Here is a playlist for Tisha b’Av, the upcoming day of Jewish communal mourning, which falls on the evening of Wednesday, July 29th. For those who are able, Tisha b’Av is a day of fasting that mimics the traditional Jewish practices people take on when a loved one dies.  

On Tisha b’Av, we mourn the destruction of the ancient temple and other historic, ongoing, and contemporary catastrophes. On this day, we tap into communal grief, personal grief, and intergenerational grief, linking the past, the present, and souls all across the world.  We want this playlist to be a resource for people to tap into the holy communal energy of loss that is contained within the day of Tisha b’Av. 

 People sent us recordings of poems, laments, songs of sorrow and anger, and songs that have gotten folks through hard times. People sent traditional nigunim, wordless melodies, and kinot, traditional dirges and Hebrew poems said on days of mourning, that were written out of moments of devastation.

People sent recordings responding to and born of ongoing catastrophes— the ongoing destruction of the Temples of Black bodies in this country, mass death caused by COVID-19 and societal disregard for disabled people’s survival, the ongoing destruction of trans lives, People of Color, Indigenous people, and more. We are in the midst of an uprising against the ongoing and systemic murder of Black people on this land. 

Yehudah Webster, others at Jews for Racial and Economic Justice [JFREJ], and supporters have powerfully launched the #40DaysofTeshuvah campaign. For the 40 days leading into Tisha B’av, each evening, they are lifting up voices and shofars to the heavens, crying out for spiritual deliverance from this ongoing catastrophe, from these narrow straits.  This playlist begins with a soundbite of voices blending with a shofar from one of the #40daysofTeshuva actions.

In Eicha/Lamentations 1:16, through the prophet Jeremiah, G-d surveys a world so full of suffering and names the many parts of the landscape that causes G-d pain. עַל־אֵלֶּה אֲנִי בוֹכִיָּ֗ה עֵינִי, al eileh ani bokhiyah einai, for these things do my eyes weep! Tisha b’Av invites us to delve into our grief-- into our ancestors' suffering, into the endless wells of tears from our personal mourning, and into grief held by our communities and the entire world. Together we lament tragedies and together we hold and are held.

It was our honor to compile this collection of sounds, poetry, and song. These are songs community members have cried to, have written in grief, have found home in, and have called out to the skies with. This is a playlist that you can listen to in one sitting, or you can listen to it slowly.

You are welcome to start listening to it today to prepare yourself for Wednesday night, when Tisha b'Av begins with the chanting of Eicha/Lamentations. Or, you can wait to listen to it on Wednesday night or all day Thursday. This playlist is yours to be creative with, to share with friends or pod-mates, or to listen to alone as you space out or write or cry.

As we move through this time of COVID-19 and Uprising, may we give each other permission to hold, witness, and feel into our tears/rage/grief/love.Thank you for sharing these meditations, and thank you for helping to create this communal wail.

In Song & Solidarity,
Arielle Rivera Korman and R. Noam Lerman, on behalf of the LMPS team

Tisha b'Av ~ A Communal Wail

lean in

chochmot bachutz tarona
ba'richovot ti'teyn kola

oh wisdom, oh wisdom cries out in the streets
our voices fill the air

Written by Noam & Batya
Vocals - Noam Lerman, Batya Levine, Ilana Lerman, Mónica Gomery & Margot Seigel (core team of Let My People Sing!)

Tarona - Noam Lerman & Batya Levine

and in whose name? 
and at whose call? 
and by whose hand? 
and on whose land? 

and on which day? 
and by what laws? 
and with what trial? 
and in whose home? 

and by whose blood? 
and at what cost? 
and in whose gaze? 
and by whose loss? 

and in whose eyes?

For Justice

A song for self-compassion and healing. 

Inspired by this quote from Parker Palmer: "Wholeness does not mean perfection. It means embracing brokenness as an integral part of life."

In My Brokenness

Artist: Ayla Nereo

Sung at a (mini) song circle on December 11, 2018 on Chinook land/Portland, OR.

Lyrics:
I feel the winds of the west, outbreath
Letting go of my leaves, all I do not need
Into the darkness of the fall sunset
I release, receive, getting ready for the 
Silence

Winds Of The West (Ayla Nereo)

Linke Fligl Nign (Extended)— Ki Leolam Chasdo

Harmony and guitar by Rabbi Ariel Root Wolpe

Tzemach Tzedek (1789 - 1866), the third Chabad Rebbe, would purportedly break into this melody upon reaching these words in Hallel (a special set of prayers for festivals and the new moon). 

Listen to an old recording:
www20.chassidus.com/audio/enign/enign911.mp3

Words:
www.chabad.org/multimedia/media_…/Yemin-Hashem.htm

Yemin Hashem (Chabad)

A zemer (song) for Shabbat, a time of slowness, rest, and rejuvination. A zemer usually sung on Shabbat afternoon. Attributed to Dunash ibn Labrat, a 10th century Babylonian paytan (liturgical poet), whose name is spelled acrostically in verses 1,2,3 and 6.
sung by Mónica Gomery & Batya Levine

D'ror yikra l'ven im bat, v'yintzorchem k'mo vavat, n'im shimchem v'lo yushbat, sh'vu v'nuchu b'yom shabbat.

D'rosh navi v'ulami, v'ot yesha aseh imi, n'ta sorek b'toch karmi, she'e shavat b'nei ami.

D'roch purah b'toch batzrah, v'gam bavel asher gavrah, n'totz tzarai b'af v'evrah, sh'ma koli b'yom ekra.

Elohim ten b'midbar har, hadas shitah b'rosh tidhar, v'lamazhir v'lanizhar, sh'lomim ten k'mei nahar.

Hadoch kamai, el kanah, b'mog levav uvamginah, v'narchiv peh unmalenah, l'shonenu l'cha rinah.

D'eh chochmah l'nafshecha, v'hi cheter l'roshecha, n'tzor mitzvat k'doshecha, sh'mor shabbat kodshecha.

Translation:
 God will proclaim freedom for all God's children
And will keep you as the apple of God's eye
Pleasant is your name and will not be destroyed
Repose and rest on the Sabbath day.

Seek my sanctuary and my home.
Give me a sign of deliverance.
Plant a vine in my vineyard.
Look to my people, hear their laments.

Tread the wine-press in Bozrah,
And in Babylon that city of might
Crush my enemies in anger and fury.
On the day when I cry, hear my voice.

Plant, Oh God, in the mountain waste
Fir and acacia, myrtle and elm
Give those who teach and those who obey
Abundance peace, like the flow of a river.

Repel my enemies, Oh zealous God.
Fill their hearts with fear and despair.
Then we shall open our mouths,
And fill our tongues with Your praise.

Know wisdom, that your soul may live,
And it shall be a diadem for your brow.
Keep the commandment of your Holy One
Observe the Sabbath, your sacred day.

Dror Yikra - Ashkenazi Traditional

Violin and production by Eitan Kantor, flute by Sam Tygiel

Ekh Du (Chabad) – Set to Psalm 19 for Shabbat Morning

Poem by Lila Serene, translated by Lila & her mom Ana Goldenberg.
Melody by Margot Seigle
Recorded on the 24th of Iyar 5780 // Netzach shebe Yesod 
Yiddish pronunciation support from Noam Lerman 

This poem is about trusting the babies choosing to be conceived and born in this pandemic to be bringing with them the gifts and wisdom that are most needed.

naye lebn

dayne 
zise oygn farshpreyt
fris tsit fun eybikeyt arop
greyt, hungeric
oysgisn bagleybtkyte azoy vi honic dekn mid harts 
onton a bissle fargenign azoy vi vesne regn 
gebakt in der shmek fun frish likht
du bist punkt genoy gekumen aher 
biz a hor ven du kumft iz der merste veytikeyt
un ich tsuher zich 
hent aroysraysn tfilin fun lipn farstitert 
doziker beyner fartriknt megn beygn gehnuk niderik
kushn dos erd gehnuk tsertlekh
zayn bagrisn ba der mikdesh
fun vos du host gekumen aher tsulernen.

translation: 

new life.

Your 
Wide sweet eyes 
Fresh plucked from eternity 
Ready hungry 
pouring trust like syrup over tired hearts 
a sprinkling of joy like spring rain steeped in the scent of fresh light 
you are right on time
right when you're needed most 
and I am listening
palms pressing prayers through trembling lips
may these drying bones bend low enough 
to kiss this earth gently enough 
to be received at the altar 
of what you've come here to teach.

Naye Lebn

Ayelet chen b’galut tis’m’cheini
U-valaila b’toch cheika m’loni
L’chos yeyna ani tamid m’zuman
v’-nit’arav chamad yeyna b’-yeyni
Sh’tu dodim l’umati v’-shichru
v’-hairu l’sechek ra’ayonai
B’-heychal bat m’lachim ha-k’vuda
v’-shulchana m’zuman la-hamoni
z’man hifrid l’chol re’im v’dodim /
aval dodi b’-ahava yimsh’cheini
Y’kasher chen v’-chesed al g’veret /
b’-ma’agal chen v’-chesed yizk’reini
M’farshez ba’anan avey sh’chakim /
l’-ra’ayati v’-hi tafik r’tzoni
Sh’areyha chamushim hem k’vuim /
z’chut Leah b’vina tis’adeini
T’orer ahavat Rachel l’-vanim /
b’-sod malchut asirit ta’aleini
Elokim chish l’amcha y’shua /
b’et ratzon t’tzach’tze’ach g’roni
Sh’lumey lev b’rov shalom t’sovev /
b’ney ish tam s’gulat av hamoni

Translation:
A graceful doe supports me in exileAnd here in her bosom she’ll lodge me.To drink from her cup I am always prepared,She mingles her wine with my lees.Before me, my friends, drink and be drunk,Rouse the reason that’s sleeping within me.There in her palace sits the daughter of kings,Her table ready for those who are with me.For every lover there comes a time to part,But with ardor my love shall recall me.He adorns his lady with grace and with kindness,In paths of grace and of kindness he leads me.For my beloved I spread out the clouds of the heavens,My desire she never denies me.Fifty are her gates, solid and firm, and withThe favor of Leah her wisdom sustains me.She arouses Rachel’s love for her children,Unto the tenth kingdom’s secret she’ll raise me.God, hasten to bring unto thine people salvation,And may my tongue be made pure within me.Thy great peace shall encompass those whole of heart,The sons of the pure man, a charm unto thee.

LMPS 2019

Ayelet Chen - as sung by Ofra Haza, words by R. Shalom Shabazi (Performed by Anat Hochberg)

A song from the depths of grieving

www.madelynilana.com

https://madelynilana.bandcamp.com/album/awake-dreaming

May We All Receive The Healing We Need

This piece is an excerpt from my play Writing to Return: Letters of a Daughter in Exile.  I wrote this play for my late father, so the entire work is a mourning-lamentation-honoring of his life and death.

Dad,
Here I am
I am no longer hiding from you
I am the beautiful black symbol
encrypted over the white page
I am here
holding
my patterns for the
world to see
read me for who I am
I am also the Shadow
Light Dad,
See ALL that I am
See ALL of me and still love me

-
Luz Schreiber

Hineni by Luz Schreiber

Dalfa Nafshi
Lyrics: Psalms 119. Music: Jessi Roemer
lyrics:
Dalfa nafshi mituga (2x); Kay’meini ki dvarecha (2x)
(My soul melts with sorrow; sustain me with Your word)

Like many verses in Psalms, this begins with despair ("My soul melts with sorrow"), and ends with hope ("Sustain me with Your word"). Written in 2017 as cruelty against Muslims and immigrants was ramping up at U.S. borders and Jewish graveyards were being desecrated, these two sentences carry the despair and the hope of building a more just world in the wake of what's been lost. It resonates in 2020 as more of our society wrestles with our communal devastation of Black lives, and righteous demonstrations sow seeds of hope for a just future. 

credits:
from Jessi Roemer's PRAISE album, released August 18, 2019
Lyrics: Psalms 119
Music: Jessi Roemer
Guitar: Jessi Roemer
Electronic Organ: Don Godwin
Vocals: Jessi Roemer, Diana Brewer, Shulamit Wise-Fairman, Irwin Keller
all rights reserved

PRAISE

Dalfa Nafshi (My Soul Melts) by Jessi Roemer

A recording of an action, repeated each of the 40 nights before Tisha b'Av 2020, in which the sounds of the shofar and the human voice blend in a cry out to the skies as a contribution to the Black Lives Matter movement and cries for justice in this time of uprising and the pandemic. Organized by Yehudah Webster, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, and other supporters.

Recording by Hannah Roodman

40 Days of Teshuvah Grand Army Plaza Communal Wail

JEWISH COMMUNAL SINGING FOR HEALING AND LIBERATION
Let My People Sing! is a cultural project expanding the ancient and transformative practice of Jewish communal singing. We gather in multi-racial, multicultural and genderful Jewish community, uplifting songs and leaders historically and ongoingly pushed to the margins. Together, we transmit and reclaim diasporic Jewish singing traditions, celebrate original music emerging from our communities, and create heart-centered gatherings where we can all be leaders and learners of song.

In My Brokenness

Atid

Related tracks