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Songs of the Soul

• Ode Yishamah • Return Again • Shlomo’s Words • Asher bara
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This melody by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach z”l is from the 7th. wedding blessing in a traditional Jewish wedding: “Again there shall be heard in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem – the voice happiness and the voice of joy, the voice of a groom and the voice of the bride.” Melody by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach z”l with lyrics by Raphael Kahn, this song has become a classic in many spiritual communities, and is especially appropriate for the Jewish High Holidays. I love the beautiful clarinet of Dennis Freese, and the back up harmony of Aletta Mannix. This song was first recorded for Debra Zaslow’s storytelling CD called “Return Again.” These haunting and beautiful words are from the introduction to a songbook containing the music and lyrics of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach z”l. The words are from the 7th. blessing of the traditional 7 Jewish wedding blessings. The melody is by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. The harmony is sung by Rabbi Jackie Brodsky.
• Because of My Friends • Hashivaynu  • Could We With Ink
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From Psalm 122:8-9. Melody by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. Listen to the beautiful vocal harmony by Rabbi Jackie Brodsky. Drumming by Tom Freeman. The psalm literally begins with the words “For the sake of my brothers friends…,” but Reb Shlomo chose to translate it as “Because of my brothers and friends.” This completely changes the focus of the psalm. It’s not just that I can give peace to others, but it’s because of my friends that I can have peace in the first place. These words are chanted as the Torah is placed back in the ark after being read. Music by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. To paraphrase the meaning of the words, this prayer asks G-d to return us to our original state of being, and to renew our days as they were in ancient times. The repeating chorus line is from a traditional Jewish hymn called Akdamut, and chanted on the Jewish festival of Shavuot. The chorus line was written by by Rabbi Meir bar Yitzchak in the eleventh-century. I wrote the lyrics, Patti Moran McCoy wrote the music, and the vocalist is the extraordinary Tata Vega.