I started writing Jewish music in about 2008. By about 2011 I knew that the music was for more than just my own enjoyment. By then I had several hundred pages of musical ideas in various states of completion. I figured that even if 10% of the songs and melodies were truly exceptional […]
Archives for March 2016
Thank God for the Psalms
There are 150 Psalms in the Hebrew Bible. And I thank God for the psalms on what feels like a daily basis. Why? Because I am so glad that the faith tradition that I practice, teach, and represent has poetry at the heart of its sacred scripture. While reading this post here’s a song […]
Can anywhere be a holy place?
Check out this song of mine called “Jacob’s Journey” while you read this post. It’ll connect by paragraph 6: Awhile back I wrote about why I find such meaning in creating contexts that help others find and share their voices. The other day I found myself leafing through some reflective journaling prompts I used […]
The little aleph
The book of Leviticus, in Hebrew Vayikra begins, as you might imagine, with the word: Vayikra. “God called to Moses…” You’ll notice in the picture above that the final letter of Vayikra, the aleph is written smaller than all the other letters. In noticing this you’ll join every Jew, bible scholar, and person that has ever studied the Hebrew Bible. […]
The Automatic Self
I’m starting to think that February is a month that brings with it a certain amount of unavoidable stress. There are a couple of contributing factors. First, we’re all sick of winter. Next, though February isn’t particularly busy, the spring ushers in a time of busy-ness for just about all of us. So we […]
My cup overflows
For most of my life I’ve considered myself a “cup’s 1/2 full” sort of person. That’s because I’ve long believed (and told anyone that cared to listen) that optimism IS realism. The world is just too darn fabulous to allow for any other correlation. But I’m not a “cup’s 1/2 full” sort of person anymore. […]