1. Orit Perlman, "Wana Feda Lumi" (DAUGHTER/MOTHER GRATITUDE)
Orit Perlman (Haifa, Israel): is a cantorial soloist, prayer leader, singer, songwriter, song collector, poet and potter based in Haifa Israel. For the past seven years she has served as a high holiday cantor in reform congregation Beth Hillel in Kenosha Wisconsin. She has recorded her original compositions, which have been anthologized and chosen for “Shalshelet” festivals, and also recorded in Yiddish. 15 years ago, she joined Ladino ethno-musicologist Dr. Susana Weich Shahak, and together they have given lectures and performances around Israel as well as created four Ladino CDs from Saloniki, Tetuan, Izmir and Bulgaria. Orit recreates by listening to field recordings, embodying the memories of the many grandmothers who shared their songs. She created the performance “Shirat Hamamot,” women’s folk song from around the world connected by Stories. She offers teachings of Jewish women’s song particularly of the panorama of Ladino genres spanning from North Africa to the Balkans.
http://oritperlman.bandcamp.com [3]
www.oritperlman.com [4]
www.oritperlman-ladino.com [5]
orit.perlman@gmail.com [6]
Wana Feda Lumi
Traditional Yemenite women's song of thanks
from daughter to mother
Wana feda lumi di bananat’ni 2x
Umashadat jadi wedahanat’ni
Wana feda lumi wal’um’ janna
Ya sagi ya chad’ra ya ma-uza al’ma 2x
Translation
I would give my life for my mother,
for she has cared for me.
She has combed my hair and oiled it.
I would give my life for my mother,
and my mother is Eden.
She irrigates the green plants
and gives water to the thirsty.
2. Elyse Goldstein, “Ordination Blues” (INACCESSIBLE RITE OF PASSAGE)
Elyse Goldstein (Toronto, ON Canada) has been a glass-ceiling-breaker in the Canadian Jewish community since 1983. Elyse began writing feminist music with the Rebel Maidels in the 1980’s to document the momentous changes going on around her, and then moved her focus to writing feminist Torah commentaries, which she has traveled the world teaching. She co-wrote a show about being a female rabbi, along with a minister and priest, called The Clergy Project which played to sold-out theaters in Toronto. And Elyse even spent 6 months on the Toronto interfaith curling team, The Frozen Chosen. Seriously. She is the first woman to be elected as president of the interdenominational Toronto Board of Rabbis. Elyse founded Kolel:The Center for Liberal Jewish Learning (1991) from which she retired to found and serve as rabbi for City Shul. She is also a widely published Jewish feminist author. www.cityshul.com [7]
Ordination Blues
Chorus
I got those sacred pains, ain’t it a shame,
I wanna be ordained blues
They say that rabbis all have beards
They say that rabbis all talk low
They say that rabbis bring out tears
They look at me, then they all say ‘no.’ Chorus
Walkin’ down a hundred and tenth street
Lookin’ for a school that’ll take me in
They say, “We’ll let you start your studies,
But to give you ordination would be a sin.” Chorus
But we go to school, follow all their rules
Don’t bitch, don’t snitch, don’t ever cry
Learned the cases, kissed the right places
Lookin’ for a job? They just pass us by. Chorus
Not tall enough, not old enough,
If I’m dressin’ down, I’m not bold enough.
If I’m talkin’ loud, I’m not soft enough.
I guess I’m just made of the female stuff. Chorus
The men in school all try and act cool
“Oh, we’re not threatened, we don’t wanna fight;
We like our women equal in shu.l”
But just try and get a date on a Saturday night. Chorus
Sittin’ in a bar, not gettin’ very far
The guy next to me says, “Whada you do?”
I tell him the truth, aw, hell—what’s the use?
He looks at me, says, “You got a screw loose?” Chorus
And if we’re paired, and we seem to care,
There’s always one question that we know we’ll hear.
So call him ‘Rebbetzin,’ it ain’t no sin.
It’s a burden our husbands will have to bear. Chorus
What sect you’re in doesn’t matter much.
They say, “Give us time, we still need to see.”
But we know that change ain’t in a rush
As long as he who does the teaching
And he who does the preaching
And he who names the child
And he who knows the Bible
And he who runs the schools
And he who writes the rules
And he who calls the hour
And he who holds the power
Is a she! Chorus
3. Nancy S. Abraham, “Mother’s Prayer” (Covenanting, Healing)
Nancy S. Abraham (White Plains, NY) A deep well of tunes and accompanying poems and prayers began to reveal itself under special life circumstances of profound, unconditional love. My melodies ‘come through me’ complete, as if they have been within me all along. I most love to share and teach them in an intimate healing service or at a lively Shabbat table, settings most natural to these songs which resemble 18th century-Chassidic niggunim. Beautiful tears and joy are responses expressed by friends and strangers alike.
Mother’s Prayer
My mother’s prayer,
My very own mother’s prayer;
Our Chana’s prayer,
Our ancient mother, Chana’s prayer,
Both entreaties from within
For the sake of their children.
From my mother’s outpouring,
From our Chana’s imploring,
We learn the power
Of a deeply prayerful ardor,
‘Though neither was aware
Of such incising on our hearts,
‘Though neither was aware
Of such incising on my heart,
‘Though my mother does not know
Of such incising on my heart,
‘Though Chana cannot know
Of such incising on our hearts.
4. Tracy Friend, "Zot Dodati v'Zot Rayati" (LESBIAN WEDDING)
Tracy Friend (Northbrook, IL) is a Jewish singer/songwriter who began composing at summer camp in the 1970s, where she experienced alternative forms of worship and discovered the power of expressing prayer through music. Whether writing original melodies for ancient prayers or modern interpretations of biblical text, Tracy tries to connect the rich history of the words and stories to the world of today. She has written a variety of music over the years, including composing the score for "Love in the Catskills," a Jewish musical comedy produced in the Chicago area in 1999. She is the former President of Congregation B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim (Deerfield, IL) where she provides music for the weekly Kol Shabbat service on Saturday mornings and sings with the T’filah Band one Friday night each month. www.tracyfriendmusic.com [8]
Zot Dodati V’zot Rayati
(This is my beloved, and this is my friend)
As we travel through the path of life,
You put your hand in mine.
Together we will face the world,
United for all time.
As we gather all our friends to see
This miracle come true,
It’s plain to see I want to spend
My life with no one else but you.
A love that’s wider than the ocean,
Deeper than the sea,
Is what we have between us.
Zot dodati v’zot ra-yati.
As we stand before Adonai, our God,
We join each other’s heart.
With vows of love and faithfulness,
We’re making a new start.
As we think of all that’s come before
And brought us to this day,
Our voices rise as one,
And in the heavens they can hear us say:
Our love will last as long
As you and I will ever be,
For what we have is timeless.
Zot dodati v’zot ra-yati.
Bridge
And what lies ahead of us,
A future we don’t know.
But one thing I’m sure about,
As we face the future,
It’s together we will grow.
Today we start a journey,
Like the rising of the sun.
You put your hand in mine;
In this, our lives, we are as one.
And leaving here together,
We are stronger than before.
The blessing God has given us
We’ll share for now and evermore.
A love that’s wider than the ocean,
For eternity,
Is what we have between us.
Zot dodati v’zot ra-yati.
A love that lasts as long
As you and I will ever be.
My friend and my beloved,
Zot dodati v’zot ra-yati.
5. Suri Krieger “Bat Adama - Kol Shi-reha” (MOTHER-DAUGHTER)
Suri Krieger (Westborough, MA) develops musical compositions that are an outgrowth of both personal and rabbinic experience. Musical expression is integral to her spiritual leadership, which is currently with the community of B’nai Or of Greater Boston.www.rabbisuri.com [9]
Bat Adama - Kol Shi-reha
Hayo haya pa-am k’shehayiti bat isha.
Shachavti b’cheika, v’karati lah Ima.
Hayo, haya, ehye 2x
Bat adama.
Haya pa-am b’chayai k’shehirgashti b’yadai,
V’lo hikarti balev.
Az pagashti ye-ush, v’heivanti peirush,
K’she-imi, ach, eize k’eiv.
Chorus
Kol shi-reha pa-amoneha,
Ani shoma-at bachasheicha.
Mabat eineh or chiycheha,
Ani ro-a bal’vana.
Az haya ba-adama af tipa shel ahava,
V’ha-geshem yarad lashav.
V’imi natna yadah,
V’tzamcha hashoshana,
V’harei-ach nish-ar ad hastav. Chorus
Bat adama, bat adama
Translation
It was once upon a time that I was the daughter of a woman.
I lay in her lap and called her “Ima” (Mother).
It is, it was, it will be that I am a Daughter of the Earth.
There was a time when I could feel, only with my hands,
but then I encountered despair.
And I understood . . . when my Mother . . . oh, what pain.
Chorus
The voice/All** of her songs, her bell tones,
I hear in the darkness.
The gleam of her eyes, the light of her smile,
I see in the moon.
Then there was in the earth only a drop of love,
and the rains came down for naught.
And Ima placed her hands, and the Rose flourished,
and the fragrance lasted through the autumn.
Chorus
** Hebrew for Kol = Voice (spelled with a ק kuf)
= All (spelled with a כּ kaf)
6. Betsy Combs, “Batya” (NAMES/NAMING)
Betsy Combs. “In 1982, I met David Shneyer and worked with him in setting up the first D.C. Jewish Folk Arts Festival. After that my music turned more to Jewish themes. When I became a cancer patient at the age of 42, I joined a support group for people healing via macrobiotic diet. Many of those people recovered and many died. I wrote songs of healing and songs of grieving. Often I would put myself in the psychology of a certain person and write as if I were that person, putting their experiences into songs. Also, in my 40’s, I began a deep study of Kabbalah, and many of my songs reflect Kabbalistic imagery. Some also reflect verses from Psalms. I was born on an army airbase hospital in Fairfield, Ohio where Nazi doctors were among the scientists the US government had brought. Radiation experiments were conducted on babies born on the base, affecting our entire lives. Spirituality and the expressive elements of lyrics and music became very important in my life and work.
Batya by Betsy Combs
Alexander Massey performing for Batya
Alexander Massey (Oxford, UK) is a solo singer of classical, opera, folk, jazz, and world music, a recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, teacher, voice expert, and writer. He has performed in major venues around Britain, Europe and the USA, and also sings in a duo with the violinist David Roth from the Allegri Quartet; he still considers himself primarily a sacred musician. He regularly leads music and services for both the Oxford Progressive Jewish Community, and the London Ruach Chavurah (a Jewish Renewal community), is an experienced cantorial soloist and leads b’rit shalom and marriage blessings. His Jewish sacred music compositions, instrumental music and arrangements of Yiddish folksongs are used in communities across the UK, France, Germany and the USA. Alexander is also the co-founder of Tacpac, a set of resources and trainings using music and touch for people with sensory impairment and complex learning difficulties.
Batya
Oh sleeping child,
Let me sit with you a while;
Try to remember where we’re going to.
I’m often tired,
And can’t remember when
I knew what your name was,
And I sang your tune.
But maybe a reverie
Can take me forward and not back,
Child of my reverie, Batya.
Oh sleeping woman,
Let me sit with you a while;
Try to remember where we’re going to.
I’m often tired,
And can’t remember when
I knew what your name was,
And I sang your tune.
But maybe a reverie
Can take me forward and not back,
Child of my reverie, Batya.
Oh restless spirit,
Let me sit with you a while;
Try to remember where we’re going to.
I’m often tired, and can’t remember when
I knew what your name was,
And I sang your tune.
But maybe a reverie
Can take me forward and not back,
Child of my reverie, Batya.
Oh ageless prayer,
Let me sit with you a while,
Try to remember where we’re going to.
Rocking myself,
I can now remember
When I knew what my name was,
And I sang its tune.
So maybe a reverie
Can take me forward and not back,
Child of my reverie, Batya.
7. Margot Stein, “Weaning Song” (WEANING)
Margot L. Stein (Bala Cynwd, PA) is a rabbi, marital and family therapist, singer, songwriter, recording artist, and a special needs consultant, Jewish educator, and curriculum specialist. She served on the founding committee for the Jewish Women’s Studies Project at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, the first such initiative at any institution of higher learning, and then on Kolot: Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies. Margot composes and sings with the a Cappella trio MIRAJ and also co-founded the troupes Shabbat Unplugged and Tof b’Yadah. Her musical play, Guarding the Garden, toured North America for four seasons. She has recorded and co-produced seven albums of original Jewish music
Weaning Song
Sarah laughed and said,
"Shall I bear a son in my old age?"
And Sarah laughed and said,
"Anyone else would be afraid!"
To her joy she had her boy,
And he was weaned.
Chorus
Then she let go so love could flow.
She let go so they could both grow
Yocheved cried and thought,
"My son will die among the reeds!"
Yocheved cried when she was
Paid her wages to meet his needs.
She did it since he'd be a prince
When he was weaned Chorus
Chana prayed, “My Lord!
I'd give anything for a little one."
And Chana prayed, "My Lord!"
And she was blessed with an only son.
But the price was high
For she said goodbye
When he was weaned Chorus
Naomi sighed when Ruth gave birth
To her dead son's sole heir.
Naomi sighed, some say
She tried to nurse him herself right there.
The stories end, but the lives go on.
Nursing stops, but not the bond.
Sarah laughed, Yocheved cried,
Chana prayed, Naomi sighed
At what their bodies took in stride.
Then they all let go
so love could flow.
8. Batya Diamond, “Miriam’s Moon” (MENSES)
Batya Diamond (Norwalk, CT/Vineyard Haven, MA, USA) is a kohenet, singer/songwriter, spiritual leader, educator, and activist. She offers original songs and inspirational “shiviti” chants to help folks discover and deepen their personal relationship with SOURCE; her music weaves ancient wisdom, resonant melodies and lyrics in English and Hebrew. Intimacy with both languages allows Batya to uncover hidden meanings and to dive deeply into mystical interconnectedness. Founder of the Wilton (CT) Jewish Center, Batya officiates at community services and private rituals, leads women’s seders, facilitates healing and new moon circles, and teaches from Aleph-Bet to Zohar.
www.Batyadiamond.com [10]
ebatya@gmail.com
Miriam’s Moon by Batya Diamond
Miriam’s moon moves through the night. /
She bathes me in blessings; I swim in her light. / 2x
She waxes and wanes
In her darkness, no pain,
But a deep well of wellness where I can let go,
Open to the flow.
Oo....
9. Alexander Massey, "B’rucha Haba’a/Blessed Is She" (BABY GIRL BLESSING)
Alexander Massey (Oxford, UK) is a solo singer of classical, opera, folk, jazz, and world music, a recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, teacher, voice expert, and writer. He has performed in major venues around Britain, Europe and the USA, and also sings in a duo with the violinist David Roth from the Allegri Quartet; he still considers himself primarily a sacred musician. He regularly leads music and services for both the Oxford Progressive Jewish Community, and the London Ruach Chavurah (a Jewish Renewal community), is an experienced cantorial soloist and leads b’rit shalom and marriage blessings. His Jewish sacred music compositions, instrumental music and arrangements of Yiddish folksongs are used in communities across the UK, France, Germany and the USA. Alexander is also the co-founder of Tacpac, a set of resources and trainings using music and touch for people with sensory impairment and complex learning difficulties.
www.alexandermassey.com [11]
www.oxfordsinginglessons.co.uk [12]
www.oxfordsongwriting.com [13]
www.authenticvoice.co.uk [14]
alexander@alexandermassey.com
B’rucha Haba-a – Blessed is She
Text: adapted from Ps 118:26; Song of Songs 6:10
B’rucha hab-a b’sheim Havayah 2x
Mi zot hanishkafa k’mo shachar,
Yafa chal’vana, bara kachama?
B’rucha hab-a b’sheim Havayah 2x
Translation
Blessed is she who comes in the name of Havayah / Becoming.
Who is she who shines through like the dawn,
beautiful as the moon, radiant as the sun?
10. Sariel Beckenstein, “T'fila Atika” (GAY WEDDING)
Sariel Beckenstein (Tel Aviv, Israel) a resident of New York City since 1985, has been composing since the age of 18. His professional acting debut was in Fiddler on the Roof with the Cape Town Opera Company in 1984. He can be heard on the soundtrack of the DreamWorks feature film, The Prince of Egypt. Sariel has performed his one-man musical biography, The Songs That I Shlepped, in Israel and New York. He has served as cantorial soloist at congregations Beth Simchat Torah in Manhattan, and Tehillah in Riverdale, New York. Sariel’s passion for the music of Israel has led him to perform with lyricists Yoram Tehar Lev and Ehud Manor, and at recent tributes to Manor, Naomi Shemer, and Uzi Hitman. He is well known as an Israeli dance leader and teacher and has been performing at weddings and other simchas since 1998.
www.returntoself.net [15]
sarielbeckenstein@gmail.com
T'fila Atika
Lyrics: Based on 6th Wedding Blessing, I Samuel, Ruth 1:16
Like David and Jonathan,
Like Ruth and Naomi,
Please bring happiness and joy
To these loving mates.
Spread Your blessings
As this gay couple states.
They are here with lifelong covenant
And You to consecrate.
God, preserve their love
To the eternal door
Like the love for your children
From now till evermore.
Samei-ach t’samach re-im ha-ahuvim,
K’David v’Yonatan ha-ne-ehavim.
P’ros birchotecha al zug ha-ge-im
Haba-im l’fanecha bivrit olamim.
Et ahavateinu la-netzach tishmor,
K’ahavat banecha midor l’dor.
Samei-ach t’samach re-ot ha-ahuvot,
K’Rut v’Naomi, hen lo nifradot.
Rut el Noami amra, “At lo t’hi l’vad,
Ki ba-asher telchi elech l’olmei ad.”
Et ahavateinu la-netzach tishmor
K’ahavat b’notecha midor l’dor.
11. Shoshana Jedwab, "I Remember" (MEMORIAL)
Shoshana Jedwab. (New York, NY USA) As a child, Shoshana would drum on parked cars, plates, tables, books, and other people's bodies. She is a performing and recording artist, percussionist, singer-songwriter, worship leader, and award-winning Jewish educator. She crafts her hip-shaking sacred music to reboot liturgy in feminist and embodied ways. Shoshana’s music brings the ancestral past into joyous contemporary practice. Shoshana trained in bibliodrama and Storahtelling's Maven Method. She co-creates ritual experience and embodied prayer for Romemu, Kohenet, Kirtan Rabbi, Lab/Shul, Hazon, Hebrew schools, retreats and earth-based communities. Many of her songs emerged from ceremonies she was leading and are now being sung, and danced to, in churches, synagogues, weddings, and protest marches. Shoshana was the founding leader of the JCC’s Makom Drum Circle. She also gives concerts, leads worship and drum circles, and teaches and drums for the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute. She has played hand drums for artists, poets, playwrights, activists and ritualists such as Debbie Friedman, Shefa Gold, Chana Rothman, Shir Yaakov, Darshan, and Isabella Freedman Retreat Center.
www.shoshanajedwab.com [16]
shoshana.jedwab@gmail.com
I Remember
Hebrew Text: Jeremiah 2:2
Zacharti lach, chesed n’ura-yich,
Ahavat k’lulotayich.
I remember your love and your kindness,
When you walked with me
Through desert wildness.
I remember 6x
I remember you.
Lechteich acharai bamidbar
Lechteich acharai b’eretz lo z’rua
How you walked with me,
Walked with me 2x
How you walked with me
When you were young and free.
How you walked with me,
Walked with me 2x
How you walked with me
Through the sand and sea.
12. Geela Rayzel Raphael, Simchat Chochma (CRONING)
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 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.
www.Shechinah.com [17]
rrayzel@shechinah.com [18]
Simchat Chochma
Simchat, simchat chochma,
Chochmat isha hayom.
Simchat, simchat chochma
Praise the wisdom of the crone!
Sela! Celebrating,
Celebrating our age
Mentor, Teacher, Beauty,
Honor the power of the sage!
13. Carol Boyd Leon, "May They Be for a Blessing" (MEMORIAL)
Carol Boyd Leon (Fairfax, VA, USA) is a professional musician who shares the joy of music with almost everyone she meets. Her clear, loving voice invites students, congregants, and audiences to sing with her. Carol's original compositions are noted for their easy-to-sing, memorable melodies. They've been sung in religious services, concerts, and classrooms around the world. Carol’s enthusiasm for her work—songwriter/composer, performer and recording artist, choir director, song leader, and service leader—is apparent to all who know her.
www.carolboydleon.com
cboydleon@gmail.com
May They Be for a Blessing
There are people who make a diff’rence
In the world that we live in,
And then when their time in
Our world is done,
There’s a flame that glows forever
In the hearts of those who love them,
With a light that shines as brightly as the sun.
Chorus
May their mem’ries be for a blessing,
Always there with us day after day.
Zichronah livracha, zichronah livracha.
Loving bonds between us will forever stay.
Lyrics repeat (time signature changes)
14. Abbe Lyons, “Jewish Lesbian” (BEING/COMING OUT)
www.abbelyons.com [19]
Jewish Lesbian, by Abbe Lyons (BEING/COMING OUT)
Hey, look at me!
Do you know who I am?
Look at all of me,
I’m a Jewish lesbian.
And I’m longing for the day
When I can openly and fearlessly stand
As I am.
If you do not know of my life,
You owe it to yourself to learn.
If you don’t know the beauty and the pain,
You owe it to yourself to learn.
Jewish lesbian:
Two fires that within me burn.
Two strong blocks that build my foundation,
Two stones that are hurled at me,
Two hands pulling me in diff’rent directions,
Two things I’m glad to be,
But you cannot tear me apart,
I am one woman.
Instead of tearing me apart,
Come and embrace me as I am.
Don’t pretend I’m only part.
Rejoice in all of me.
I’m a new kinda woman
From an old kinda family.
Hey, look at me!
Do you know who I am?
Look at all of me,
I’m a Jewish lesbian.
And I’m longing for the day
When I can openly and fearlessly stand
As I am.
15. Beth Hamon, “Daughter of Mine” (INFERTILITY)
https://bethhamon.bandcamp.com/ [20]
Beth Hamon (Portland, OR) is a creative autodidact whose songs straddle the fuzzy line between Jewish and secular themes of justice, hope, renewal and love. Her four albums are about life as experienced through an American-Jewish lens. Beth is a professional music educator, composer, performing artist- and educator-in-residence and cantorial soloist at synagogues, community centers and coffeehouses across the United States. She is also frequently engaged as a studio percussionist and drummer for other Jewish artists. Beth is also a visual artist whose folk-art Judaica (made from recycled bicycle components) is in the permanent collection of the Yeshiva University Museum in New York.
Daughter of Mine
Intro
Like Hannah, leaning at the wall,
Lips move, no sound comes at all.
People passing think I'm drunk,
Or just a basket case.
A million babies in the world,
Can't You save me just one?
I'm waiting for you to show me
Some of Your storied grace.
Daughter of mine,
I would rock you to sleep
And sing you songs
To keep your dreaming only sweet.
Daughter of mine,
I would hold your hand
While you learned to stand
Upon your own two feet.
Chorus
Oh, daughter of mine,
If you were only mine,
I'd love and I'd keep you safe
For as long as I could.
Oh, daughter of mine,
If you were only mine,
I'd hold you here within my heart
Until the end of time.
Daughter of mine,
I would wipe away your tears
When your first kiss walked out the door
And took your heart along.
Daughter of mine,
I would help you face your fears,
Show you where to find some courage,
Teach you how to be strong. Chorus
Break
Many days I prayed that you might come my way,
And many nights I'd fall asleep on a pillow wet with tears.
But with each passing year, the truth became more clear,
Because sometimes silence is the only answer.
Daughter of mine,
You were not meant to be.
Life has given me another task,
And places I must see.
Daughter of mine,
I must say goodnight for now,
And hope you'll hear sweet lullabies
In another's arms somehow. Chorus
16. Sylvia F. Goldstein, “Our Cantor” (HONORING FEMALE CANTOR)
Sylvia F. Goldstein brings a classical music background and love for and knowledge of Jewish music to her compositions. A pianist, composer, teacher and lecturer, Sylvia has served as director of temple music and JCC choirs, chaired the Piano Department of the Hartford Conservatory of Music, taught classical piano and theory, and instructed classes at Hartford and Tunxis community colleges. She is a long-time performer as a piano soloist, accompanist and member of chamber music ensembles. An award-winning compoSylvia's liturgical and secular compositions for voice and piano - and occasionally cello, flute and other instruments - have been featured in Shalshelet Festivals, the Annual Women Composers Festival of Hartford, Musical Club programs and other concerts. Her pieces have been published in four anthologies by Transcontinental Music Publication), and her Chanukah Oratorio “Who Can Retell?” has aired for over 30 years on West Hartford Community Television.
Our Cantor
Aviva Rosenbloom performing for Sylvia
Chorus
Our cantor is a leader,
A counselor, and more,
A teacher and a scholar,
A Shlichat tzibur.
Our cantor is a speaker,
A volunteer and more,
A singer and conductor,
A Shlichat tzibur!
She teaches all the children
The study of Torah,
Preparing them so carefully
For Bat or Bar Mitzva.
And when they study prayer,
She senses their concern,
And patiently explains to them
All the texts they learn. Chorus
In time of loss or sorrow,
For us she will be there
To read a psalm or chant a hymn
Or lead a poignant prayer.
She hums and shares a smile
Or cries and sheds a tear.
We never are alone;
She helps to calm our fear.
Chorus
Our cantor is a leader,
A counselor, and more,
A teacher and a scholar,
A Shlichat tzibur.
Our cantor is a speaker,
A volunteer and more,
A singer and conductor,
A Shlichat tzibur!
17. Goldie Mara Milgram, N'shima N'shama (TRANSITIONS OF THE SOUL)
www.ReclaimingJudaism.org [21]
rebgoldie@gmail.com [22]
N’shima, N’shama (breath, soul)
N’shima, n’shama 2x
I breathe in, my life begins.
I breathe out, my soul travels on.
Goldie Mara Milgram (Sarasota, FL) is co-founder of the Adding Our Voices Jewish Feminist Music Initiative. She travels the world as a rabbi, social justice activist, public speaker, multimedia artist, and award-winning author and innovator in the fields of Jewish ethics and experiential learning and Jewish spiritual guidance and education. After long-serving as an innovative Jewish Federation executive and journalist, at the turn of the 20th Century, as a rabbinical student, Goldie became the founding chair of the first Jewish women's studies initiative at any institution of higher learning, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and Co-Dean of the Academy for Jewish Religion shortly thereafter. She is also the founder and head of the non-profit Reclaiming Judaism and its subsidiary Reclaiming Judaism Multimedia Press.
18. Elaine Moise, “Invocation of Shechinah” (traditional WEDDING WITH FEMININE GOD LANGUAGE, VERSE OPTIONS INCLUDED FOR ADDITIONAL GENDERS)
Elaine Moise (Mountain View, CA) has been involved in Jewish women's rituals since the late '70's, when she wrote her first Rosh Hodesh service. She has written songs and liturgy, and sung and played keyboard for The Klezmakers. She founded and has sung for and served as president of Keddem Congregation in Palo Alto, CA. She is the co-author of a feminist haggadah with Rebecca Schwartz in which the traditional Passover symbols appear and are experienced and interpreted with a feminist understanding of life, history and the earth. Elaine has also created several English haftarah translations, written to be chanted to the trope of the original Hebrew. Because making a living is also good, she works as a systems analyst in administrative computing at Stanford University.
Invocation of Shechinah
Shekhina, Shekhina, shichni b’libeinu. 2x
Simi aleinu sh’lomeich.
Har-i aleinu ahavateich.
Pirsi aleinu birkateich;
Barchi et he-chatan v’ha-kala.
Shekhina, Shekhina, shichni b’libeinu, b’libeinu.
Translation
Divine Presence, be present in our hearts.
Grant us Your peace.
Show us Your love.
Cover us with Your blessing;
Bless this bridegroom and this bride.
For non-heterosexual weddings, the wording “barchi et he-chatan v’hakala” can be changed to any of the following, or whatever else works for a particular situation:
For two women
...barchi et hakala v’hakala bless this bride and this bride
...barchi et hakalah v’kalatah bless this bride and her bride
For two men
...barchi et he-chatan v’he-chatan bless this groom and this groom
...barchi et he-chatan v’chatano bless this groom and his groom
For a couple for whom none of the above are comfortable
...barchi et ha-rei-im ha-ahuvim bless these loving companions
19. Bryce Emily Megdal, “Bat Mitzva Prayer--Shehecheyatnu” (BAT MITZVAH)
Bryce Emily Megdal is a cantor, passionate songwriter of Jewish music, Jewish educator, and advocate for self-expression. She serves at the Congregation of Reform Judaism in Orlando, FL. Bryce loves the Hebrew language and Jewish music, and she hopes her enthusiasm for them both encourages others’ shared enthusiasm.
bemegdal@gmail.com
Bat Mitzva Prayer--Shehecheyatnu
Intro
Today is the day you start a new chapter.
Many before you, and many will come after.
L’dor vador, it is your turn
To embrace your place,
To share what you have learned.
But before we let you go,
We want you to know:
We wish you love.
We wish you strength.
We wish you confidence
For the risks you take.
We hope and pray
For your success.
Know we are here
When you are stressed.
Chorus
Shehecheyatnu, v’kiy’matnu, v’higi-atnu lazman ha-ze.
Thank you, God, for bringing us
To this moment, filled with joy.
We wish you wisdom
To discern right from wrong.
We wish you tolerance
So all can belong.
We hope and pray
For your ability
To share your opinion,
But with humility.
Chorus 2x