Category Archives: Shir HaShirim

Chants, Shir HaShirim

Today: B’yom chatunato

B’yom chatunato u’v’yom simchat libo (HAYOM!)

… on his wedding day,
the day of his heart’s rejoicing. (TODAY!) (Song of Songs 3:11)

We are called to come out (from our blindness and complacency) to gaze upon King Solomon (the truth of our wholeness) who wears the crown that his mother (Shechina, the Divine imminence) gives him on this day that celebrates the marriage of all duality. This is the day of our heart’s rejoicing! The day when we see through the illusions of separation; and the truth of Unity is made known… Oh, that’s TODAY.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Vayakhel).

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 Today PDF. For the musical notation, click Today notation PDF.

Chants, Shir HaShirim

Inlaid with Love: Tocho

Tocho ratzuf ahavah

Within, inlaid with love (Song of Songs 3:10)

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by filling the cracks with a golden lacquer, thus making the bowl even more unique and valuable by illuminating rather than hiding its imperfections. The Daughters of Jerusalem, our companions on the spiritual path, can help us perfect this art, as we navigate this world with our broken hearts.

There is a danger of hiding those cracks or filling them with shame or despair.

Instead, our practice is to enter deeply into the depths of our heart, acknowledge its flaws and brokenness, and then fill those broken places with the gold of love: pouring compassion, tenderness and kindness into those vulnerable places.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Ki Tisa).

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 Inlaid with Love PDF. For the musical notation, click Inlaid With Love notation PDF.

Chants, Shir HaShirim

Found: M’tza’uni

M’tza’uni hashomrim hasov’vim ba’ir

Then the watchmen who circle the city find me. (Song of Songs 3:3)

I like to think of the watchmen who circle the city as Awareness itself, circling though the mind that is in the process of settling into its center. Awareness is another name for God. When I find my stillness, I am found by the Beloved. And then I hold him close and bring him, as blessing, to my innermost chambers. There the past that is within me can be illuminated and purified. When I chant these words, I remember how I was lost in rumination and fear… and now I am found, restored to my wholeness through the miracle of Awareness.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Mishpatim).

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 Found PDF. For the musical notation, click Found notation PDF.

Chants, Shir HaShirim

Against the Terror of Night: Ish charbo

Ish charbo al y’raycho mipachad balaylot

Each with a sword on his thigh
Against the terror of night. (Song of Songs 3:8)

I hold the sword of Truth close, in the moments I may need to cut through the illusions of separateness, finitude, isolation. In moments when I am paralyzed by the terror of night, the terror of not seeing a way forward, I need to find my strength, my vision, my powerful imagination, and my courage. Then, I can relax my heart, release my fears and enter this night with a confident song. This is what it means to be a spiritual warrior.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Tetzaveh).

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 Against the Terror of Night PDF. For the musical notation, click Against the Terror of Night notation PDF.

Chants, Shir HaShirim

My Beloved Is Mine: Dodi li

Dodi li va’ani lo, Ha’ro’eh ba’shoshanim.

My beloved is mine and I am his.
He pastures among the lilies. (Song of Songs 2:16)

With this practice, I am asserting the truth of mutuality. We belong to one another. The Divine Mystery is giving itself to me to explore, nurture, and embrace. I make myself vulnerable to his gaze, his touch, his searching interest in the inner beauty of my soul. I open to the God’s loving attention and in opening I can know myself truly.

And this sense of mutuality can extend to all my relations, as I acknowledge the Tzelem Elohim, the Divine image, that is engraved in the heart of all Creation.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Beshalach).

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 My Beloved Is Mine PDF. For the musical notation, click My Beloved Is Mine notation PDF.