Inspired by an excerpt from the poem "Red Sea" by Aurora Levins Morales written in 2002 and included in the article written by Arielle Angel “We Cannot Cross Until We Carry Each other” in Jewish Currents post October 7, 2023.

Written by Molly Bajgot & Sol Weiss on our way to DC, October 2023
Sung by Leigh Witzling, Nina Gordon Kirsch, Lily Israel, Molly Bajgot and Sol Weiss


Lyrics:

We won’t rest till we’re all free
You are not my enemy
In our pain, in our grief
Border walls won’t protect me

We will cross the sea
With all of us or none

We will cross the sea
We will cross the sea
With all of us or none
With all of us or none

Cross the Sea (by Molly Bajgot & Sol Weiss)

Ahava V'rachamim by Bon Singer 
Ahava V'rachamim Chesed V'shalom
Love and compassion, kindness and peace/wholeness

Recorded by IfNotNow Boston Summer 2016.

Ahavah V'Rahamim

by Aly Halpert

chorus and bridge from an Arundhati Roy quote.

recorded by Aly Halpert (voice & guitar) & Margot Seigle (backup vocie)
November 9th, 2016

lyrics:
the policemen have thrown away their guns
they kiss their sons and their daughters and their souls are at peace
no more black boys black girls trans women dying
no more reasons that could ever justify their loss 
and mothers send their teens out at night 
to breathe the sweet summer air and exhale on the ground
the earth was made for them
the earth is made for them
she is on her way
and no one can be silent anymore
every death is a death that my family mourns 
we've traded in our numbness and all of our fear
to fight for the lives we now hold dear
and everyone has come to greet the reckoning
the place where our hearts got smaller and smaller 
now grows to hold the pain
the brokenness that leads to pain
she is on her way
another world's not only possible
on a quiet day I can hear her breathing
and when the world we're dreaming is ours
we'll be tall inside
there will be no more question
as we pray and sing
that we have each other and what that means
we'll finally get to be together
stare with our hearts at what has been
and find some place of home
she is on her way"

She is On Her Way

For Pittsburgh and Squirrel Hill. In service of our healing and collective freedom in the midst of intense white nationalist violence in the form of transphobia, racism, sexism, and anti-semitism.  As a reminder that more police and "security" do not make us safer, especially for those of us who hold multiple targeted identities.  We will only win when we are all together.

Lyrics:
we are a beautiful people
though our hearts are broken
we sing for justice, and wholeness

we are a beautiful people
though our hearts are broken
we know that we are not alone
right here we are home

you have taken a universe
you have taken a mountain
our voices echo in the hills

they will not divide us
we will not abide this
we know that together we'll be free
mourning tragedy
our safety is with each other

we are a beautiful people
though our hearts are broken
we sing for justice, and wholeness

we are a beautiful people
though our hearts are broken
we know that we are not alone
right here we are home

toch emunei am segulah (repeated)

hebrew translation: 
from lecha dodi, a prayer greeting shabbes:
among those who hold faith, a treasured nation

gratitude to Chana Rusanov for hebrew lyrics and translation.
gratitude for Rachel Beck for leading me on my own journey against anti-semitism for seven years now
gratitude for Dove Kent, JFREJ, and so so many other brilliant teachers leading us towards solidarity
gratitude for our allies who take the time and effort to see the realities of systemic anti-semitism
gratitude for life, for existence, and the capacity to heal.

Aly Halpert's Album

Beautiful People (Toch Emunei)

brich rachamana malka d'alma mar'ei d'hai pita
thank you, thank you, 
thank you for this beautiful food, 
may it nourish us to build a world that's whole.
*a close translation of the aramaic: blessed is the merciful one, sovereign of the world, creator of this bread.*
**art (woodburned challah board) by batya levine**

Brich Rachamana (aftermeal blessing)

Moses' prayer for his sister Miriam when she is sick -- Ana el na refa na la - "please Gd, heal her." 

Ancient Jewish words from Numbers 12:13. Music written and recorded in 2016 by Aly Halpert for a friend who was in need of healing.

Songs for Healing

Ana El Na

Batya Levine, Rena Branson, Aliza Schwartz, Tamar Sandweiss-Back

Shalom Aleichem (Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Sheva & Jai Uttal)

Melody derived from the Ashkenazi trop (cantillation) for Eicha (the text we read on Tisha b'Av, a Jewish day of mourning)

Hebrew text from opening phrase of Eicha (sung in Ashkenazi trop, with Ashkenazi pronunciation)
אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד, הָעִיר רַבָּתִי עָם--הָיְתָה, כְּאַלְמָנָה
Eicha yashva vadad, ha'ir rabasi am haysa k'almanah
[Translation: How is she sitting alone, the city who was once full of her people, how she is like a widow]

Oh weary one, lay your head down and rest your aching bones on the ground
Oh fearful one, lay your head down and let your body breathe on the ground
Oh hopeless one, lay your head down and rest your heavy heart on the ground
Oh yearning one, lay your head down and sing your song into the ground
Oh rageful one, lay your head down and let your tears flow into the ground
Oh weary one, lay your head down and rest your aching bones on the ground
Oh ANCIENT ONE, as we lay our heads down, please lay with us on the ground

Artwork from 14 Century German Book of Eicha

Yashva Vadad // Oh Weary One (a mourning lullabye for the weary)

Origin:
Words from Selichot liturgy
Melody is a Chabad tune
This is a recording that Batya Levine made for NSP in preparation for co-leading High Holiday services with Rabbi Joseph in 2020

Words:
Rachamana d’anei (de’anei) la’ani’ei
oy vey! aneina(n) 

Rachamana d’anei l’tvi’rei lieba, 
oy aneina(n)! oy aneina(n)!

Translation:
Compassionate One, who answers/responds to the oppressed. 
Oy Vey! Answer/respond to us!

Compassionate One, who answers/responds to the brokenhearted. 
Oy! Answer/respond to us! 
Oy! Answer/respond to us!

Rachamana - Chabad Melody

Our Power

This is a chant grounded in the resilience, courage, and hope of our Jewish ancestors, reminding us that when we fight for life and for justice, we are weaving ourselves with all justice-fighters who came before us. No fight is too big for our fierce and courageous hearts. 

As the story goes: In 1939, Nazis surrounded a group of Jews from Lublin, Poland, backed up against barbed wire and ordered them to sing to their own execution. One man began to sing: "Mir veln zey iberlebn, iberlebn, iberlebn” —"We will outlive them.” The song took hold among the entire people, who, as they awaited their deaths, began to dance. They danced with joy, with resilience, with a life that could not be destroyed by fascism, militarism, or genocide. The commander saw this resilience. He recognized their defiance. They continued, even as the SS troops charged at them. Most lost their lives that day. And some lived to tell this story. We are here. We will outlive them. We will join forces and voices with others to fight so we can all outlive them, together (thank you, Jews for Racial & Economic Justice!). 

Vocals: Avra Shapiro
Melody: Avra Shapiro
Arrangement: Avra Shapiro & Nadav Simon 
Bass: Matt Coglianese
Drums: Nadav Simon
Violin: Mallory Linehan
Production and Mixing: Nadav Simon
Mastering: Steve Marek 
Recorded and Mastered at Cybernetic Meadow
Art by Micah Bazant (poster can be bought here: https://www.micahbazant.com/buy-art/we-will-outlive-them).

Mir Veln Zey Iberlebn

Avra K'Davra

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