Category Archives: Chants

Awaken

10/03/2021 Alia Meira

Oreyr k’or nogah shoshanat ha’amakim

Awaken as bright light the rose of the depths. (Yom Kippur morning piyyut)

The words from this anonymous ancient poem that is recited on the Holiest day of the year seem to describe our spiritual work so beautifully. There is a bud of love in the heart, buried deep within, often buried beneath our trauma, our hurt, our disappointments, betrayals or despair. Through our practice and careful attention we can awaken that flower in the heart and allow its tightly held petals to unfurl as our love. And then we become radiant, and can shine our transformed presence into the world.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Awaken PDF. For the musical notation, click Awaken notation PDF.

Chants, Psalms

Calming the Restless Heart – Ach El-Elohim

09/22/2021 Alia Meira

Ach Ayl-Elohim dumiyah nafshi

Only towards God my soul (turns in) silent calm. (Psalm 62:2)

St. Augustine said, “…our heart is restless till it rests in You.” When I touch the place of deep silence within me, I just naturally turn to God who is waiting for me. And in that turning, my restless heart is stilled and calmed. Only when I face The Mystery, does that silence deepen within me, and my restless heart is calmed.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Calming the Restless Heart PDF. For the musical notation, click Calming the Restless Heart notation PDF.

Chants, Psalms

Singing a New Song

09/19/2021 Alia Meira

Halleluyah!
Shiru L’Adonay Shir Chadash;
T’hilato b’k’hal Chasidim

Sing to the Lord a New Song;
God’s praise is found in a community of Lovers. (Psalm 149:1)

Praise is the practice that lifts us up into the emerging possibilities of THIS moment. It is always new. When we come together as a community of lovers, we spark, inspire each and send each other to the praise of the moment. Praise happens in the synergy between us.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Singing a New Song PDF.

Chants, Liturgy

Sim Shalom Blessing

09/05/2021 Alia Meira

Sim Shalom, tovah u’vracha, chayn, vachesed, v’rachamim

Grant us peace, goodness, grace, love and compassion! (Liturgy)

This prayer was the ancient response of the congregation to the Priestly Blessing during the time of the Second Temple when the Kohanim did not pause between each of the three parts, as in synagogue worship.

At the end of the Amida (the standing silent prayer), we receive the blessing of our prayerful state, take those blessings in deeply, and begin to send them out to the world, sharing the bounty with all who are in need. We thus become channels for peace, goodness, grace, love and compassion.

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 Sim Shalom PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 237.

Chants, Scripture

Lament

08/09/2021 Alia Meira

Eicha yashva vadad

How she sits alone! (Lamentations 1:1)

How my heart has been broken by the cruelty of this world
How my heart has been broken by the beauty of this world
Eicha yashva vadad

On the 9th of Av, the day that commemorates the destruction of the Temple, we let our hearts break, and journey through that fissure into love. The Holy Ari teaches that on the afternoon of Tishab’Av, the Messiah is born. Out of the ashes of our grief, Messianic consciousness emerges to inspire us onward to wholeness.

I composed this chant for a Tishab’Av ritual. Between every repetition, each one in the sacred circle cried out a lament. We named our heartbreaks, both personal and communal: Suffering, inequality, cynicism, meanness, violence, poverty, injustice, abuse, apathy, hatred…

And then as the High Priest I dedicated it all, saying,
“And yet…. ALL OF THIS sends me
To kindness
To connection
To Compassion
and to the knowing of the preciousness of ALL LIFE.”

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Lament PDF. For the musical notation, click Lament notation PDF.