Mi Adir – Composition and audio © Alexander Massey, 13 Nov 2013 Download free sheet music (solo version) Download the free sheet music (solo voice & string quartet) Mi Adir is a text that is traditionally used at a Jewish wedding as the couple processes to the chuppah. Last year, I composed a new musical setting for […]
Mi Adir (blessing the bride and groom) Read More »
Y’varech’cha Adonai – May You Be Blessed – Composition and audio © Alexander Massey, 3 July 2013 Download the free sheet music (solo voice & piano) Download the free sheet music (SATB & piano) The simple meaning I have always loved the sounds of this blessing (sometimes called the ‘Priestly Blessing’), whether in Hebrew or
Y’varech’cha Adonai (May You Be Blessed) – the ‘Priestly Blessing’ Read More »
Music and audio © Alexander Massey 14 March 2013 Watch/listen on YouTube Download the free sheet music (solo & optional piano) Download the free sheet music (4 part choir & optional piano) The words of Mi chamocha are taken from the Song at the Sea (Shirat Hayam) in Exodus 15, and are included in every
Mi Chamocha No. 2 (Who Is Like You?) Read More »
These are my personal notes that I made when I read: Rabbi Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi (2012) Davening: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer, Jewish Lights . When I make notes, they are just to jog my own memory of the book, so I am aware that they may not always make sense to the general
These are my personal notes that I made when I read: Mike Comins (2010) Making Prayer Real: Leading Jewish Spiritual Voices on Why Prayer Is Difficult and What to Do about It, Jewish Lights. When I make notes, they are just to jog my own memory of the book, so I am aware that they may not
Making Prayer Real (Mike Comins) – notes on the book Read More »
My tallit is one of my most personal and precious Jewish objects. It is what I wrap around me when I step into prayer – intimate, I-Thou encounter with God. When I had one handwoven for me by the wonderful Amy Smith at Blue Feet Studio, I wanted to personalise it so that it could have special
A tale of a tallit (Jewish prayer shawl) Read More »
Congregational version (lower key, Dm) Solo version (tenor, Fm) Composition and audio © Alexander Massey 2011 – All Rights Reserved Download the free sheet music (duet & piano) With an unending love You have loved the house of Israel your people: You have taught us Torah and mitzvot, laws and precepts. Therefore, our God, when
Ahavat Olam (Unending Love) Read More »
Composition and audio © Alexander Massey 22 June 2011 Download the free sheet music (voice & optional piano, piccolo) 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 Yotzeir
Yotzeir Or (Creator Of Light) Read More »
The Rabbis juxtaposed the three separate paragraphs of the Sh’ma, because they touched on so many themes and layers of meaning central to Judaism. Reading the Sh’ma therefore enables us to fulfill the commandment to study Torah (Berachot 60b). For about a year and a half, I have studied the Sh’ma closely, as well as
Seven Triptychs on the Sh’ma (poem) Read More »
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
Before we ever said hello (poem) Read More »