Music and recording © Alexander Massey 26 March 2017 Composed for the ‘United for Peace – United Through Poetry’ event 10 May 2017, an initative of The Oxford Foundation delivered in partnership with the Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion at the University of Birmingham.
Music and recording © Alexander Massey 2012 BUY the sheet music – $3.95 (lead sheet) Pirkei Avot 1:14 אִם אֵין אֲנִי לִי, מִי לִי וּכְשֶׁאֲנִי לְעַצְמִי, מָה אֲנִי וְאִם לֹא עַכְשָׁיו, אֵימָתָי If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if …
Here is a collection of quotations and teachings from various sources that hopefully give an insight into a Chassidic perspective on music; there is a fluidity in the teachings between song, melody, melody with words and melody without words, and instrumental music. There are also a few references and thoughts outside the Chassidic world, that …
Introduction This is my own personal take on the sequence of the Shabbat morning service. I have drawn from several siddurim (prayerbooks), from Orthodox, through Jewish Renewal to UK Reform and Liberal. I have included most of the big ‘set pieces’ of what happens in a service, as well as some of the more minor …
Composition and audio © Alexander Massey Sept 2014 BUY the sheet music (2 vces & pno/guit) – $4.50 (2 copies @ $2.25) I think of this chant as ‘sing as you fling’! At Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the new year, the whole community is encouraged to a place of flowing water, and to cast …
The bonds of community and mutual care are given very high value within Judaism. The importance of a Jew extending themselves on behalf of another includes offering the same practical, emotional and spiritual concern for those beyond the Jewish community. One of the key ways that this can be expressed is through bikur cholim, visiting …
Copyright law is internationally upheld as a fundamental right for composers, lyricists, librettists and writers (referred to collectively in this article as ‘creators’, and publishers for good reasons. However, these creators and copyright holders typically lose out financially to the practice of people copying or distributing (e.g. emailing) unpaid-for copies of the music instead of …
Music, Copyright and Jewish Ethics (or “Is it ok to steal from musicians?”) Read More »
We are told in the Torah: “On the first day you shall take the product of the beautiful tree, branches of palm trees, thick branches of leafy trees, and willows of the brook and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days” (Lev. 23:40) This has developed into the tradition of arba’a minim, …
Sukkot matters (2): Finding meaning in the Four Species Read More »
The shaking of the Four Species, sometimes called ‘shaking the lulav’, has attracted a number of meanings over the course of Jewish history. One of these was the idea that all the four plants require water to grow, and this was a ritual to invoke the right amount of rain for the crops. I would …
Sukkot matters (3): Finding meaning in shaking the lulav Read More »
Sukkot is a wonderful opportunity to reach back into our Jewish tradition, drawing upon ancient wisdom, at the same time as making new meanings for ourselves and contributing to the evolution of a living Judaism. I’m not going to give an exhaustive account of every detail, or of every ‘official’ version of the meanings of …
Sukkot matters (1): Finding meaning in the sukkah Read More »