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 …
In the previous parsha (Vayeshev), we have met Joseph with his multi-coloured robe, the envious brothers who sell him into slavery, and learn of their wicked deception of their father Jacob. In an interlude we hear of Tamar’s righteous deception of Judah. Returning to Joseph, after his swift rise to success in Egypt, Potiphar’s wife …
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 »
Listen/watch song on YouTube Composition and audio © Alexander Massey 15 February 2014 BUY the sheet music (2 vces) – $4.50 (2 copies @ $2.25) The fun of this song is all in the lyrics (printed below). First, the chorus loses more words each time it happens, and, by doing so, gradually reveals the differences between …
Psalm 89:16-19 Composition and audio © Alexander Massey, 24 May 2012 Listen / watch on YouTube (including spoken introduction) – SOAS Interfaith Music Festival Buy the sheet music (4 equal vces + pno) – $11.25 (5 copies @ $2.25) Buy the sheet music (1, 2 or 3 voices, unaccompanied, or with guitar) – $6.75 (3 copies @ …
Pesach 5772 / 2012 Why the ten plagues of Israel, and not Egypt? A midrashic suggestion Exodus tells the story of ten plagues that afflicted Egypt, prior to the flight of the Israelites into the desert. Why are the plagues given in such detail? Is there any allegorical meaning to be derived from the nature …
Ruth 1:16-18 Composition, lyrics and audio © Alexander Massey, 9 Nov 2011 BUY the sheet music (solo & pno) – $4.95 BUY the sheet music (duet & pno) – $6.75 (3 copies @ $2.25) Vatomeir Rut al-tifgi-bi, l’azveich lashuv meiachara’ich: ki el asher teilchi eileich, uva’asher talini alin – ameich ami, veilohayich elohai; ba’asher tamuti …