Admat Kodesh Hu

It is holy ground! (Exodus 3:5)

In the moment when Moses is called into his work of liberating his/our people (us), he witnesses the miracle of a bush that is burning yet not consumed, and then he is told to take off his shoes, so that he can experience directly the Divine Presence beneath his feet.

The experience of holy ground gives us the foundation to do the work we are being called to; this is the firmness that allows us to take a leap of faith; to step into the unknown with the confidence that we are supported by the holiness beneath our feet. (See also page 160 in The Magic of Hebrew Chant.)

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

• Holy Ground  

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

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

V’hafachti evlam l’sason

I will turn their mourning into Joy. (Jeremiah 31:12)

Hardship and heartbreak are inevitable in this life. Yet they don’t need to make us hard or broken. We can use our experiences of grief and suffering to ennoble rather than embitter us. Through the fires of sorrow, we can be tempered and formed into beings of light, vision, hope and an exquisite joy. Through all of our suffering, we can be opened to the preciousness of this moment of possibility.

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

• Mourning into Joy
• Mourning into Joy Harmony
• Mourning into Joy Mix

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Mourning into Joy PDF. To download the chant’s notation, click Mourning Into Joy Notation PDF.

V’Atem Ha’d’vaykim b’Yah Elohaychem, Chayyim kulchem hayom

You, who connect yourself to God, all of you are alive today. (D’varim 4:4)

These words from the book of Deuteronomy speak to me about my three passions: for life, for wholeness and connection, and for the ability to be present in this moment.

• Chayyim… For life, for the vitality that comes when I am connected to my source and can let that fountain fill me to overflowing.
• Kulchem… For wholeness and connection, for the integration of all the separate parts that make up the “I” who I’m becoming, and for the realization of my interrelatedness with all of God’s creatures.
• Hayom… For the ability to be present in this moment, for freedom from the compulsive mental wanderings that prevent me from experiencing the fullness of “today.”

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

• Devekut (part 1)
• Devekut (part 2)
• Devekut (part 3)
• Devekut Mix

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

Lo-nayda mah-na’avod et-Yah ad-bo’aynu shama

We don’t know how we will serve YHVH until we get there. (Exodus 10:26)

We don’t know what form our service will take, what the world will be like or what will be called from us. The world is in flux and our lives are also changing moment to moment. We just don’t know. Not-knowing can be terrifying and yet it also holds the infinite potential of our power and creativity. We can only prepare for this mystery by becoming fully present, by accessing the fullness of Being in this moment, knowing that when we are called, we will respond with that fullness. On this journey to Freedom we must dare to live in a place of uncertainty that is held inside the confidence that just showing up in our fullness and in our uniqueness is enough. We won’t know what is needed until we get there. Each moment is a new “there.”

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

• The Power of Not-Knowing Melody
• The Power of Not-Knowing Harmony
• The Power of Not-Knowing Mix

To download the PDF file for this chant, click The Power of Not-Knowing PDF. To download the chant’s notation, click Power of Not Knowing notation PDF.

Kach-na et-nafshi mimeni

Take my soul (nefesh) from me. (Jonah 4:3)

On the afternoon of Yom Kippur, we read the story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet who ran from his calling because he didn’t want the people of Nineva to repent and be forgiven. When, after a tumultuous storm and a forced retreat inside the belly of a whale, he finally prophesied to the people of Nineva; they did indeed repent and God forgave them. Jonah was quite unhappy about all this and his suffering that was caused by attachment to small mind/small self, was unbearable. Jonah says “take my soul from me because I would rather die than live.”

The word for “soul” that he uses is “nefesh,” which, in our tradition refers to the lowest level of soul, the part of us that is completely attached to our separate identity, and immersed in the dualism of materiality.

This is a powerful and potentially dangerous practice of surrender of the small self. When we say to God, “Take my soul from me,” we want to be very clear just what we are surrendering. Before you begin chanting, identify your pettiness, the small-minded habits, the old un-conscious reactive and repetitive patterns that you are ready to release. Lay them on the altar of the chant. Offer up the small self. Open to the Big Self.

(Don’t chant this while driving or using heavy machinery or spacing out. It is powerful!)

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

• Surrendering the Small Self Melody
• Surrendering the Small Self Harmony
• Surrendering the Small Self Mix

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Surrendering the Small Self PDF.