The dominant imagery of Song 28 is, appropriately enough in a praisesong, that of sound: To You, Adonai, I call. …
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Although it is certainly a praisesong, Song 26 seems intended to be spoken, rather than sung. Probably because it is a self-defense, as if it were being argued in a divine court (“the abode of Your house”, v.8), before the judge, Adonai. No prosecutor; simply the closing arguments of the defendant. That argument is framed …
Song 25 makes an intruder out of its reader or listener. The sense is of overhearing an intensely intimate prayer.* And yet, paradoxically, the frame of the song, that which determines its structure, is formal — each line begins, in Hebrew, with a letter of the alphabet, in their proper order. Perhaps the contradiction between …
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The sound and the sense of Song 24 suggest a pageant. In contrast to the personal tone of Song 23, Song 24’s is formal, dominated by rhetorical questions and answers, as though two voices, or, more probably, two choruses are meant to sing the roles of questioner and responder. The song begins with a declaration …
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Click here to read “Psalm Twenty-three: Translation of the Song” The metaphor that opens Song 23, of the shepherd and His sheep, evokes a sense of safety: a shepherd does not merely herd his sheep, as his name implies; his duty is to ensure their safety –to keep them from straying and to protect them from …
Click here to read “Psalm Twenty-two: Translation of the Song” Two visions create Song 22; one perceives the present and one, the future. Each describes an extreme state of being and each is the polar opposite of the other. The song opens with the voicing of an anguish so intense that, more than a cry, it …
Both the structure of the praisesong and its themes are complements. Each describes the singer’s feeling of certainty; his sureness of God’s protection and his gratitude for it. No wonder, then, that the most striking repetition in the song is the word “Indeed”, that begins verses 4, 7, 8, 12 and 13, for it denotes …
Shabbat candle lighting CANDLE LIGHTING בָּרוּך אַתָּה יְיָּ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶך הָּעוֹלָּם, אֲשֶר קִדְשָּנוּ בְמִצְוֹתָּיו וְצִוָּּנוּ לְהַדְלִיק נר שֶל שַבָּת Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Ha-olam, Asher Kid’shanu B’mitzvotav V’tzivanu, L’hadlik Ner Shel Shabbat. Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, Who has made us holy through His commandments, and has commanded us …
HAVDALLAH – short havdalah service HAVDALLAH – THE SHORT VERSION בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם. בּורֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם. בּורֵא מִינֵי בְשָׂמִים: (Smell the spices) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם. בּורֵא מְאורֵי הָאֵשׁ: (Reflection of the fire on nails) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם. הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קדֶשׁ לְחל. בֵּין …
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Netilat Yadaim N Bread-Hamotzi (short-long-reanslation) Netilat Yadaim / Washing the hands We wash our hands at least once with an amount of 86cc on either hand. The main Minhag is to do so three times on each hand, starting with the washing of the right hand. Blessing after washing: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם …
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