Category Archives: Shir HaShirim

Longing for the One: Al mishkavi

10/14/2020 Alia Meira

Al mishkavi balaylot bekashti et she’ahavah nafshi.

In my bed all night I long
For the one that my soul loves (Song of Songs 3:1)

Longing is the fuel that must be unlocked through our practice. It is the force that moves me on the journey towards truth and essence. That longing is magnified by the difficult times when I looked to the wrong places to find love, fulfilment or validation — to other people’s approval or opinions, to food or substances, fame or more information. Each of these dead-ends send me back to my Self and to the inner journey of soul.

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

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 Longing for the One PDF. For the musical notation, click Longing for the One Notation PDF.

Chants, Shir HaShirim

Catch Us the Foxes: Echezu-lanu

09/20/2020 Alia Meira

Echezu-lanu shu’alim,
shu’alim k’tanim m’chablim k’ramim uchramaynu smadar.

Catch us the foxes,
The little foxes that raid our vineyard
Just when the vines are in bloom. (Song of Songs 2:15)

If the vineyard is the place of our love and the place where the power of prophecy is cultivated, then those pesky foxes are the doubts that creep into the mind just when I am opening with some new insight or realization. If I can catch myself right at the moment when the doubt is beginning to take hold, I can release that thought and return to nurture the fragile blossoming of wisdom. When I know I am having a “doubt attack,” with this awareness, I am “catching the foxes.” With this awareness, I open in self- compassion, gently releasing the interrupting and destructive thoughts, and return to the vineyard, to the blossoming of love.

With this practice, I acknowledge the reality of foxes, (doubts, fears, cynicism, distrust, worry that run through the mind) and resolve to catch them before they do too much damage.

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

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 Catch Us the Foxes PDF. For the musical notation, click Catch Us the Foxes notation PDF.

Chants, Shir HaShirim

Arise My Friend

09/17/2020 Alia Meira

Kumi Lach rayati yafati, u’l’chi lach

Arise my friend, oh beautiful one,
go to yourself… (Song of Songs 2:10)

What if every relationship could be an opportunity for us to call each other into the realization of our full potential?

What would it mean to let our gaze penetrate the façade of another and see through to reveal a glimmer of the core, authentic Divine essence; thereby sending that other to her truth. And, what would it mean to receive the gaze of the world as a force of sending, to respond to each and every being by rising up into our full stature and beauty as we take the journey to the center of our being, the place where self and other meet?

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

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 Kumi Lach PDF. For the musical notation, click Kumi Lach notation PDF.

Chants, Shir HaShirim

I Am the Rose of Sharon: Ani chavatzelet

09/07/2020 Alia Meira

Ani chavatzelet hasharon shoshanat ha’amakim

I am the rose of Sharon
A lily of the valleys. (Song of Songs 2:1)

This is a practice of blossoming forth and rooting down. Although we can’t be sure exactly what flowers these are (various translations include rose, lily, tulip, hyacinth, narcissus, lotus, crocus, wildflower), we do know that these flowers have a resonance in the prophetic traditions of Isaiah 35:1-2 (The desert shall be glad, the wilderness shall rejoice and blossom like the rose) and Hosea 14:6-8 (I will be as the dew to Israel who will blossom as the lily).

As I chant these words I am rising towards the sunlight of glory and redemption, and at the same time connecting myself to the deepest places in the world and in myself. The word for valleys (amakim) also means the depths. When we blossom from those depths, our beauty, however transient, is grounded in the fullness and power of our earthly existence.

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

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 I Am the Rose of Sharon PDF.

Chants, Shir HaShirim

A Mare Among Pharaoh’s Chariots: L’susati

09/06/2020 Alia Meira

L’susati b’richvay faro dimitich rayati

I see you, my love, as a mare,
Among Pharaoh’s chariots. (Song of Songs 1:9)

Considering the fact that Shir Hashirim is often read as a midrash on the story of Exodus, this was a shocking image for me. It seemed to call up the power that belonged to our oppressors. I read many commentaries and still was disturbed… until I began chanting these words. I found myself chanting to my own body, that mare who carries me with such nobility and power. Yes, her power feels a bit dangerous, and yet, as I honor that mare among Pharaoh’s chariots, she is radiant in her dignity and resolute in her fierce beauty.

With this practice we affirm the holy animal that we are, honor her power and beauty, while letting go of any shame or fear that might impede the richness and full-realization of embodied love.

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

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