Chants, Shir HaShirim

In His Shade: B’tzilo chimad’ti

B’tzilo chimad’ti v’yashavti, upiryo matok l’chiki
In His Shade Hebrew text
In His shade I delight to sit, eating His sweet fruit. (Song of Songs 2:3)

This is a practice of reconnecting with and remembering the essential beneficence of Reality. Sometimes when it feels as if the whole world is my enemy and I am struggling with my predicament, I can stop and rest in the blessing of pure Being. With this practice I receive the gift of feeling held by Reality itself. Imagine leaning back against the trunk of a sturdy tree on a hot summer day. This is The Tree of Life, offering protection, inspiration and unending generosity. At the end of the chant, tune into your breath as you receive the sweet fruit of Being. Let each breath nourish, delight and renew.

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

Recording updated and harmony and mix recordings added in 9/2020. 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 In His Shade PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 256.

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

Chants, Psalms

The Heavens: HaShamayim

HaShamayim misaprim k’vod Ayl
The Heavens Hebrew text
The Heavens open up and tell Your Story,
Of sun and clouds and storm, of wind and Glory. (Psalm 19:2)
[Click (or tap) to see the entire Psalm 19 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985).]

Where I live in New Mexico, the skies are my great entertainment and inspiration. With this practice, we watch the sky and receive from its wide expanse and changing colors, the story of God’s expanse and the Truth of Impermanence. You can try this practice lying back on a grassy field with your chant-buddies, looking up at the sky and receiving the amazing story that the Heavens tell. (If you do this practice at night you can substitute stars for sun.)

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 The Heavens PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 275.

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


Chants, Psalms

Day and Night: Yom l’yom

Yom l’yom yabiya omer, v’laila l’laila y’chaveh da’at
Day and Night Hebrew text
Day after day pours forth speech, night after night declares knowledge (Psalm 19:3)
[Click (or tap) to see the entire Psalm 19 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985).]

God speaks through the movement of Time. Through the cycles of Day and Night, meaning is expressed, wisdom is revealed. We chant these words in order to open our eyes to this mystery. We dance to the rhythms of Night and Day and allow the sacred Word to move us, and to pour out through us. True Knowledge is made real as we dive again and again into Night. Each Day returns with new opportunities for the Holy Word to manifest in our lives.

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 Day and Night PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 275.

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


Chants, Liturgy

Oh Wondrous Healer: Rofei chol

Rofei chol basar umafli la’asot
Wondrous Healer (Rofay kol) Hebrew text
Oh wondrous Healer of all flesh! (from the Morning liturgy)

As part of our morning blessings we acknowledge the miracle of healing. It is the Divine spark within me that gives my body the intelligence to heal itself. That amazing intelligence is at work at this very moment. With this practice, I recognize my body’s capacity for self-healing and I activate that Divine Healing power that is latent within each and every cell.

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 Oh Wondrous Healer PDF. For the musical notation, see The Magic of Hebrew Chant, page 233.

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

Chants, Scripture

Sweet as Honey: Va’ochlah

Va’ochlah va’t’hi v’fi kidvash l’matok
Sweet as Honey Hebrew text
So I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. (Ezekiel 3:3)

God gives the prophet Ezekiel a scroll that is inscribed with lamentations, moaning, and woe and then commands him to eat the scroll. We are each given a life that is inscribed with the full range of what it means to be human — from the highest joy to the deepest depths of grief. God says that the scroll of our lamentations must be eaten, digested, and transformed within us. Otherwise we will be carrying a heavy burden.

This 3-part chant is designed to be chanted in a supportive spiritual group. Each participant lays on the altar a story of their own time of lamentation. Instead of carrying around that story, can we offer it up, into the vibrations of this chant, to be digested and transformed?

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 Sweet as Honey PDF.