Adding Our Voices: Original Jewish Feminist Shavuot Music Concert, Artists Bios, Lyrics, and Websites

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 order of the concert and the concert chat with performer bios and lyrics and links to their discographies and programs and projects are below:

 

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 [3]

 

 

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 [4]

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 [5]

 

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 [6]

Facebook: Ellen Allard Music https://www.facebook.com/ellenallardmusic [7]

Ellen's Facebook Group - Music Teachers Rock 

Instagram: Ellen Allard Music:  https://www.instagram.com/ellenallardmusic [8] 

YouTube: Ellen Allard: https://www.youtube.com/ellenallard [9]

Twitter: Ellen Loves Music https://twitter.com/ellenlovesmusic [10] 

LinkedIn: Ellen Allard https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenallard [11]
Facebook: Gluten Free Diva https://www.facebook.com/glutenfreediva [12] 

Facebook Group - Gluten Free Diva In The Kitchen https://www.facebook.com/groups/GlutenFreeDivaInTheKitchen/ [13]

 

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.

www.elizabethsternlieb.com [14]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR6Z3CttsSsH1dd2eNMubIw [15]

 

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 [16]

 

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/ [17]

Learn about Kohenet: http://www.kohenet.com/ [18]

Support the making of Shoshana Jedwab’s second album: 

https://www.paypal.me/shoshanajedwabmusic [19]

Connect: www.shoshanajedwab.com [16]

 

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 [20]

 

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. 

www.myrnarabinowitz.com [21]

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.

 

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

 

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 [22]

 

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.

 

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

 

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 [23]

 

 

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.

 

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/ [24]

 

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 [25]

 

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 SONG |Laych-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.