So my wife, Rabbi Loren Filson Lapidus, and I recorded an album of beautiful lifecycle music that we’ve written in honor of various family celebrations over the last decade. It’s called Eit HaZamir. Whether you’re Jewish or not, whether you’ve experienced the various lifecycles that are captured on the album or not, anyone should be able to appreciate the soul of the music.
In working with the digital distribution company CD Baby I clicked a link that allowed them to create a YouTube video for each song. I haven’t done much to actively promote the music, but I feel compelled to do so, because I believe in the music and know that it is a manifestation of authentic love and care. Here’s the YouTube video that CD Baby created for the title track of the album.
The song name, Eit HaZamir, comes from the Song of Songs (Song of Solomon). The Song of Songs is essentially an extended piece of erotic love poetry that was so popular among ancient Israelites that it became part of the Biblical Canon. The phrase, Eit hazamir higiya means, “The season of the songbird has arrived.” Loren and I translate it as, “Now is the time for singing.”
We typically use this song as part of the bedekken ceremony that comes immediately before the public part of a Jewish wedding. I’ve used this song at Jewish and non-Jewish weddings but also at other milestone moments. For example, I changed the English lyrics of the verses and sang this at the retirement party of a respected colleague.
One last note, Will Robertson, who produced the album, happened to be mixing this particular song on the day that SCOTUS made same sex marriage the law of the land. That was a day where love reigned undeniably supreme. This song carries that special moment with it and it’s my hope and prayer that it will help affirm the love that many people feel for one another in this world. I’d love your thoughts and reactions…