Category Archives: Psalms

Preparation for Healing: Atah Ozi

Atah Ozi
Atah Chayai
Atah Ori
Atah L’fanai
Preparation for Healing Hebrew text
You are my Strength
You are my Life
You are my Light
Ever before me. (inspired by Psalm 27)

In the practice of healing we leave the “small-mind” place of fear and separation, and enter into the “big mind” place of infinite possibility, and gratefulness for the blessing that is already flowing. We take the journey from “small-mind” to “big mind” by addressing God as YOU. We must become calm enough and spacious enough to receive God’s presence in response to our invocation. When we are filled with that presence, then we can open to the healing power that flows through us.

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

For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 282.


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


Aging and Saging: Od y’nuvun

Od y’nuvun b’sayva
D’shaynim v’rananim y’hi’yu
Od Y'nuvun Hebrew text
They will be fruitful, even in old age
They will be juicy and luxuriant. (Psalm 92)

I wrote this double-round chant in honor of Reb Zalman Shachter-Shalomi z”l and in honor of his 80th birthday. The intention that I bring to this double-round chant is to get in touch with the kind of fruitfulness, luxuriance and juiciness that emerges from my depths after many years of experience. This is a fruitfulness of wisdom and subtlety and it’s not always obvious if you’re only attuned to the surface of things. Even as our outer skin dries and wrinkles, there is an inner softness that can be cultivated from years of rubbing up against the Mystery. Even as outer sight dims and hearing falters, there are inner senses that can become fine-tuned as we age.

As I chant these words, I bless the elders who have been models of aging and saging for me as they continue to blossom, burgeon and flourish in full-hearted glory.

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

NOTE: Re-recorded in November, 2024.

Preparation for Re-connecting: Chaneyni Yah

Chaneyni Yah ki oomlal ani
Preparation for Re-connecting Hebrew text
Grace me, Yah, for I am withered [disconnected]. (Psalm 6:3)

In order to connect with God, our Source, we have to acknowledge how disconnected we sometimes get. That disconnection manifests as weariness, irritability, loneliness, emptiness, or a feeling of being scattered or lost.

Reconnecting requires that we acknowledge the price of that disconnection and then open in yearning and hopefulness to the mystery of God’s Grace.

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

For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 267.


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


Singing God’s Love: Chasdei Adonai

Chasdei Adonai olam ashira
Singing God's Love Hebrew text
I will sing forth from the hidden infinite, the loving-kindnesses of God. (Psalm 89:1)

Chant is the practice of calling forth hidden truths and bringing them into awareness and manifestation through voice and intention. I don’t sing about those truths… I sing those truths into being. With the power of my voice and the wholeheartedness of my intention, I call forth the beauty that is hidden within existence. As that beauty sings itself through me, I open myself as a channel, as a vessel, as a vehicle for the awareness of God’s presence in the world.

The word Olam means the infinite both in Time and Space. And it also means the Hidden or Concealed. The power of our Song reaches through the cracks of Time and Space and calls forth the hidden dimension of the Infinite, which has been waiting all along. The Song opens our eyes to the manifestations of God’s Love that surround us — evidence of the Infinite pouring itself into and throughout our finite world.

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

For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 281.


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


Tuning In to the Creator-Function: Esa eynai

Esa eynai el he-harim me-ayin yovo ezri (2x)
Tuning In to the Creator-Function Hebrew text
My help comes from the One (3X)
Creator of Heaven and Earth. (Psalm 121:1)

I wrote this chant for a friend to use during labor. During the process of birthing, it seemed important to tune in to the Creator-function of God, to become partners with God in the work of Creation, and to turn towards that aspect of God that is continually creating through us.

Even if your are not literally “giving birth,” this chant can be used to stimulate and celebrate the creative force that moves through us each day.

This is a two-part round.

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

For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 281.


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