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 …
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 …
In Lev. 10, Aaron’s two sons are consumed by fire, and die. There is a cryptic sentence in the text: “Vayidom Aharon.” This is often translated as ‘Aaron was silent’, or ‘Aaron held his peace.’ But neither of these does justice to the Hebrew verb, which really means, ‘Aaron was struck dumb / became still’. Rabbi …