My recent posts…

Parshat Lech-Lecha 5785

We make assumptions about others based on what we see: what they wear, what they drive, their work, past-times… And we project upon the other who passes our superficial entrance exam what we want them to be — i.e., more like us!

Yom Kippur Singing

My recent posts...Over the decades, I have composed melodies for some of the texts we use in our prayer services. (I've written English interpretations of the texts for a few of them.) Some of them are posted here so we can sing them together at Shirat Hayam and, even...

Kedusha

Dec 21, 2023 | A Rabbi Writes

Kedusha

The siddur, the guide to our prayer lives, is rich with yearning, with gratitude, with praise. The heart (“mimmekomecha”) of the heart (kedusha) of the heart (amida) of the morning service on Shabbat and festivals is a plea for Adonai to restore divine sovereignty over Jerusalem. (Perhaps it is only God’s hand that can establish peaceful coexistence in that sacred city….)

Last spring, I composed a new melody for that text (page 161 in Siddur Lev Shalem). Listen, learn and come sing/pray it with us on Shabbat! 

Shabbat shalom! שבת שלום