Ahavah Rabah Ahavtanu

With such a great love You have loved us (Liturgy)

I composed this at a moment when I was feeling very tired, sad, needy and constricted. I saw clearly, an old pattern of trying to get love, reassurance and validation from others when I felt this way…. But it never really worked. In some corner of my heart I knew that there was a great love—flowing, but I would need to open to it. So, I began to sing these words as a magical incantation to open. After a while, something in me shifted, and I knew that I had located and opened a door within that would always be available to me.

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.

• Ahavah Rabah (melody)  
• Ahavah Rabah (harmony)  
• Ahavah Rabah (mix)  

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

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.

• Awaken (melody)  
• Awaken (harmony)  
• Awaken (mix)  

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

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.

• Sim Shalom (melody)  
• Sim Shalom (round)  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Sim Shalom PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 237.

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

N’zachayr v’ naychataym l’fanecha

May we be remembered and sealed in Your Presence. (HHD Liturgy)

These words from our High Holy Day liturgy are said just once, during the pivotal moments of Ne’ila, when the gates are about to close. This the moment when all of our highest intentions are sealed, which means they enter deeply into our core where they will be available for us when we need them. The neuro-scientist, Rick Hanson asks the question, “How do passing mental states become lasting neural traits?” That’s my question too as I walk the path of spiritual practice, having experiences of wonder, flashes of Unity-consciousness, moments of deep connection. How will those experiences be planted in me and grow to become my strength, resilience, compassion and abiding love?

These words can be used any time of year when our intention is to seal in the truth of an experience that we want to have access to and remember and integrate.

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

• Sealed

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Sealed PDF. To download the chant’s notation, click Sealed notation PDF.