Taste and See!: Ta’amu

05/30/2017 Alia Meira

Ta’amu u’r’u ki tov Havayah

Taste and see that God is Good! (Psalm 34:9)

When I enter into the sensibility of reverence and assume an ultimate meaning to the flow of my life, I am rewarded with this Divine Goodness. When I follow my intuitions that a great beauty is hidden just beneath the surface, and I dive into that Mystery, I am gifted with a direct experience of the Oneness. But I must enter; I must dive; I must take the risk. This Psalm invites me to take that leap of Faith. It says, “Don’t believe me; see for yourself!” I am invited to go for it, to fully taste this moment of Life, and then to trust my own experience.

In this chant I pronounce the YHVH unpronounceable name of God with the Hasidic term HaVaYaH, a term that incorporates the 4 letters of God’s name and also suggests BEING itself.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Taste and See! PDF.

Chants, Psalms

Resilience: Im aylech

05/22/2017 Alia Meira

Im aylech b’kerev tzarah, t’chayayni

Even when I walk in the midst of trouble,
you are giving me Life. (Psalm 138:7)

As I cultivate resilience, I meet the obstacles of reactivity, overwhelm, alienation, despair and feeling cut off from my Source. With this practice, I first acknowledge, with compassion, the difficulties of Life. Then I open to the help that is available in each moment — the unseen possibilities of renewal. When I activate my imagination, the possibilities of joy, curiosity, insight, and a wider perspective are revealed moment by moment and then I simply open to them. In that moment of opening, I let go of my story; I become curious; I connect with inner and outer resources that were always there; I reignite my enthusiasm for the journey.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Resilience PDF.

Chants, Liturgy

All Love: Kulam Ahuvim

05/11/2017 Alia Meira

Kulam Ahuvim, Kulam B’rurim, Kulam Giborim

All Love, All Clarity, All Power
(from the Kedusha of Yotzer in our Shachrit liturgy)

The Kedusha is a prayer recited three times in three variations in our morning liturgy. It was created by the Merkava mystics to help us ascend to the angelic realms and remember our own true identity as chariots of the Divine Presence. The Kedusha describes and invokes the angels who are calling to each other. With this practice, we become those angels as we rise above the illusions of limited perspective and enter the truth of our love, clarity and power.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click All Love PDF. To download a PDF file with the musical notation, click All Love music.

Chants, Psalms

Healer to the Broken-Hearted: Harofay

05/04/2017 Alia Meira

Harofay Lish’vuray Lev, u’m’chabaysh l’atzvotam

Oh Healer to the Broken-hearted, you bind up our wounds. (Psalm 147:3)

With this practice, we invoke the Divine Force of wholeness and allow our own broken hearts and the broken heart of the world to be held within that loving, accepting and healing embrace.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Healer to the Broken-Hearted PDF.

Chants, Shir HaShirim

Kiss Me: Yishakayni

01/02/2017 Alia Meira

Yishakayni minshikot piyhu!

Kiss me with the kisses of your mouth! (Song of Songs 1:2)

The Song of Songs begins with this request. We invite God – Reality – the World-as-it-is – Existence-itself… to an intimate direct encounter. That Divine kiss in turn invites us into our passion. Our practice is to release all passivity, pucker up and engage with Life. To receive the Divine kiss is to die to this moment and be reborn in love. Can we receive it in the color of the sky? In this breath? With this step? Can we open to the gift that God is giving us in “this?”

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

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Kiss Me PDF.