Jewish boys and the choice not to circumcise Even though circumcision is not a halachic criterion for establishing Jewish status for a boy, there is a strong and widespread religious and social expectation within the UK Orthodox community (religious and non-religious)…
Category: Life Cycle
Jewish Baby Blessings
Here is a list of the music that I have written to Jewish texts that be used for Jewish baby blessings, for boys or girls: B’ruchah Haba’ah (Blessed Is She) – A blessing for the baby girl; a simple tune,…
Jewish Wedding Music
Here is a list of the music that I have written to Jewish texts that can fit into a Jewish wedding: B’ruchah Haba’ah (Blessed Is She) – A simple tune, the guests can pick up the refrain easily by ear…
Celebrating Jewish Women and Girls
Here is a collection of pieces that I have written that celebrate women and girls at the centre of Jewish ritual: B’ruchah Haba’ah (Blessed Is She) – baby blessing for a girl. There is a companion piece which, in English…
Oneg Nigun
Music & audio © Alexander Massey, 23 March 2014 In Jewish life, we take joy seriously! We are reminded that, on Shabbat especially, we should be joyful, prompted by the verse from Isaiah 58:13 – “and call the Sabbath a delight…
Nir’eh Or – In Your light, we see light
Psalm 36: 8-10 – Music and audio © Alexander Massey 16 Sept 2018 Music, English lyrics & audio © Alexander Massey 16 Sept 2018 Enjoy listening! Fuller commentary / essay coming soon – in the meantime, here are some brief…
Kumi Lach Rayati
In Hebrew In English – ‘Rise up, my love, my fair one’ Composition and audio © Alexander Massey 9 Dec 2015 This recording and a version of this article were published on Ritual Well (USA) as ‘Arise, my love‘. English…
Tagged with: audio, gender equality, interfaith, lesbian, LGBT, same sex, Shir Hashirim, simcha music, song, Song of Songs, wedding
Kaddish
Composition and audio © Alexander Massey 5 Dec 2015 Much could be (and has been) written about the Kaddish (to which I have put links below). Although one version is referred to as mourner’s kaddish, it is part of our…
B’ruchah Haba’ah – ‘Blessed Is She’
Composition and audio © Alexander Massey 12 Dec 2015 This recording and a version of this article were pubished on Ritual Well (USA), June 2016 with the title ‘Blessed Is She‘. The opening line of this lyric is based on…
Tagged with: audio, b'rit bat, baby blessing, bat mitzvah, blessing, same sex, simchat bat, song, zeved habat
Libavtini achoti chalah – ‘You have ravished my heart, my sister’
Composition and audio © Alexander Massey 9 Dec 2015 This recording and a version of this article were published on Ritual Well (USA) as ‘You have ravished my heart, my sister‘. Where in the Tanach can we find a text…
Tagged with: audio, gender equality, interfaith, Jewish art song, Jewish Lied, lesbian, LGBT, same sex, Shir Hashirim, song, Song of Songs, wedding
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