Breathe breathe breathe in 
Breathe breathe out

Let it go, let it go, let it go

Trust in what's coming
Trust in your knowing
It's deeper and wider and holy


special thanks to Jess & Dan Pelberg Berlin for lighting the spark to find this song in me

Breathe

Ruach Neshama is a collection of songs of soul and breath. These songs employ traditional texts, lyrical midrash and the meditative practice of the nigun—the wordless melody—to open our hearts to the ever-present guidance and compassion within. They strive to paint the wisdom and words of our ancestors on a canvas of body and nature, and to ask the question: What is my soul calling for? What teachings do Earth, Song, and Spirit offer me? 

Free sheet music found at arielwolpe.com/sheetmusic 

Many thanks to the incredible musicians who shared their voices on these tracks: to Kendra for being my sister in life, love and music, to Deborah for sweet harmonies and infinite padding, to Jon for relinquishing his time and office space for recording, to Gayanne for sharing my passion for musical connection to earth, and to my mother Valerie for her ongoing guidance in sound, song and spirit. Thank you to my Rising Song cohort Rebekka, Gedalia, Eitan, Batya, Rena, and Sam, for the never-ending inspiration, support and friendship that have lifted my spirit and my offerings to the world. To Don Godwin for mixing and editing these layered tracks, to Eliyahu Sills and Will Robertson for instrumental offerings, and to Josh Fleet for his logistical support. This album would not exist...  more
credits
released August 8, 2021 

All music composed by Ariel Root Wolpe, Hebrew text from Jewish liturgy and Tanakh. 
Music direction by Joey Weisenberg and Ariel Root Wolpe 
Harmony direction by Deborah Sacks Mintz 
Produced by Joey Weisenberg 

Recorded outside and in home-studios in Atlanta, GA, Philadelphia, PA, and Berkeley, CA. 
Engineered by Joey Weisenberg and Jon Mitchell 
Mixed and Mastered by Don Godwin 
Artwork and Layout by Sol Yael Weiss. 

Singers and Musicians: 
Ariel Root Wolpe - lead vocals, acoustic guitar 
Kendra Root Wolpe - vocals 
Deborah Sacks Mintz - vocals 
Valerie Root Wolpe - vocals 
Jon Mitchell - vocals, djembe (track #8) 
Joey Weisenberg - bass, percussion, guitar, baritone ukulele, piccolo, drum programming, vocals 
Will Robertson - bass (track #7) 
Eliyahu Sills - flute (track #2) 
Rising Song Institute Vocalists: Rena Branson, Rebekka Goldsmith, Eitan Kantor, Gedalia Penner, Sam Tygiel, Batya Levine, Gayanne Geurin (track #5) 

www.arielwolpe.com 
www.risingsong.org 

A Project of Hadar's Rising Song Institute: Cultivating Jewish spiritual life through song. 

"Ruach Neshama" sponsored by Wilderness Torah 
"Yedid Nefesh" sponsored by Ahavath Achim Synagogue 
"Hineni" sponsored by Adath Israel on the Main Line 
"Vatikach Miriam" sponsored by Congregation Or Hadash 
"Waking Up Nigun" sponsored by Har Zion Temple
license

Ruach Neshama

Waking Up Nigun

A lullaby melody for day turning to night

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu
Ruach haolam asher bid’varo 
maariv aravim

B’chochmah potei-ach sh’arim, 
uvit’vunah m’shaneh itim 
umachalif et haz’manim, 
um’sadeir et hakochavim 
b’mishm’roteihem barakia kirtzono. 

Borei yom valailah, 
goleil or mipnei choshech, 
v’choshech mipnei or. 
Umaavir yom umeivi lailah, 
umavdil bein yom uvein lailah, 

Adonai Tz’vaot sh’mo. 
El chai v’kayam, 
tamid yimloch aleinu l’olam va-ed. 
Baruch atah, Adonai, hamaariv aravim.

Maariv Aravim Lullaby

Arielle's Soundcloud: @user-227382512

Photo by Jess Benjamin, taken at Let My People Sing! Summer Retreat 2023

Ka'as Nigun - Arielle Rivera Korman

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)

Come Darkness Come Light - 7:2:19, 11.27 PM

the words come from Arundhati Roy's book, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness:

"oh G-d wherever you are
oh G-d whoever you are
please slow us down
please slow us down"

i caught this song in the deep dark winter of February in Boston, grieving the way that power and abuse and capitalism demand cognitive dissonance, and the way that this cognitive dissonance plays out in my communities and my relationships. 

as i wondered what the antidote to such dissonance might be, this song came through. it is a spell for slowing down. for untangling ourselves. for opening our hearts to the aching pulse at the center of the earth.

Slow Us Down

Vocal accompaniment and production by Baci Weiler

I will carry you through these changes
V'ad seva ani esbol
(When you turn grey, I'll still carry you/be patient with you/bear you) 
- Isaiah 46:4

(((It's odd to do this as a duet because to me, it's about learning to hold myself and have my own back, and sometimes feeling like the universe is holding me too.)))

I Will Carry You/V'ad Seva — Inspired by Isaiah 46:4

Nishmat Kol Chai - Joey Weisenberg

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

Lyrics: Modah Ani, a Jewish daily prayer/practice of gratitude. 
Music by Ary Solomon

Lyrics:
Modah, modah ani
L'fanecha
Ruach chai, ruach chai v'kayam
Ruach chai, ruach chai v'kayam

Slow Us Down

emet ezell

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