We are the light, the light is within us

When you walk, you're not alone

The light is in you, and it comes with you

The Light Is Within Us

A niggun I composed partially in spring 2018 and partially on Shemini Atzeret in 2022, hiking through a forest of yellow birches.

Shemini Atzeret Niggun

Psalm 13:3: 

עַד־אָ֨נָה ... יָג֣וֹן בִּלְבָבִ֣י יוֹמָ֑ם
How long will I have grief in my heart all day?

I have found it powerful to reach back into the ancient yearning of this psalm to help tap into the grief of this moment, and feel the grief as deeply as it deserves.

עַד־אָ֨נָה ... יָג֣וֹן בִּלְבָבִ֣י יוֹמָ֑ם
Ad ana yagon bilvavi yomam

How long will there be grief in my heart, how long?

Ad Ana (How Long)

From Psalms 34:19:

קָר֣וֹב יי לְנִשְׁבְּרֵי־לֵ֑ב
Karov havayah l'nishbirei lev
(The Divine is close to the brokenhearted)

It is our brokenness that makes us whole and holy

A song I composed in a moment of heartbreak.

Karov Havayah

I have known the darkness and I have known the light
And the lesson this life keeps teaching me is
There doesn't need to be a fight 
Between joy and grief, or laughter and pain
Our hearts can hold it all
Contradiction is a holy thing

Contradiction Is A Holy Thing

This is a recording of me teaching a melody I composed for a line from the Jewish liturgy, Ilu finu malei shira kayam, at a Let My People Sing! regional gathering.

Ilu finu malei shira kayam - May our mouths be as full of song as the sea.

Ilu Finu - Community song circle teaching

This song was inspired by a recent backpacking trip to Flat Mountain Lake in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. As we stared out at the lake, we marveled at all the life held beneath the water's surface and the beauty of the sky's reflection. My friend Joey said to the rest of us, 'imagine that the sky, mountains and trees were all created simply for the pleasure of the water to show them in her reflection.' This song emerged from the wonder-filled conversations on the banks of Flat Mountain Lake.

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Water, she holds it all; life, love and death play out in her depths.

Big sky reflected in her eyes - have you ever wondered if the sky was created for the water's delight?

Great holder of life, can you hold me too?

Water, she holds it all

Emma Stout is a community weaver and budding songwriter based in Minneapolis. She believes deeply in the transformative and healing power of singing in community.

Emma Stout

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