Tag Archive for "hope" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘hope’

Two Ravens

Posted on: January 6th, 2019 by Alden

This is the first of what will certainly be several new pieces inspired by my renewed learning at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. The idea that the raven Noah sent from the ark after the flood foreshadowed ravens feeding the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 17:4) came up in Rabbi Meir Schweiger‘s Tanach class. The timing was uncanny. At the time I was enjoying The Key of Rain, co-authored by my teacher Rav Mike Feuer, which uses that prophecy in the story. Meanwhile, my Rambam class, taught by Rabbi Levi Cooper, was learning Hilchot Yesodi HaTorah on prophecy. The final stanza of this piece alludes to Masechet Brachot Mishna 1:1 from my class with Raḥel Berkovits.

Two Ravens
Two ravens
Flying over the hills
Can be seen
As messengers of G-d
If you look
With prophet’s eyes.

A fox
Scavenging in the Temple ruins
Can be seen
As a sign of redemption
If you look
With sage’s eyes.

You children of Israel,
Awake!
You are surrounded by mysteries,
Bathed in holiness,
The light bursting freely from ancient wisdom.
If only you would look with your heart.
If only you would see with your soul.
Then, the secrets of gratitude and wonder
Would dance with you
Like wedding guests
Yearning for communion
With G-d’s Holy Word.

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Postscript: This piece comes as a bit of a surprise, inasmuch as it reflects a synthesis of learning from multiple teachers from materials both in and out of class. In the past, my experience of being inspired by Jewish learning has been that one class meeting can (but doesn’t necessarily) lead to one new idea and one new prayer.

Please check out my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer,” and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” To receive my latest prayers via email, please subscribe (on the home page). You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Source: The Key of Rain, cover illustration used with permission

Ma’oz Tzur for Pittsburgh

Posted on: November 25th, 2018 by Alden

This prayer/poem rendition of Ma’oz Tzur anticipates the contrasting emotions of a joyous festival against the backdrop of the largest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. Ma’oz Tzur – literally “Fortress Rock” – is a Chanukah acrostic written in the 13^th century. This song is traditionally sung after lighting Chanukah candles. To write this rendition, I studied five translations from siddurim, incorporating both intent and language from all five translations (see footnote).

מָעוֹז צוּר יְשׁוּעָתִי
Ma’oz Tzur Yeshu’ati
Rock of Ages,
Fortress of Redemption,
Rock of Salvation,
Refuge and Shelter,

לְךָ נָאֶה לְשַׁבֵּחַ
Lekha na’eh leshabe’ach
It is a delight,
Lovely and fine,
To sing Your praises.

תִּכּוֹן בֵּית תְּפִלָּתִי
Tikon beit tefilati
Restore my house of prayer,
This house that has seen violence and hate,
Bloodshed and death.
It is firm and established,
Now and forever.

וְשָׁם תּוֹדָה נְזַבֵּחַ
Vesham toda nezabe’ah
There we will offer thanksgiving,
In the name of our people,
An Or l’Simcha,
A light for joy,
An Eitz Chaim,
A tree of life,

לְעֵת תָּכִין מַטְבֵּחַ
Le’et takhin matbe’ach
When by Your will
All bloodshed ends,
The time when You eliminate
All slaughter.

מִצָּר הַמְנַבֵּחַ
Mi’tzor hamnabe’ach
The furious, they assail us,
Oppressors with hatred,
But Your arm avails us,

אָז אֶגְמוֹר בְּשִׁיר מִזְמוֹר
Az egmor beshir mizmor
So with joyous song,
Yet still in mourning,
With a heavy heart,
Yet singing in music,
In poetry and psalms,

חֲנֻכַּת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ
Chanukat hamizbe’ach
For the dedication of Your house,
The rededication of Your sanctuary,
An altar of Your praises,
Where our strength will not fail us.

[Sing Ma’oz Tzur]

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Postscript: Ma’oz Tzur was written by an unknown poet whose name is spelled out as Mordechai by the first letters of the first five verses, while the first three letters of the sixth and final stanza spell out ‘chazak,’ or ‘strength’ (Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer, M. Nulman). The siddurim I consulted in writing this piece are: Mishkan T’fillah (U.S., Reform); Koren Aviv Siddur (Orthodox); Seder HaTeffilah (UK, Reform); Siddur Lev Chadash (UK, Liberal/Progressive); and Siddur Nehalel (Orthodox). Transliteration is modified from Wikipedia.

Photo Source: Reddit

Creation Sings

Posted on: September 7th, 2018 by Alden

Legend says that God created the world on Rosh Hashanah. So, Rosh Hashanah is not only the first day of the New Year and the Day of Judgement, it’s also marks the creation of all. For this new year, Cantor Erin Frankel of Rodeph Shalom, Philadelphia, enlisted me and her musical collaborator AJ Luca write a new song celebrating creation using words from the High Holiday prayer, HaYom Harat Olam. Here’s a music video of the song, performed by Erin and AJ.

Creation Sings
Lyrics: Alden Solovy
Music: Cantor Erin Frankel, AJ Luca

Then the sun rose,
For the first time,
To warm the land,
To warm our hearts,
To warm our hands.

Tides shifting,
Birds winging,
Flowers bursting,
Clouds drifting,
Eden singing.

And light sparkled,
The heavens shimmered,
While love echoed,
The future glimmered.

היום הרת עולם
היום הרת עולם
Hayom Harat Olam.
Hayom Harat Olam.
Today the birthday of the world.
Today is the birthday of our world.

Let the sun rise,
On a new day,
To warm the land,
To warm our hearts,
To warm our hands.

Light still sparkles,
From creation,
Love still echoes,
The world’s foundation.

היום הרת עולם
היום הרת עולם
Hayom Harat Olam.
Hayom Harat Olam.
Today the birthday of the world.
Today is the birthday of our world.

So these hours
Of introspection,
And these moments
Of deep reflection,
Will bring us back
To G-d’s creation,
And lift our hearts,
With jubilation.

היום הרת עולם
היום הרת עולם
Hayom Harat Olam.
Hayom Harat Olam.
Today the birthday of the world.
Today is the birthday of the world.

Postscript: With my deep love and affection for Erin and AJ. In friendship with the clergy team at Congregation Rodeph Shalom — Erin, Rabbi Jill Maderer and Rabbi Eli Freedman — and gratitude for their ongoing support of my work. In appreciation of the Lee Stanley Music Fund for making the music and the video possible

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Photo Source: Congregation Rodeph Shalom

A New Way of Being

Posted on: August 8th, 2018 by Alden

A meditation on waking up to the brilliance inside. I began writing this at a ManKind Project (MKP) advanced leadership training workshop. This is one of many meditations that have their roots in MKP trainings, such as “Wild Broken Heart,” “This Man’s Heartbeat” and “My Work Remains.”

A New Way of Being
This waking up
Is never easy,
When being asleep is so gentle,
So familiar,
So welcome,
And a new way of being
Is so hard to find,
So hard to live,
And so hard to keep.

Journey beyond the horizon,
Where joy and grace flow freely,
Where love is sacred medicine,
Where music sings and brilliance dances,
Where the arc of eternity bends to bless you.

This waking up
Is always surprising,
For being awake is so vibrant,
So vital,
So alive,
And a new way of being,
Shimmers with ancient wisdom.

Come to a place
Where there is no more
Thirsty water or hungry bread,
No more heartless heartbeats,
Breathless breathing,
Vacant motion or screaming silence.

Come to a place radiant with light illuminated
And life enlivened,
Where beauty glistens and awe shimmers,
Where the pulse of your soul
And the wonder of creation
Beat with the pulse of the universe.

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Postscript: Maya Angelou’s poem “Alone” — read during the workshop — includes this:
“…How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone…”

Photo Source: Alden Solovy

Peace Will Come

Posted on: July 29th, 2018 by Alden

This prayer will appear in my forthcoming book, This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press. This Joyous Soul offers a bridge between the language of traditional prayer and the language of personal experience. “Peace Will Come” reflects the yearning in the Amidah ending verse, oseh shalom. Read the title piece from This Joyous Soul by clicking here.

Peace Will Come
Peace will come,
Through the grace of G-d
And the actions of humanity:
Compassion and kindness,
Forgiveness and love,
Patience and gratitude,
Justice and mercy,
Empathy and understanding,
Each act a yearning,
Each deed a longing,
For wholeness and tranquility
In our world.

You who makes peace in the highest heavens,
Guide our hearts and our hands
In service to each other and Your world,
To bring peace to all the nations of the earth,
All people, everywhere.

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Postscript: CCAR Press is now taking pre-publication orders of This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings. It is a natural outgrowth of my first CCAR Press volume, This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day, which provides prayers and meditations for the days and seasons of our lives.

Please check out my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer.” For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” To receive my latest prayers via email, please subscribe (on the home page). You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Source: Alden Solovy

Upon Starting a New Medicine or Treatment

Posted on: July 11th, 2018 by Alden

A simple prayer to be said by an individual on starting a new medication or beginning a new treatment.

Upon Starting a New Medicine or Treatment
G-d of health and healing,
In Your wisdom You have enabled us
To find remedies, cures, medicines and treatment
Hidden in creation.
May the [treatment / medicine] that I begin today
Carry Your blessings of healing,
Healing of body,
Healing of mind, and
Healing of spirit.

Blessed are You,
G-d of compassion,
Who heals with love.

[ctt template=”8″ link=”iVs1f” via=”yes” ]May the treatment that I begin today carry Your blessings of healing…[/ctt]

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Photo Source: Pexels

Dance in the Madness

Posted on: May 27th, 2018 by Alden

A song of the spiritual traveler about the dance between spiritual forces that uplift and those the can crush us. This is one of just a handful of my pieces that rhyme, including “Come Walk,” another song of the spiritual traveler.

Dance in the Madness
Joy is a bird that lifts you in flight.
Prayer is a beacon that pierces the night.
Faith is a prism that opens the light.
G-d is the answer of joy and delight.

Fear comes calling, a poisonous art.
Judgement, a knife that cuts you apart.
Sorrow, a clamp that crushes the heart.
Loneliness threatens to never depart.

On this journey, it’s certain, one thing is true,
Both joy and sorrow sit next to you
So dance in the madness,
There is nothing new,
And love everyone who is dear to you.

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Photo Source: Dale Robbinete/Lionsgate

You without Peace

Posted on: April 20th, 2018 by Alden

Here’s a meditation for those who yearn to find G-d’s blessings, but cannot let them in. I’m reminded of a comment at Limmud Vancouver 2018: “We fear that we won’t find G-d. But what we fear, even more, is that we will.”

You without Peace
Oh you without peace,
Who yearn for G-d’s blessings
But push them away,
Feeling their presence
And blocking their arrival,
Hoping for grace
Without gracing the hope
Of holy communion,
Of blessings and wonder,
Know this:

Your heart is beautiful.
Your love is pure.
Your longing sings with truth.
Your journey is righteous,
Your path is lonely,
And G-d yearns for you
To keep searching
For the holiness and light
That surround us all.

Photo Source: NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) Collection

Abundance

Posted on: April 1st, 2018 by Alden

A new meditation on the flow of energy and abundance. The third stanza echoes Psalm 114:4, “The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like young sheep,” shifting the tone from meditation, to praise and hope for tomorrow. The final stanza closes with a blessing.

Abundance
The heavens sing to the stars.
The stars whisper to the sun.
The sun caresses the sea.
The sea dances with the land.
The land shares its gifts,
For abundance fills creation
With energy and light
And I breathe glory into my veins.

Cast your hearts to the rhythm of silence,
The pulse of eternity,
The wisdom of love,
The radiance surrounding us all.

Then, the mountains will skip like rams once more,
The hills like young sheep.
The rivers will roar
And the sky will shimmer in the flow of bounty from G-d,
The Source of all blessings.

Cast your fears to the wind,
Your doubts to the breeze,
Your losses to the earth.
Open your hearts,
And let the heavens sing to you.

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Photo Source: Alden Solovy

A Land Your Heart Knows

Posted on: March 22nd, 2018 by Alden

A new song of the Spiritual Traveler. It’s about hearing the music in your veins, the music in the wind and the music in the sky. It’s about trusting your heart, trusting your eyes and trusting your breathing…

A Land Your Heart Knows
There is a land
That only your heart knows.
But if you trust the music in your veins
You will journey to the place
Where love and power,
Innocence and wonder,
Merge inside your soul.
And you will emerge
Shimmering with light.

There is a dream
That only your eyes know.
But if you trust the music in the sky
You will rise to the place
Where limits become possibilities,
Where endings become beginnings,
Where horizons flow toward you in the color of light.

There is a moment
That only your breathing knows.
But if you trust the music in the wind
You will become a river of blessings,
A fountain of hope,
A well of healing,
And a source of peace.

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Photo Source: Alden Solovy

Posts Tagged ‘hope’

Two Ravens

Ma’oz Tzur for Pittsburgh

Creation Sings

A New Way of Being

Peace Will Come

Upon Starting a New Medicine or Treatment

Dance in the Madness

You without Peace

Abundance

A Land Your Heart Knows

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