Avi likes these songs

Round House Song Sessions
July 23rd, 2016
Millerton, NY

recorded by: Aly Halpert, Shelby Handler, Beck Gross, Batya Levine & Margot Seigle

lyrics:
I am grateful for the unknown blessings already on their way 
I am grateful for the unknown blessings already on their way 

I will not 
Look back in anger
Or forward in fear
But around in awareness

The Haudenosaunee believe that words of gratitude come before all else that should be said in a conversation, and the initial words of this song are credited to them.  Sarah Thompson learned this song, which expands on that concept, while doing ecological social justice work with Joanna Macy. Batya heard it from Sarah while they sat in the red tent during Passover in the Desert with Wilderness Torah.  The version recorded here is Batya's crafting.

original words:
We give thanks 
for the unknown blessings
already on their way (2x)

We will not
look back in anger
or forward in fear
but around in awareness...

We give thanks

AV - I Am Grateful

words from Isaiah 51:17 and 60:1
song by Hanna Tiferet

recorded by Aly Halpert, Sol Weiss, Molly Bajgot & Margot Seigle
Falls Village, CT April 2017

lyrics: 
awaken arise to the wholeness of your being
awaken arise to the beauty of your soul
Hitor’ri hit’or’ri ki va orekh
Kumi Ori

adamah 

IYAR - Awaken Arise

Inspired by nomadic years, the wisdom of the body and nervous system, change, Somatic Reality: Bodily Experience and Emotional Truth by Stanley Kelemen, the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess community, and the Judaism of my ancestors. Received to the tune of Avinu Malkeinu, a traditional Jewish High Holidays prayer.

Deep gratitude to my teachers, community and bright and well ancestors: Taya Shere, Rabbi Jill Hammer, Ibrahim Baba, my parents, Zaide, Grandpa, the Romanian women, Kohenet and so many more. Thank you.

Lyrics:
Slow down, child, slow down
Slow down and listen to the wind
All comes together; all falls apart
Forming anew your beating heart

Slow down, child, slow down
Slow down and draw yourself near
The rocks are your keepers
Tell them your stories
Now it is safe to be here

A river flows from within you to where you will go
The current carries you home
Let your life unfold

Slow down, child, slow down
Slow down and you will receive
Life wants to meet you where you are
Not where you think you should be

A river flows from within you to where you will go
The current carries you home
Let your life unfold

Slow down, child, slow down
Slow down and you will be shown
The love that was always lifting you up
You are never alone

A river flows from within you to where you will go
The current carries you home
Let your life unfold

Slow down child, slow down (x4)

Slow down, child, slow down
Slow down and listen to the wind
All comes together; all falls apart
Forming anew your beating heart

Slow Down / The Mother's Response (Preview)

Vocals - Batya Levine
Percussion - Simcha Halpert-Hanson

I'm Gonna Get Through  - Batya Levine

Vocals - Batya Levine
Percussion - Simcha Halpert Hanson

Nechama - Batya Levine

Yismechu v'malchuscha shomrei shabbos v'korei oneg

They will delight in your all empowering sovereignty - those who tend and care for shabbos and call it a joyous celebration
(translation by batya)

Vocals - Batya Levine
Percussion - Simcha Halpert-Hanson

Yismechu - Batya Levine

Art by Brandon Boyd in Support of Standing Rock

Voice Memos

May I Be Empty/Full

we are good.
we are flawed.
we are the breath of an imperfect god.

returning to self. returning to source.
god is change. god is growth. the process, in all it's beauty and all it's mess, is god.

collage art by Chani Nicholas

we are good we are flawed

Written on a summer morning at Eden Village Camp, sung by Aly Halpert, Anat Hochberg, Ilan Korman, & Leah Shoshana Cowen, recorded on an iphone voice memo.

original text:
modah/modeh ani l'fanecha, ruach chai v'kayam 
(I am grateful before you, eternal living spirit)

additional english lyrics:
I was made for this morning
I was made to be here
All the life inside me is a gift
so we may heal

I was made for this morning
I was made to be here
All the life around me is a gift
so I may heal

Modah Ani (Voice Memo Recording)

Elohai Neshama by Sol Weiss

asher lo hayam

this is a fragment of a longer phrase "asher lo hayam v'hu asahu" from psalm 95, which roughly translates as "g!d is/is of/has the sea and g!d made it"

collage by chani nicholas
https://chaninicholas.com/horoscopes/

Asher Lo (by Matthew Goldfield & Batya Levine)

Tree Nigun by Noam Lerman, used at many Let My People Sing! gatherings.

Tree  Nigun - Noam Lerman

Yismechu, words from Shabbat liturgy, melody by Batya Levine sung at Let My People Sing! 2018.

(Sung & transliterated in Ashkenazi pronunciation of Hebrew)
Yismechu b'malchuscha shoimrei shabbos v'korei oneg

Translation: They will rejoice in your Sovreignty/Interconnected-Reality, those who guard/honor/keep sacred shabbat and call it a true celebration.

LMPS 2018

Yismechu - Batya Levine - LMPS 2018

Daily praise song that celebrates all who live in the home of the divine (our sacred planet). Words from tradition, music by Aly Halpert. Creative consultation from Batya Levine.

Written for Linke Fligl, a queer Jewish chicken farm and cultural project in Millerton, NY, for their Sukkot gathering, 5779. (linkefligl.com)

Lyrics 
Hebrew(from traditional Jewish services)
Ashrei yoshvei veitecha, od y'hallelucha, selah!

English (by Aly Halpert)
I sing for you
I sing for what is holy and is true
I sing for all creation, for life and liberation
Everyday anew

Aly Halpert's Album

Ashrei

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)

Written by Aly Halpert on a summer morning 5778 at Eden Village Camp
Recorded on garageband spring 5779

original text:
modah/modet/modeh ani l'fanecha, ruach chai v'kayam 
(I am grateful before you, eternal living spirit)

english lyrics by aly halpert:
I was made for this morning
I was made to be here
All the life inside me is a gift
so we may heal

I was made for this morning
I was made to be here
All the life around me is a gift
so I may heal

I was made for this morning
I was made to be here
All the life inside me is a gift
so I may heal

I was made for this morning
I was made to be here
All the life around me is a gift
so we may heal

Modah Ani (morning prayer)

Blessed Motion - 7:2:19, 11.01 PM

kept this track for the chickens in the background

Little Song

Artist: Kate Sutherland

I learned this song at Let My People Sing 2019.

Sung at a song circle on September 15, 2019 on Chinook land/Portland, OR.

Part 1:
When I am waiting out a storm
I come back to my breath
When I am waiting out a storm
I come back to my heartbeat

Part 2:
Mmm, madeo, madeo
Mmm, madeo, madeo-o

**Photo credit: Sarah Snyder!

Waiting Out A Storm (Kate Sutherland)

Tune: an adaptation of the song 'Galeh' by Moshe Shur
Concept from Joseph Berman, Words by Joseph Berman & Batya Levine for the Neilah service on Yom Kippur

Open, open up the gates for 
All who gather here
Open up the gates for
all who seek your presence

Open, open up the gates of
Kindness and compassion
Open up the gates of
Wholeness and peace 
 
Open, open up the gates of 
Freedom and justice
Open up the gates of
Liberation

Open, open up the gates of
Change and release
Open up the gates of 
Transformation

Open, open up the gates of 
Healing and forgiveness 
Open up the gates of
Reconciliation

Open, open up the gates of
Listening and patience 
Open up the gates of 
Humility 

Open, open up the gates of 
Prayer and wisdom 
Open up the gates of
Intuition

Open, open up the gates of 
Equity and honor
Open up the gates of
Dignity
 
Open, open up the gates of
Torah and blessing
Open up the gates of
Gratitude and learning 

Open, open up the gates of
Love and connection
Open up the gates of 
Giving and receiving

Open, open up the gates of 
Trust and pleasure
Open up the gates of
Abundance

Open, open up the gates of    
Joy and resilience 
Open up the gates of 
Liberation

Avi likes these songs

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