class in her mid-forties. A lifelong singer, composer, and musician, she said: “What better thing to do with a new language than write songs in it?” The Divine Feminine has been central to her spirituality. She responded to gender bias in the liturgy by finding descriptions of the Divine as feminine and bringing those that spoke to her into her songs and prayers. Composing these songs came easily to her, as if they were waiting to come through her. In addition to being a musician Susan is a writer. She wrote midrashim* from a woman centered perspective and two of the songs on the CD are like midrashim, woman’s view versions of the Purim story and also the ancient rule of one sixtieth part of the harvest gleaned by the poor.
Song Background: ָAni Nacha is a lullaby that conveys the special motherly comfort given by resting on the breasts of the Divine. Sh’dei means “breasts of” and Shaddai means feminine Divine and can also refer to breasts or mountains. Ani Nacha is easy to learn and sing with very simple lyrics and a beautiful, soothing melody that can be sung as a prayer or meditation by individuals and groups. It is a good song to share at the end of a gathering. [Contact admin@reclaimingjudaism.org to be in touch with Susan or Kathie re Susan's upcoming CD]
5. Ani Nacha, Susan Rothbaum
Ani nacha al sh’dei Shaddai
I am resting on the breasts of Shechinah
6. Taya Mâ Shere (El Cerrito, CA) plays passionately in the realms of transformative ritual and embodied vocalization. She is co-founder of the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute. Author, composer of musical liturgy, chant leader, and recording artist, she creates “mystic medicine music.” Taya co-leads Makam Shekhina, a multi-religious Jewish/Sufi spiritual community and mentors emergent spiritual leaders in embodied presence and counter-oppressive devotion. She makes home, music and other magic in the California East Bay.www.holytaya.com
Song Background: Shekhina El Shaddai/priestess blessing is magic in two parts. The first half—Shekhinah, El Shaddai, Ima Ila’ah, Tzimtzimai—is a celebration of the many names and aspects of the Goddess as She/Zhe lives beyond and within us... me and the Goddess we are kin! It’s a joyous and celebratory praise: “please, yes please, let’s embody this bit of audacious and playful sweetness!” The second half—may She/Zhe bless you, May She/Zhe keep you is a creatively translated chant of Birkat Kohanim—or Birkat Kohanot in the feminine. We chant this adapted Priestess Blessing as part of our ordination/transmission ceremony making hand symbols as portals to beam blessing through as we recite this chant. Some hold their hands in the sign of the Priestly Blessing, Leonard Nimoy style, others place their hands in a triangle over their heart, pelvic space, or belly, beaming blessings and G!ddess energy to whoever is being blessed.
Shekhina El Shaddai / Priestess Blessing
Taya Mâ Shere
shekhinah / el shaddai
ima illa'ah / tzimtzimai
summoning embodying sacred she who dwells within
we celebrate we co-create me and the goddess we are kin
may she bless us and may she keep us
as she shines her face may we embody grace
may she bless us and may she keep us
as she brings release may we give birth to peace
reveling revealing opening to mystery
evolving and healing
this tastes just like bliss to me
Song Background: B’rucha At is a feminist counterpoint to the male-gendered “Shehecheyanu” prayer—a joyful celebration of Shechinah’s presence in every new moment
B'rucha At by Batya Diamond
בְּרוּכָה אַתּ
בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ ֹשְכִינָה
ֹשֶהֶחֶיַתְנוּ
וְקִיְמַתְנוּ
וְהִגִיַתְנוּ
לַזְמַן הָזֶה
B’rucha at
B’rucha at Shechinah
Shehecheyatnu
V’kiy’matu
V’higiyatnu
Lazman hazeh
[Oh Shechinah -
You are breath
and you are blessed
We offer gratitude
for being alive
for the resources you provide
and for arriving us to this time]
8. Lisa L. Levine (Brookeville, MD) is a rabbinic pastor who has been building bridges between faith communities for more than three decades. She is also a composer, writer, author, poet, and recording artist. Lisa teaches Yoga Shalom at Home via zoom and is known for Yoga practices through a Jewish lens. Jospel Jam is a reflection of her years of work with the AME Church and Boys and Girls Clubs of Washington, DC. She serves as Artist-In-Residence at Temple Rodef Torah of Marlboro NJ, freelances around the country and serves as a Rabbinic chaplain for Riderwood Jewish Community in Silver Spring, MD www.cantorlisalevine.com
Song Background: Baruch HaMakom This text is from the Haggadah and I was inspired to write a gender-inclusive version to include the women who have lovingly shared Torah and prepared Passover tables for their families throughout the ages. The image of the Shechinah dwelling in every place brings the true meaning of the holiday to life. It was included in the CCAR’s Open Door Haggadah and has become a standard part of Passover Seders everywhere!
Baruch HaMakom, Lisa Levine
Baruch hamakom baruch Hu
Shechinah, brucha Hi.
Baruch sheh natan Torah l’amo Yisrael brucha Hi.
Blessed is the One who dwells in every place.
Blessed is Shechinah.
Blessed is our people’s source of Torah.
Blessed is Yah!
9. Marilyn Bronstein (Montreal, Canada) has been composing and performing Jewish music and chant for the last 30 years. She also uses her chants with her group Numina to accompany the dying through song. For Marilyn, the challenge is to blend Hebrew and English in ways that capture the “contradiction,” or multilayered meaning of the text. She also strives to both expand the tradition and accentuate the depth of the original message. Marilyn has recorded and posted eighteen of her songs with eight other women. atunement.net
Song Background:You are the Truth A song to remind us of "our sublime divinity." This is a perfect song to sing in women's circles but it also works in mixed company to both acknowledge and celebrate the Shekhinah energy in all of us.
You Are The Truth, Marilyn Bronstein
You are the truth
You are the light
You are the beauty
Hidden from sight
The Shechina dwells in thee
So then set her powers free
So that everyone can see
Our sublime divinity
10, Latifa Kropf (Charlottesville, VA) began using more gender neutral and feminine God language during prayer when her daughter was born 35 years ago. It became important to that she not be limited in her connection and perception of God as a melech/king or Adonai/Lord. Latifa has been creating and leading sacred dance for over thirty years. She co-leads the P'nai Yisrael chavurah in Charlottesville, adding dance and movement to services, study, and rites of passage. She has served on the faculty of the Embodying Spirit En-spiriting Body program, the ALEPH Kallah and created materials for children’s dance and adult sacred dance. www.jewishsacreddance.com
Song Background: Yah Akhat Yah Ekhad. The use of "Yah" comes from halleluYah—praise God and many other places such as Isaiah 12:2 ...zimrat yah, song of God, and that saying/singing the word "Yah" is much like breathing. Then, I learned from Rabbi Arthur Waskow the idea that the divine and all that lives are interbreathing to sustain creation, as in the chant, we and Yah are breathing each other into existence. In Return to the Place, Jill Hammer's translation of Sefer Yetzirah she expresses the first sefirah (chapter 1:9) as: “One: Breath of the Living God— She is the Holy Spirit.” The Hebrew terms for Breath and Holy Spirit are feminine, and so from that divine feminine breath comes everything else.
Ya Akhat, Latifa Kropf
Yah Akhat Yah Echad Yah Akhat
Yah Echad Yah Akhat Yah Echad
[You breathe me in, You breathe me out.] 2x
11. Alan Scott Bachman (Salt Lake City, UT) is a musician, songwriter, mystic, and an originator of the band Desert Wind. After a hermit-like research and recording period, he produced a full body of work dedicated to Shekhinah (1993), which resulted in a call from Rabbi Rayzel Raphael who reached out and changed his life and the lives of many others, such as connecting him immediately with Rabbi Sarah Leah Grafstein whose prayer resulted in finding his soulmate, Andalin, within 36 hours! Alan serves as co-spiritual leader for Spirit of the Desert, Phoenix, AZ. www.desertwindmusic.com
Song backround: Sukkat Sh’lomecha combines two elements of traditional liturgy indicating our connection with the Divine Feminine for our protection, success and salvation. The shelter (Sukkah) of the Jews, is like the ritual caves of peoples throughout the world for millennia used for shelter and transformation. It represents the safety and nourishment in the womb of our origin. Our Tallit is our individual Sukkah/Cave/Womb. Even the indestructible Holy One refused to dwell among us without such sanctuary. May we provide it for all sentient beings.
Sukkat Shlomecha, Alan Scott Bachman
Shetashreh Shekhinatecha beineinu, v'tifros aleinu sukkot shlomecha.
You cause Your Shekhinah to reside among us,
Spread over us, Sukkat shlomecha, Shelter of Your Peace.
Ana Hashem hoshiah na.
Ana Hashem hatzlichah na.
Ana Hashem hoshiah na.
12. Marc Labowitz (Davie, FL) deepest spiritual practice is to foster a world in which Freedom, Acceptance and Love are the essence of all paths. He endeavors to do this are through a warm and compassionate approach to his rabbinate at Temple Adath Or, social justice and interfaith activism, and a passion for creating new jewish sacred music. Born into a lineage of rabbis and having been blessed with a joyful, spiritual and loving upbringing, Marc leads with this kavanah. His calling includes creating new, heart-opening, spiritually sweet, often soothing and affirming, deeply God-connected Jewish music. Marc is also an accomplished musician and recording artist. www.TAO.org
MeOlam, Marc Labowitz
MeOlam Hu Shemecha MeOlam Hi Shemeich
Por siempre sera tu nombre Por siempre lo sera.
Forever is Your Presence in me
13. Matia Rania Angelou (Wayland, MA) is a Rabbinic Pastor, Mashpia’ah Ruchanit/Spirituial Director, multi-faith chaplain, and bereavement counselor. A composer of liturgical music, published poet, ritual artist, and healer, Matia is certified in Applied Resonance Therapy and is a SpiritSong Teacher. She combines these skills with Jewish healing practices when she works with clients. Matia serves as a Mikveh Guide and is a member of the Ritual Creation Team at Mayyim Hayyim Community Mikveh and Education Center. She is also a Jewish meditation teacher at Makom Hazon in Wayland, MA.
Song Background: I Know You came to me after a Yechida (Unification) meditation on the various aspects of God. I felt connected to the many ways that God fills my life, and the images poured through as a gift of song. I have used this song to help create sacred space for ritual and meditation at life cycle occasions, during holiday services, and at the mikveh before immersion.
I Know You, Matia Rania Angelou
In a gentle summer rain
I know You –
In my passion and my pain
I know You –
In the joy of every day
In my life in every way
I know You –
O, my God - O, my God
In the melody of song
I know You –
Berries sweet upon my tongue
I know You –
When I see a child's face
Feel Your tenderness and grace
I know You –
O, my God - O, my God
In the thunder of a storm
I know You –
In creation newly born
I know You –
O Shekhina, Adoshem
Rachameima, Holy Name
I know You –
O, my God - O, my God
14. Diane Elliot (El Sobrante, CA) is a dancing, singing, poetry-writing rabbi and teacher who loves to dive into the heart of what matters. Songs and chants float into her awareness at odd moments—while driving in the mountains, soaking in the bathtub, walking down the street, and sometimes inspired by a particular time, place, or person. Diane founded and teaches through Wholly Present, a Center for embodied Jewish spirituality. www.whollypresent.org
Song Background: Ani Khokhmah - I Am Wisdom emerged in consultation with Rabbi Hanna Tiferet Siegel, as part of a special women’s ritual on which they were collaborating, honoring the rabbinic ordination of their friend and colleague, Diane Tiferet Lakein.
Ani Chochma [Proverbs 8:12] © 2017,
Music: Diane Elliot; Lyrics Diane Elliot with Hanna Tiferet Siegel
אֲנִי־חָכְמָה שָׁכַנְתִּי עָרְמָה וְדַעַת מְזִמּוֹת אֶמְצָא:
Ani Hokhmah, shakhanti orma, v’da'at m’zimot emtza.
I dwell within all creation suffusing matter with light.
I open the door to the depths of desire
And arouse reverence for life.
15. Daphna Rosenberg (Zichron Yaacov, Israel) is a singer, guitarist, recording artist, and a main prayer leader in the Nava Tehila community in Jerusalem. Daphna composes new music to traditional prayers and poetry, bringing more healing, joy and love into the world with her music. She specialized in musically leading Circle of Life ceremonies – such as births, Bar/Bat mitzvas and weddings. Daphna is also active in the area of spiritual care for the ill, singing Ana El na in hospitals, hospices and any place in need of healing and creating heart-to-heart connections between people from different cultures and traditions. www.NavaTehila.org
Shiviti, Daphna Rosenberg
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שִׁוִּיתִי הויה לְנֶגְדִּי תָמִיד הויה, אהבה (מבוסס על תהילים ט"ז, ח') |
Shiviti Havayah l'negdi tamid Havayah, Ahava (Based on Psalm 16, 8) |
I have set Havayah always before me. Havayah, Love.
16. Shoshana Litman (Victoria, B.C., Canada) started composing music to facilitate her study of Mussar (Jewish ethics) after learning that original melodies can help practitioners translate ideas into action. She is a Maggidah--professional Jewish sacred storyteller, who now integrates her musical compositions into her stories to help inspire others.
Song Background: Shiviti Shechinah I heard the melody for this song inside words I chant silently within for inspiration while walking. I felt limited, however, by the all-male terms for G*d. Already familiar with the term Shechinah, which I understand as the Divine feminine, I asked an Israeli friend to conjugate the verbs in the chant into the feminine. One day this song came back to me when I saw a sign near Jerusalem's Western Wall that said the “Shechinah has never left the Wall.” "Shiviti Shechinah" is a musical part of my original story, "Jerusalem Walk," that I perform about my experiences in Israel in 2008, the spring I became an ordained maggidah.
Shiviti Shechina, Shoshana Litman
I place G!d before me always,
shiviti Hashem l'negdi tamid.
In all your ways know Him,
b'chol d'rachecha da-eihu.
I place the Presence of G!d before me always,
shiviti Shechina l'negdi tamid.
In all your ways know Her,
b'chol d'ra-chayich d'iha.
So...(repeat 2 more times)
Song Background: Shekhinah (Rhythm of Life) Long before Jewish Mysticism in the middle ages and through contemporary feminist, gender sensitive and inclusive Jewish expressions of spiritual life developed in our day, the idea of “Shekhinah” was formulated in Talmudic literature. Rabbinic thought drew from the biblical verb designating the residence (“shkn”) of God in the portable sanctuary (mishkan) and later temple in Jerusalem and among the Jewish people, referring to a divine manifestation or the Divine presence at a given place and within one’s own soul. As mentioned in the Quran (48:4) and elsewhere, “Sakinah” is the presence or peace of God associated with moments of divine inspiration and in Islamic mysticism signifies an interior spiritual illumination. It is these millennia of evolving ideas that influenced me in composing the words, beat, melody of my embodied experience of the Lifeforce of the world.
Shechinah Rhythm, Shawn Zevit
I wake to the rhythm of the dance
of the indwelling spirit
I move to the rhythm of the dance
of the indwelling spirit
Shechina (4x)
I pray to the rhythm of the dance
Of the indwelling spirit
I play in the rhythm of the dance
of the indwelling spirit
Shechina (4x)
My hands reached out to find you
In the signposts of the times
I came up empty-handed
Until I heard the beat inside
I am born in the rhythm of the dance
of the indwelling spirit
I will die in the rhythm of the dance
of the indwelling spirit
Shechina.....
18. Katie Kaplan (Stamford, CT) is a cantorial soloist, prayer leader, songwriter, choral conductor, and music educator with a passion for spiritual expression. She is the full-time Cantorial Soloist for Temple Beth El in Stamford, CT where she weaves musicianship, spirituality, and creativity together to engage congregants.
Song Background: Song of the Doe The imagery of the Zohar’s Ayelet Hashachar (Doe of the Dawn) inspired me during my first encounter with the mystical text. I loved the feminine doe image of Shechinah who rose before the dawn and brought new life each morning to all creation. This verse of Song of Songs (6.1-2 vs. 10) also contained a metaphor for the dawn that evoked the doe in my mind. When these images united, this song was born. Song of the Doe may best be used to honor or celebrate a woman who “shines through like the dawn,” and lights up the world. This could be a woman of valor, a bride on her wedding day, a Bat Mitzvah, or any other deserving being.
Katie Kaplan, Song of the Doe
Who is she, shining through like the dawn, beautiful as the moon and radiant as the sun?
Who is she, shining through like the dawn, chasing the moon and mirrored by the sun?
When she rises at night,
She gathers to her side all who abound in this world.
Approaching the dawn, her glory shines on and on.
Hanishkafa k’mo shachar
Yafa chal’vana
Hanishkafa k’mo shachar
Bara kachama
Who am I (optional pronoun change),. . . shining through like the dawn,
Beautiful as the moon and radiant as the sun?
Who am I shining through like the dawn, chasing the moon and mirrored by the sun?
19. Hanna Tiferet Siegel (Victoria, BC Canada) Hanna Tiferet is a poet and mystic through whom song and inspiration flow. She has been planting the seeds of Jewish Renewal since the late ‘60s through new music, liturgical innovation and attunement to Mother Earth and the Divine Feminine. With compassion and the wisdom of experience, she guides people to the heart of their souls and delights in co-creating the sacred circle of community. HannaTiferet.com
Song Background: Olamama was inspired by a fortuitous situation in which I realized that I had received a new name for the “Mother of the World.” The joyful, child-friendly love song for the Earth flowed from this name for Gaia.
Olamama, Hanna Tiferet
Olamama Olamama, I love you so.
Olamama Olamama, just wanna let you know.
Olamama Olamama, you bless my soul.
You’re the Mother of All
Spring, Winter, Summer, and Fall
I love you so.
I love to run through a field where the wildflowers grow,
To swim in a lake and to slide on the snow,
To drink the sweet water that flows in a stream,
Oh how you bless me.
I love the wind that blows through the trees in a storm,
Lying on a beach in the sand when it’s warm,
The whales and dolphins that dive in the sea,
Oh how you bless me. Chorus...
I love the chirp of a cricket, the “ribbet” of frogs,
The purr of a cat and the barking of dogs,
The quiet of rabbits, the buzzing of bees,
Oh how you bless me.
I love snakes and lizards, coyotes and bears.
I have to admit that I really get scared.
But I know we are all part of one family,
Oh how you bless me. Chorus...
I love the sound of the rain as it falls on my roof
And the magic of rainbows that always bring proof
That behind every cloud You shine radiantly,
Oh how You bless me.
I love to get up real early and see the sun rise,
Or stay up so late the moon closes my eyes,
To wish on a star for the things that I dream,
Oh how you bless me. Chorus...
I love to feel my feelings, the good and the bad.
Sometimes I’m happy, sometimes I’m sad.
That’s how I learn who I am, what I need,
Oh how you bless me.
I love the gift of this world. How you bless everyone
With the air we breathe and the light of the sun.
I’ll take good care of the Earth and good care of me too,
That’s how I bless you! Chorus...
20. Kirtan Rabbi (Northampton, MA) Andrew Hahn is a rabbi known both the Kirtan Rabbi and—depending upon which phone booth he exits—as the Tai Chi Rabbi. He has pioneered his own form of Kirtan in the Jewish world, crisscrossing the globe to offer communal call-and-response chant concerts and meditation seminars. Andrew has been teaching tai chi and related arts for decades. In workshops, he combines chant, movement, meditation and text study for a positive, holistic experience. Andrew serves on the Clal: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership in New York, where he founded the not-for-profit Kirtan Rabbi Prayer Initiative. www.kirtanrabbi.com
Song Background: Havayah In Hebrew, we have a four-letter name for God, YHWH. Tradition purposefully left the vowels unknown to us, unpronounceable. A Medieval practice emerged to rearrange and permutate these consonants in all possible ways including all of the vowel possibilities. By so uttering and intoning the Name, one whips oneself up into an out-of-body experience which results in direct cleaving to God (devekut). Havayah-HWYH – is a permutation. You could translate the word as “being” or “existence,” and I take it to be a feminine divine name. For this reason, I changed the well-known second motif to: Baruch Shem k’vod malchuta l’olam vo-edBlessed is the Name, the Glory of Her Queendom is forever. [Note the Havayah CD recording features vocal solos by Aliza Hava, Emily Stern and Shir Yaakov Feit.]
HAVAYAH (cf. Exodus 3:14) —Kirtan Rabbi Andrew Hahn
Havayah, Eheyeh Asher Eheyeh • Baruch Shem K’vod Malchuta l’olam voed
הֲוָיָה אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה •
בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתָהּ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
I am/was/will be what I am/was/will be •
Praised be the Divine Name, the Glory of Her Dominion is forever!
21. Yael Kanarek (New York, NY) focuses on the welding of language and form. Born in New York and raised in Israel where the patriarchal nature of Torah proved alienating from Judaism, she has since become an active student of Kabbalah in the lineage of Ashlag and learns with Rabba Saphir Noyman Eyal of Mishkan Hakavana “I am not a “follower, for I can only engage as an artist by creating, creation is the conversation.”Widely exhibited, Yael works in media such as internet art, sculpture, print, fine jewelry, and sacred text. Yael’s current project called Toratah can be accessed for the study and ritual of the Regendered Bible through her website programming. www.BeitToratah.org
22. Shlomit Levi (City, New Jersey) grew up surrounded by the culture of her ancestral home, Yemen, and has mastered the craft of Yemenite singing. She introduced a 400-year old Yemenite chant --“Sapari”--to the Israeli, oriental, metal band Orphaned Land and tnow ours with them, as well as with the world music producer and recording artist, RebbeSoul. These fusions of styles result in exciting new Jewish musical forms. Shlomit also tours as a teacher of Yemenite music. Shlomitlevi.com
Genesis בראשית
From the Regendered Bible by Yael Kanarek
Composed by Shlomit Levi, Produced by RebbeSoul
בראשית בראה אלוהין את השמיים ואת הארץ
In the beginning she created the heaven and the earth
And the earth was void and without form
and darkness was upon the world
והארץ הייתה תוהו ובוהו וחושך על פני תהום
∞
And the spirit of Elohin hovered on the waters
on the waters
And then she said
“Let there be light!”
And there was light
And there was light
!ויהי אור
בראשית בראה אלוהין את השמיים
And not visible on this concert, yet hard at work:
Sarah M. Ross (Hannover, Germany) Sarah M. Ross is a co-founder of the Adding Our Voices Songbook and Gender-Inclusion Initiative and project Jewish musicologist. She is a professor of Jewish Music Studies and Director of the European Center for Jewish at Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media, Germany. Sarah is the author of "A Season of Singing: Creating Feminist Jewish Music in the United States (Brandeis University Press, 2016) and author and editor of "Jüdisches Kulturerbe im Prisma der Zeit. Überlegungen zu einer kulturellen Nachhaltigkeit am Beispiel Jüdische Musik" (Jewish cultural heritage in the prism of time), Reflections on Jewish music and cultural sustainability (Peter Lang 2020) and co-editor of "Cultural Mapping and Musical Diversity" (Equinox, 2020) as well as "Judaism and Emotion: Texts, Performance, Experience" (Peter Lang 2013). www.ezjm.hmtm-hannover.de/en/the-ezjm/persons-to-contact/prof-dr-sarah-m-ross/
MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THE NEXT CONCERT SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 2PM Eastern Standard Time. Registration Link Coming Soon!
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!
