Ad she’hamelech bimsibo, nirdi natan raycho

When the King lay down beside me,
My perfume gave forth its sweetness. (Song of Songs 1:12)

The practice here is to allow myself to be aroused by my experience of Divine Presence. Sexual arousal is the metaphor. When I am given a glimpse of the Mystery, I soften, lean into the experience, let my “juices” flow. I let down my defenses, and become both receptive and responsive.

As I chant these words, I let myself be seduced by my imagination; I become unself-conscious… shameless. The perfume that wafts out is my response (beyond words)to being touched by the Mystery.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Toldot).

To hear the chant, use the audio players. To download a chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• My Perfume: Melody  
• My Perfume: Harmony  
• My Perfume: Mix  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click My Perfume PDF. For the musical notation, click My Perfume Notation PDF.

Smolo tachat l’roshi, vimino t’chabkayni

His left hand beneath my head,
His right arm embracing me (Song of Songs 2:6)

I am resting in this Divine embrace,
oh timeless time and placeless place!

When I can relax, and feel held, and lean into a sense of ultimate Divine support, then I touch the place within me that is beyond this small identity, that includes and yet transcends this particular time and place. I open to the realm of timeless Being where I am nurtured, reconnected to my soul identity, recharged and the sent on the path of self-realization.

For me this is a description of Shabbat consciousness.

It is circular: The more that I feel that Divine support, the more that I can relax; the more that I relax, the more that I can open; the more that I can open, the more that I receive God’s support.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Vayigash).

To hear the chant, use the audio player. To download the chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• Divine Embrace  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Divine Embrace PDF.

Shir Delight: A Journey Through the Song of Songs ©2004 Rabbi Shefa Gold. All rights reserved.

Hinach yafah rayati, hinach yafah

How Beautiful you are my friend, how beautiful!
(Song of Songs 1:15 and 4:1)

Love opens my heart to the beauty that surrounds me and is in me. In seeing that beauty, my heart is opened to love. This practice teaches me that it’s not enough to see beauty. It is the expression of my appreciation for what is beautiful that opens me to love.

In this practice, I chant these words in 3 ways:

• First, I sing a love-song to the beauty in my life- to the color, light and fragrance, to the unique shapes and sounds that make up my world, to the faces, flowers, art, landscapes and subtle splendors- I raise my voice in thanks and appreciation. I do this with my eyes closed, calling up image after image.
• With the 2nd way I chant this, I open my eyes and see the beauty before me. If I’m with other people I look into their faces. I open my eyes to the beauty that was always there waiting for me in the simple lines and textures of the room I sit in, and I sing myself awake to receive that beauty.
• With the 3rd way, I close my eyes and imagine that God, the Beloved, is singing this to me. I receive this acknowledgment, and move through the contradiction, remembering that I often don’t feel like I can ever live up to society’s version of beautiful. When God sings this to me, I open to the truth of my own unique beauty. Through that knowing, I step out of my small, self-conscious shame and into my power.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Vayetze) or Shir HaShirim (Pekuday).

To hear the chant, use the audio player. To download the chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• How Beautiful  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click How Beautiful.

Shir Delight: A Journey Through the Song of Songs ©2004 Rabbi Shefa Gold. All rights reserved.

Hagida li she’ahavah nafshi

Tell me, my only love… (Song of Songs 1:7)

In this practice, we open a conversation with the Beloved, asking the One we love to respond with Presence, guidance, and intimacy. By chanting these words, we are turning towards the Great Mystery. The answers may come through the silence in the stirrings of the heart or through the portents and wonders of this world. And then we must listen, and open the inner eyes to see. And then we must follow the signs and the glimpses we are given.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Vayera).

To hear the chant, use the audio players. To download a chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• Tell Me: Melody  
• Tell Me: Harmony  
• Tell Me: Mix  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Tell Me PDF.

Sh’chorah ani v’navah b’not Yerushalayim

I am dark and beautiful, oh daughters of Jerusalem! (Song of Songs 1:5)

This practice explores our shame and leads us to glory. We live in a world that turns dark skin into a humiliation. Through love and dignity, we overcome that mistreatment, heal the wounds that have been inflicted by oppression, and step into our unique beauty and power. We proclaim that glory to the world through the “Daughters of Jerusalem,” who witness us with love, and reflect back to us our truth.

The music of the chant moves back and forth from a minor to a major key expressing the complexity of this journey to self-realization, which is, ultimately, God-realization.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Lekh-Lekha).

To hear the chant, use the audio players. To download a chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• Dark and Beautiful: Melody  
• Dark and Beautiful: Harmony  
• Dark and Beautiful: Mix  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Dark and Beautiful PDF. For the musical notation, Dark and Beautiful Notation PDF.