Congregational version (lower key, Dm) Solo version (tenor, Fm) Composition and audio © Alexander Massey 2011 – All Rights Reserved BUY the sheet music (solo & pno) – $4.95 BUY the sheet music (duet & piano) – $6.75 (3 copies @ $2.25) BUY the sheet music (SATB & pno) – $9 (4 copies @ $2.25) […]
© Alexander Massey, January 2008 BUY the sheet music (3 vces) – $2.25 This was written for the bar mitzvah of Daniel, one of the boys in my Jewish Renewal community the London Ruach Chavurah (January 2008). Daniel is a talented multi-instrumentalist, and I wanted to create a piece of music that was quick to
B’nei Mitzvah Nigun Read More »
Songbook is music to the ears of Reform – article in the Jewish Chronicle by Simon Rocker, 14 July 2011 – read here.
Songbook is music to the ears of Reform Read More »
Composition and audio © Alexander Massey 22 June 2011 BUY the sheet music (vce & pno, + optional instruements) – $4.95 The Yotzeir Or blessing is a reminder to live joyfully and gratefully, to raise our voices in song, and our feet in dance. This nigun was shaped with that in mind – and heart. In
[I am addressing the question of circumcision in Judaism by looking at Liberal Judaism UK. Please bear in mind as you read this article, that I believe that the Liberal Jewish movement plays a vital role in the ethical awareness of the Jewish people, and has done much good to challenge and update Judaism, not
“If male, is he circumcised?” Covenant, community, compassion and conscience [2011/2016] Read More »
The Rabbis juxtaposed the three separate paragraphs of the Shema, because they touched on so many themes and layers of meaning central to Judaism. Reading the Shema therefore enables us to fulfill the commandment to study Torah (Berachot 60b). For about a year and a half, I have studied the Shema closely, as well as
Seven Tryptichs on the Shema Read More »
What weight should we give to the voices from the past? After all, we don’t do exactly what was done in the past, not least because we cannot know for sure what was done, but also because conscience, common sense, or new knowledge to which the Rabbis did not have access persuade us to do
Hebrew has a structure of correspondences between words by their root (shoresh) that provides layers of subtlety and multiple meanings. Comparison of passages that use words similarly or in special ways gives scholars opportunity for a range of interpretations. In kabbalistic thought, the letters themselves have meanings, and gematria (numerology) provides another relatedness between words and phrases
Composition and audio © Alexander Massey 8 March 2011 BUY the sheet music (1 or 2 vces & pno) – $4.95 The music for this came to me in the week of Tisha B’Av (the 9th of the month of Av), the day that marks many sadnesses for the Jewish people – the date it
Nachamu Nachamu Nigun Read More »
© Alexander Massey 9 Oct 2008 BUY the sheet music (2-4 vce round) – $2.25 I wrote this originally as a musical meditation to prepare for leading Mincha (the afternoon service) at Yom Kippur 5769 (2008) with the London Ruach Chavurah community (Jewish Renewal). Some commentators on the Book of Jonah have said that the