In summer 2023, these songs formed the programme for a devotional, illustrated talk I gave to the Oxford (UK) Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ); many of these texts are shared by Jews and Christians. A musical setting of a text creates its own world, and suggests a particular way of seeing, hearing and feeling. For me, these songs are both emotional statements, and psychological and theological commentaries. But above all, they are songs for the soul—a call to the precious immediacy of prayer and intimacy with God.
- Or Zarua #1 (Ps 97:11) – The words of this song are used at the start of Kol Nidrei, one of the most solemn, penitential moments of the Jewish year. There is an 18th century teaching that the best even a righteous person can do is wrestle with the darkness in themselves, and hope to sow perhaps just a few seeds of light. That is where we are at the start of Kol Nidrei. By contrast, the yishrei leiv, the ‘straight and upright in heart’ have won that battle; in the song, the music surges upwards at that point. The initial words repeat at the end; this song is not so much about reaching the light, but reaching for it.
“Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the straight of heart.”
- Or Zarua #2 (Ps 97:11) – Here’s a very different setting of the same text. These words also bring in the joy and relaxation of Shabbat (the Sabbath) on a Friday evening, or Saturday morning. 16th century Spanish mystics created the Friday evening rituals we know today. I modelled this celebratory dance on Sephardi music as a homage to those mystics.
- Adonai, Adonai #1 (Ex 34:6-7) – This text contains the 13 attributes of God’s mercy that we are taught to say when we are asking for healing or forgiveness. We recite these words together as a congregation many times during the penitential High Holy Days. Jewish tradition teaches that when we utter these words and meditate on these attributes, we will never come away empty-handed.
“Adonai, Adonai, a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.”
- Adonai, Adonai #2 (Ex 34:6-7) – The previous setting started from a place of reaching, and yearning. Another powerful meditative practice is to connect directly with the quality that we want to experience, and embody it. So, here are the same words, with different music, emphasising the warmth of God’s love, and taking us on a much more hopeful journey.
- Adonai Ori / Achat Sha’alti (Ps 27:1, 4) – The 13 attributes evoke the alchemy of t’shuvah—returning to God, or our ‘good place’. We work both to grant and to find forgiveness. We often think of ‘light’ as a metaphor for clarity, healing, resolution—whatever we feel we need spiritually. During the month leading up to the High Holy Days, we recite Psalm 27, praying for that light, and to find our way to our spiritual home, whatever we imagine that to be.
“My God, my light, my help, how could I fear? My God, my strength, my life, I won’t be afraid. My God, my light. / Just one thing only I ask, my God, just one thing I seek: to live in your house, my God, all the days of my life, to gaze on your beauty, my God, and to return to my royal home.”
- Sh’lach Or’cha (Ps 43:3) – Light also appears in this next song. Talking about this psalm, 18th century Jewish mystics taught that working towards enlightenment was like slowly climbing a ladder. The mystics also taught that awareness could come suddenly, like a flash of bright light at the top of a mountain. Both these ideas can be heard in the tune’s contours.
“Send out your light and your truth; let them bring me to your holy mountain, and to your dwelling place.”
- Barchi Nafshi (Ps 103:1-12) – Staying with the theme of High Holy Days, these next verses reflect on a God who judges, but who ultimately shows mercy. The mood shifts back and forth between struggle, hope, victory, and surrender.
“1. Bless Yah, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless Yah, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; who forgives all your iniquity; who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit; who encompasses you with lovingkindness and tender mercies; 2. Who satisfies your old age with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. Yah executes righteousness, and acts of justice for all that are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his doings to the children of Israel. Yah is full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 3. He will not always contend; neither will he keep his anger for ever. He has not dealt with us after our sins, nor requited us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
- Ein Keiloheinu (9th century, anon) – The next two songs are outpourings of devotion. The first is a ninth century text that uses four names of God in each verse, in the same order they first appear in the Bible. The song has five verses. I feel these as five different emotional movements. The journey moves from a statement of belief, through questioning, thanks, and blessing. The fifth verse is a personal declaration of loyalty, touching the highest note of the piece on the word malkeinu, meaning king, or ruler.
“1. There is none like our God; there is none like our Lord; there is none like our King; there is none like our Saviour. 2. Who is like … etc. 3. Let us thank … etc. 4. Blessed be … etc. 5. You are … etc.”
- Dudeleh / Ribono Shel Olam – (pronounced doo-duh-luh) Our second devotional song—‘Master of the World’—is an 18th century Yiddish poem by Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. It is based on the central Chasidic text “There is no place empty of God”, that draws from the verse in Psalm 139: “Where can I flee from your Presence?” The answer, of course, is nowhere, as God is everywhere. I adore this text, and its sentiment—it is a true love song, from which the CD also gets its title.
“I’ll sing a little song, a song for you. You, you, you, only you. Where can I find you? Where could I not find you? You, you, you, only you. Wherever I go, you, you. Whenever I’m still, you, you. When all goes well, or when things go ill, you, you, you, only you. To East, you, to West, you, to North, you, to South, you, to Heaven, you, to Earth, you, below, you, above, you. You, you, you, always, only you.”
- Adonai Roi (Ps 23) – Psalm 23 is well-known and much loved, and for good reason. There are many English translations of it. The original Hebrew is poetic, elegant, direct, rhythmically and emotionally subtle, and beautiful. So, here is a setting of the Hebrew. I’ve created a refrain from some of its words, that, for me, express the essence of the psalm.
“God is my shepherd; I lack nothing. God makes me lie down in green pastures; God leads me to water in places of repose; God renews my life; God guides me in right paths as befits God’s name. Though I walk through a valley of deepest darkness, I fear no harm, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me. You spread a table for me in full view of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my drink is abundant. Only goodness and steadfast love shall pursue me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of God for many long years.”
- Shiru Ladonai Shir Chadash (Ps 96) – This setting is also a response to the subtle meanings and rhythms of the Hebrew. Like Or Zarua, Psalm 96 is sung on Shabbat. Over the centuries, Jewish teaching has established three key characteristics for Shabbat: it is a day of k’dushah / holiness, of m’nuchah / rest, and of oneg / joy. This setting celebrates all three qualities.
“1. Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name, proclaim day after day his salvation. 2. Ascribe to the Lord, kindred of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name, bring an offering, and come into his courts. 3. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the seas roar, and all that is in them; let the fields exult, and all that is in them; then shall all the forest trees sing with joy … 4. … in the presence of the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to govern the earth; he will govern the world with justice, and peoples with his faithfulness.”
- Eilu V’eilu (Talmud, Eruvin 13b) – These words are said to have come from a bat kol, a voice from heaven. They were spoken to settle a dispute between two rabbis and their followers. Much can be learned from the story: no one opinion can provide a complete picture or the whole truth; conflicts are best resolved with kindness and modesty; all arguments have a place at the table if they are offered l’shem shamayim—for the ‘sake of heaven’. So differences—including in an interfaith encounter—can be vigourous, without being destructive!
“These and these/those are the words of the Living God.”
- V’dirshu Et-Shalom Ha’ir (Jer 29:7) – I composed this for an Oxford interfaith celebration of the UK coronation in 2023. In the coronation service King Charles III pledged to pursue ‘paths of peace’. In Hebrew, the word ‘peace’ is shalom. Weekly Jewish services include prayers for the community, for the nation, for the world, for our leaders, and for our King. We’re guided to do this from this verse in the book of Jeremiah. The first half of this song is in the minor key, representing the search for peace, and second half is in the major key, representing finding peace.
“Seek the peace—the shalom—of the city, and pray to God for it: for in its peace, you shall all have peace.”
- Mi Chamocha (Ex.15) – This is another coronation text, one we use in daily prayer. Just as the Israelites arrived on the far side of the Sea of Reeds, finally safe from the Egyptians, Moses began the Song of the Sea. And the Israelites responded Adonai yimloch l’olam va’ed “God shall be king forever!” [Ex. 15:8] There’s a midrash—an imaginative Jewish commentary—that says that the people did not just copy Moses’ song, but creatively added to it. So, I’ve done that here, playfully extending the chorus further each time.
“1. Who is like you among the gods, O God? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendour, doing wonders? Yah will reign for ever and ever! 2. A new song the redeemed sang to your name at the shore of the sea. Yah will reign … 3. Together, all praised, and acknowledged [Your sovereignty] and proclaimed: Yah will reign …”
- Yih’yu L’ratzon (Ps 19:14) – This is a prayer that we find in both Christian and Jewish liturgy. The word hegyon, usually translated as ‘meditation’, can also mean a ‘resounding music’, so I have translated it as ‘song’.
“May the words of my mouth, and the song in my heart be pleasing to you, my God, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
- Or Zarua #2 – Reprise
Alexander Massey has been immersed for many years in the teachings and practices of Jewish Renewal, the neo-Hasidic movement founded by Reb Zalman Shachter-Shalomi (ztz”l). His offerings as a sacred songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist draw on more than 40 years of diverse professional activities as a performer, multi-genre singer (opera, folk, music theatre, jazz), theatrical director, teacher, academic, writer, community activist, charity trustee, mentor, communication coach, workshop leader, interfaith activist, cantorial soloist, celebrant, retreat facilitator, and leader of creative Jewish ritual and prayer.