Chants, Shir HaShirim

Ravished Heart

Libavtini achoti Chalah

You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride. (Song of Songs 4:9)

Once I have glimpsed the truth of our Unity; once I have been touched by ultimate Beauty; once I have been seen and known and taken into the Divine embrace… I will never be the same. My Heart has been captured, enraptured and overcome. This love feels like a danger, a threat to my life as habit, a risk to being “normal.” This practice acknowledges that danger, and then encourages me to persist on this journey of awakening.

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

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

Chants, Shir HaShirim

Perfect: Kulach yafa

Kulach yafa rayati, u’mum ayn bach

You are all-beautiful, my friend,
There is no blemish in you. (Song of Songs 4:7)

Being “in love” means to experience an extraordinary state of heightened sensitivity and expanded perception. From that state we can know the truth of an underlying perfection that holds, supports and suffuses this imperfect world. When I am “in love,” there is really no particular object of that love, yet everything that I touch or see or taste becomes the focus of that love. When I am “in love,” even the most difficult challenges are received as messages and goads to go deeper, see wider, and surrender more fully.

This practice is an opportunity to taste that state, and then remember the glimpse we have received, so that glimpse can be our compass as we traverse this path of love.

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

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

Chants, Shir HaShirim

Rising from the Wilderness: Mi Zot

Mi zot olah min-hamidbar

Who is that rising from the wilderness… ? (Song of Songs 3:6)

I open to the Mystery that rises up out of the wilderness, responding to the call of the unknown. Who is this? She is the Shechina, the Divine presence who was hidden and is now making herself known, rising into my awareness. Who is this? She is my soul rising like fragrant incense towards the heavenly expanse, offering herself up to the Oneness.

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

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Mi Zot Olah PDF.

Shir Delight: A Journey Through the Song of Songs ©2004 Rabbi Shefa Gold. All rights reserved.

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.