Category Archives: Chants

Teach Me

Lamdayni la’asot r’tzonecha
Graphic: Teach Me in Hebrew
Teach me to do Your Will. (Psalm 143:10)
[Click (or tap) to see the entire Psalm 143 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985).]

With this practice, I am asking for guidance. I have a deep yearning to be useful, and to know how my small part might fit into the whole of this Great Work of transformation.

  • How do I enter the dance?
  • What tiny yet unique part can I play in the vast symphony of Life?
  • How can I harmonize my small will with the Great Will of the Divine unfolding through Creation?

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

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

A New Song

Shir Chadash ashirah lach
Graphic: A New Song in Hebrew
I will sing You a new song. (Psalm 144:9)
[Click (or tap) to see the entire Psalm 144 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985).]

There are two aspects to this practice that will unlock its medicine.

  1. I will sing this song TO YOU, God. I will address my joy, passion, longing, artistry and enthusiasm to You, God, alone. Others may overhear our conversation and enjoy it, but I am focused on giving all of myself to YOU.
  2. My song is ever-new and ever-renewing itself. Even if I sing this song a thousand times, this time it is new — emerging from this very moment of blessing.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click A New Song PDF.

Free My Soul!

Hotziyah mimasgayr nafshi l’hodot et-sh’mecha.
Graphic: Free My Soul in Hebrew
Free my soul from prison,
that I may praise Your name. (Psalm 142:8)
[Click (or tap) to see the entire Psalm 142 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985).]

My soul is imprisoned by fear, by rigid forms that I have inherited, and also by constricting forms that I have made for myself. My soul is imprisoned by my conditioning, by perceived limitations that have been place on me and also by forms that I have placed on myself. My soul is imprisoned by habits of judgment, expectation and reactivity. When my soul is set free, I return to my true depth and breadth; I expand into my Divine identity, and my very being becomes a praise of the One.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Free My Soul PDF.

Incline Your Ear

Amarti LaYah, Ayli atah,
Ha’azinah Yah kol tachanunai
Graphic: Incline Your Ear in Hebrew
I said to the LORD: You are my God;
Incline your ear, Oh Yah, to the voice of my supplication (Psalm 140:7)
[Click (or tap) to see the entire Psalm 140 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985).]

This practice begins with the affirmation of a core relationship with the Great Mystery. By surrendering to that relationship, we are humbled, and we become aware of our complete dependence. We need a connection to the wholeness of life in order to become whole ourselves. And so we call out to that Divine Wholeness, asking for mercy, connection, and compassion.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Incline Your Ear PDF.

Ha’l’lu

Hallelujah. Ha’l’lu et shaym HAVAYAH,
Ha’l’lu avday HAVAYAH
Graphic: Ha'l'lu in Hebrew
Praise the essence of Divinity;
give praise, oh servants of the One. (Psalm 135:1)
[Click (or tap) to see the entire Psalm 135 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985).]

I sing Hallelu-Yah to lose myself in the Mystery, to open to the unnamable. With each Hallelu-Yah, I am lifted up out of my small separate self into the larger Self that is united with the One. I sing to open the eyes of my heart that I might see the miracle that was, is and will be, always before me. I sing to give myself away.

I sing Hallelu-Yah to honor, magnify and glorify that glimpse of miracle that is given to me each morning in the dawning light of day, in the steady beat of my heart. I sing Hallelu-Yah to exalt and bless and celebrate the simple fact of existence.

Praise whittles me down to my essence, purifies me of trivialities, washes away my worries. Through praise, I remember who I am and what my life is for. Through praise I am transformed.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Ha’l’lu PDF.