The Heavens: HaShamayim

05/22/2010 Alia Meira

HaShamayim misaprim k’vod Ayl

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.

Chants, Psalms

Day and Night: Yom l’yom

05/22/2010 Alia Meira

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.

Day and Night

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.

Chants, Liturgy

Oh Wondrous Healer: Rofei chol

04/10/2010 Alia Meira

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.

Oh Wondrous Healer

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.

Chants, Scripture

Sweet as Honey: Va’ochlah

04/10/2010 Alia Meira

Va’ochlah va’t’hi v’fi kidvash l’matok

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.

Chants, Psalms

From the Depths: Mima’amakim

04/10/2010 Alia Meira

Mima’amakim k’raticha Yah

From the Depths I call to You, Oh God. Hear my Voice! (Psalm 130:1)
[Click (or tap) to see the entire Psalm 130 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985).]

For me the practice of chanting is about finding those Depths from which to call, thereby unlocking the treasures of passion, longing, love and wisdom at my core. Slavery is the state of being trapped on the surface. I find my freedom by opening to the possibilities of the infinite space within. Calling out to God is a practice of dropping down into those infinite depths and allowing my deepest and truest expression to emerge.

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.