My soul has not known peace since the day the lover was sent wandering, Since the exile of children from your midst.  I will pour out my pleas before the Eternal Lord, to raise your gates, rebuild your sanctuaries.  Then you will rejoice forever, abide securely, And your children will know a lasting peace, beyond what you have ever known.

Beautiful city, delight of all cities, You are steadfast, a city loyal to your sovereign and nobles.  As I recall you in your glory, the humming of assembled throngs, my soul aches, it longs for you, to dwell within your courtyards.  Oh, that I could fly like a dove! I would kiss your stones, cherish your dust.

The Kitchen - Modah Ani

Purchase a download of the entire collection here: sellfy.com/p/XJIz/

This collection of chants come from the originally released "From Bindu to Ojas" box set in 1970, a predecessor to the release of "Be Here Now" - the box set contained the brown pages from Be Here Now, as well as vinyl recordings of chants and lectures. This playlist came directly from the chant vinyl from the box set. Enjoy!


Track 10 - From Bindu to Ojas - Adonai Elohim

Milts Nigun (Joey Weisenberg)

Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention with special guest Rahsaan Roland Kirk at The Boston Globe Jazz Festival January 31, 1969.  Recorded by yours truly on a portable Sony reel-to-reel that I smuggled into the event.

Frank Zappa & The Mothers with Rahsaan Roland Kirk at The Boston Globe Jazz Festival 1-31-69

This month we're talking about how we prioritize kid services and programming versus our own communal needs. What is our ideal, and what we have we seen that didn't work for us.

Endorsements
Mimi endorses Kapelya, an album of women singing Hasidic melodies soon to be released by the artist RAZA, watching the Klimovitcher Nigun recording on YouTube, and Yerba Buena: A Novel by Nina LaCour.
Zahava endorses Growing Each Day by Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski and Orthodox Jews and “Tikkun Olam” by Rav Moshe Taragin in the Jerusalem Post
Tamar endorses the Hanukkah Erotica Book Club podcast, and the book Search by Michelle Huneven.

Talking In Shul Ep. 87: Good Shabbat Programming for Kids

Kol Hai Yom Kippur Morning 2018

Shochen Ad (Joey Weisenberg)

Here is a discussion with R' Aaron Leibowitz about some of the emotional and spiritual challenges posed by the uncertainty of our national situation, and what Purim might teach us about finding a way forward.

Jewish Heroism Project

JHP Rabbis out of the box- Purim's Uncertain Message

שִׂימוּ לֵב עַל הַנְּשָׁמָה לֶשֶׁם שְׁבוֹ וְאַחְלָמָה
וְאוֹרָה כְּאוֹר הַחַמָּה שִׁבְעָתַיִם כְּאוֹר בֹּקֶר
“Take heart. Pay heed to your own soul. Opal, amethyst, and gold, 
As bright as is the sun's warm glow, far brighter than the morning.”
—“Odeh La-El” by R. Shma’ya Kosson

Simu Lev by Kedmah: The Rising Song Piyyut Project

Yoni Avi Battat - oud, violin, viola, vocals, music director, producer
Rabbi Yosef Goldman - vocals, rabbinic and literary director, producer
Joey Weisenberg - fretless electric bass, producer
Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer - vocals
Anat Halevy Hochberg - vocals
Yahala Lachmish - guest vocalist
April Centrone - guest percussionist

Produced by Rising Song Records
risingsongrecords.bandcamp.com
Recorded November, 2023 at Rittenhouse Soundworks in Philadelphia, PA

Don Godwin - audio engineer, mixing, and mastering
Shmulie Lowenstein - video
Josh Fleet - production manager

A project of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, cultivating Jewish spiritual life through song: www.risingsong.org

***

Simu Lev is a collection of traditional Middle Eastern and North African piyyutim (liturgical poems), centered around the theme of our inner spiritual lives and our relationship with the divine. As stated in the above excerpt from “Odeh La-El,” the music in this album calls its listeners to nourish the neshamah, the soul, and to tend the holy and precious inner workings of the human heart and consciousness. Literally meaning “place your heart,” Simu Lev also means, “pay attention” in modern Hebrew. By curating and presenting Mizrahi cultural heritage, which has often sat at the margins of American Jewish society, this album is indeed a call to pay attention – to recognize the diversity amongst our communities, and to embrace the deeply rooted, ornate, and beautiful Arab musical traditions that are so essential to the landscape of Jewish expression at large.

This album is the first release from Kedmah: The Rising Song Piyyut Project. Led by Rabbi Yosef Goldman (vocals) and Yoni Avi Battat (oud, violin, viola, vocals), Kedmah honors the artists’ Iraqi, Syrian, and Yemenite ancestry in conversation with their intersecting musical influences. Their interactive performances, workshops, and recordings allow listeners to experience the spiritual and emotional depth of Mizrahi piyyutim and the ages-old tradition of Arab melodies that adorn them. Building on the fragments of the Mizrahi musical traditions that they grew up with, Yoni and Yosef have made a concerted effort to reclaim the texts and melodies that brought meaning to the lives of their ancestors. 

After years of musical hevruta and study with their cherished teacher Roni Ishran, Yoni and Yosef founded Kedmah as a part of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute. Part educational initiative, part performance group, the social and pedagogical impact of this project is strengthened by a commitment to musical creativity, historical accuracy, spirituality, and public performance at the highest level.

This recording features the Rising Song Institute’s founder and artistic director, Joey Weisenberg, on electric fretless bass along with Arabic percussion expert, April Centrone, on darbuka, riq, bendir, and drum kit. Yahala Lachmish, Anat Halevy Hochberg, and Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer contribute stunning vocal performances inspired by their own personal connection to this music and their Yemenite and Libyan ancestry.

Kiriyah Yefefiyah קריה יפהפיה

1. Yoh Ribon

ניגון "הנשמה יורדת לתוך הגוף" בביצוע ר' שמואל זלמנוב

Modah/Modeh Ani is a prayer said upon waking up in amazement that the spirit has returned from the dream world to the body! There are so many beautiful and joyful melodies for this prayer, but sometimes waking up and discovering oneself alive, while beautiful, is also kind of eerie and bizarre. Here's my slightly emo Modah Ani for you to try out when the right moment hits <3 

I thank you, vital and present Ruler/Spirit of the Universe, for you returned my spirit to me with compassion. Your faithfulness is abundant. 

מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקיים, שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה, רבה אמונתך
מודה אני לפניך רוח חי וקיימת שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה רבה אמונתיך

Modah/Modeh ani lefanekha/lefanayikh, Ruach/Melech chai v'Kayam/Kayemet, shehekhezart/a bi nishmati b'chemla raba emunatekha/emunatayikh.

Modah Ani (in Existential Dread)aka Emo-dah Ani

Hadar's Rising Song Institute cultivates Jewish spiritual life through song. Through Rising Song Records we produce excellent original Jewish music that is sung and played in communities worldwide.

Kiriyah Yefefiyah קריה יפהפיה

Rising Song Institute

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