Category Archives: Chants

Chants, Isaiah

Mindfulness: Shim’u shamoah

Shim’u shamoah aylai, v’ichlu-tov
Mindfulness Hebrew text
If you really listen to Me, then you will eat what is good.
(And your souls will delight in richness.) (Isaiah 55:2)

In the language of Judaism, listening to God, (really listening!) means letting go of distraction, quieting your inner tumult, tuning in to the “still, small voice,” opening to the Divine Presence in this very moment. In the language of Buddhism this is called “mindfulness.”

So many of us experience anxiety around food. If it’s plentiful and good, “Will I eat too much?” If it’s scarce, “Will there be enough?” If it’s not what we prefer, “Will I be nourished and satisfied?” To bring a calm clarity in regards to what we eat, but also what we consume in general (What we buy and how we use our precious resources) is at the heart of a holy life.

Isaiah reminds us to listen, to really pay attention, to come into a state of expansive, receptive calm. Only then will we consume in just the right measure and be delighted in the richness of our lives.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Mindfulness PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 314.

The Magic of Hebrew Chant ©2013 Shefa Gold. All rights reserved.

Chants, Psalms

My Prayer as Incense: Tikon t’filati

Tikon t’filati k’toret l’fanecha
My Prayer as Incense Hebrew text
Let my prayer be incense before You. (Psalm 141:2)

Our ancestors knew the secrets of fragrance. They carefully mixed balsam, frankincense, myrrh, spikenard, cinnamon and other precious spices with secret ingredients that would help the smoke ascend. This powerful practice of incense helped to focus our intentions and create an atmosphere of holiness. The complex and beautiful fragrance penetrated our consciousness directly and lifted us up into mystery.

Our prayer can have this same power, lifting us up in beauty, bringing us into an awareness of the Divine Presence.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click My Prayer as Incense PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 295.

The Magic of Hebrew Chant ©2013 Shefa Gold. All rights reserved.

Chants, Liturgy

Going Up With Joy: V’sham nashir

V’sham nashir shir chadash u’vir’nana na’aleh
Going Up With Joy Hebrew text
And there we will sing a new song; with joy we will go up. (from Tzur Mishelo)

KZ5 Chant (7/2012)

These words are from the last stanza of Tzur Mishelo, a Shabbat hymn that was composed and compiled between the 11th and 16th centuries under the guidance of Rabbis Isaac Luria and Israel Najara. It is a reflection upon and praise of Shabbat and is thought to be an introduction to Birkat Hamazon (Grace after Meals) on which the first three stanzas are clearly based. Some believe this zemer to have originated with the Tannaim, the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the mishna, from approximately 70-200 CE.

This is a practice of letting the joy in our voices raise us up into sacred space.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Going Up With Joy PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 251.

The Magic of Hebrew Chant ©2013 Shefa Gold. All rights reserved.

Chants, Scripture

Ascending: V’al bamotai

V’al bamotai yadrichayni
Ascending Hebrew text
He prepares a path for me upon the High places. (Habakuk 3:19)

As I investigate my own vast inner spaces, I am shown pathways of exploration. The High places are my own capacities for love, forgiveness, courage, wisdom, compassion, perspective, curiosity and humor. God prepares the pathways to those places through the beauty of my world, through the gifts of my inheritance, through the stories of those who have walked this path before me, even through the humbling power of my mistakes. I chant these words as a reminder that I am guided on this path. I chant these words to affirm my commitment to embrace the possibilities of the extraordinary.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Ascending PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 254.

The Magic of Hebrew Chant ©2013 Shefa Gold. All rights reserved.

Chants, Psalms

Pure: Kol mish’barecha

Kol mish’barecha v’galecha Alai avaru
Tahor Hu, T’horah Hi
Pure Hebrew text
All of Your breakers and Your waves have swept over me.
He is pure; she is pure. (Psalm 42:8)

Every moment can be received as a point of transition and an opening into whole new world. As I step into who I am becoming, I need to be washed clean of prejudice, expectation, disappointment and limited perspective.

This chant was written for Taharah, specifically the part of the ritual where water is poured over the body. It is also a wonderful chant for the practice of Mikvah — ritual immersion, or any ritual of purification.

The breakers and waves that cleanse us can also be understood as our life-experience. Through living and learning we are returned to our essential purity.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Pure PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 293.

The Magic of Hebrew Chant ©2013 Shefa Gold. All rights reserved.