“Here I am, ready to take upon myself the sacred charge of my Creator: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ This kavanah (focusing meditation) before the morning service was introduced by the kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria (c.1534–1572) of Safed. We prepare to enter the prayer community by affirming our highest obligation, as Jews and as human […]
Hareini m’kabeil alai – 2 settings Read More »
In 2020 I composed a sombre, yearning setting of the 13 attributes (Adonai, Adonai No.1). Two years later, I composed a completely different setting (Adonai, Adonai No.2) that was filled with light and relief. Here are the two settings, set side by side, with their commentaries. For me, both settings carry equal weight in my
Adonai, Adonai – Two faces of the 13 Attributes Read More »
Music & audio © 2024 Alexander Massey – All Rights Reserved Download the free sheet music (voice & piano) On Shabbat morning, as part of the Amidah blessings, we sing prayers in a call and response. Every prayer tradition has different texts for the parts that the leader recites, so I had to choose which
Kedushah (Blessing the holy name of God) Read More »
Music & audio © 2024 Alexander Massey – All Rights Reserved Download the free sheet music (voice & piano) This piyut (poem) by Solomon Ibn Gabirol (11th century) can be a great way to sing ourselves awake. At dawn I seek you, my rock and my refuge; I lay before You my morning and evening
Shachar Avakeshcha (At Dawn I Seek You) Read More »
These are my own gleanings from the book by Avraham Weiss, Holistic Prayer: a guide to Jewish spirituality (2014, Maggid Books). I hope they encourage you to buy the book. I have paraphrased in order to clarify my own understanding, but there are also direct quotations from the book. The notes in square brackets are
Holistic Prayer: a guide to Jewish spirituality (Weiss) – notes on the book Read More »
From its opening words and notes, Kol Nidrei stirs the heart and mind, and pulls at the guts. Those first notes mark the point of no-return, when we cross from Ordinary Time into Yom Kippur. For the next 25 hours, we will step outside time. We’ll sit in community, search our innermost selves, review our
Kol Nidrei Paradox Read More »
These are my own gleanings from the book by Joel Lurie Grishaver, Stories We Pray: insights into the inner-work of Jewish worship (2012, Torah Aura Productions). I hope they encourage you to buy the book. I have paraphrased in order to clarify my own understanding, but there are also direct quotations from the book. The notes
These are my own gleanings from a profound book (both spiritually and practically by Zalman Shachter-Shalomi, The Gates of Prayer: Twelve Talks on Davennology (2011, Albion / Andalus, Boulder). I hope they encourage you to buy the book. I have paraphrased in order to clarify my own understanding, but there are also direct quotations from
The Gates of Prayer: Twelve Talks on Davennology – notes on Reb Zalman’s book Read More »
Notes on the essay by Abraham Joshua Heschel in Review of Religion vol. 9 no. 2, January (1945) 1. Prayer as an answer “We do not refuse to pray; we abstain from it.” “We cannot make Him visible to us, but we can make ourselves visible to Him. So we open our thoughts to Him.” “To
‘Prayer’ – A.J. Heschel (1945) Read More »
Music and audio © 21 May 2023 Alexander Massey – All Rights Reserved Download the free sheet music (voice & piano or guitar) “May the words of my mouth, and the song in my heart, be pleasing to you, my God, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Ps 19:14) These words are used at the end
Yih’yu L’ratzon (May the Words of My Mouth) Read More »