Songs That Are Prayers, Prayers That Are Songs

Dear Friends,

Our prayers are not restricted to the prayer book. Popular songs can also express our deepest longings and our greatest joys. A great song is a kind of prayer - it breaks our hearts open, and rekindles our spirits.

I have really been enjoying putting together a new musical program with my collaborator and bassist Robert Bard that I am calling Songs That Are Prayers, Prayers That Are Songs. The songs are in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish. Some come from religious sources, others from surprisingly secular origins. All have some interesting connection to Jewish culture.

I will be bringing this program to Germany this coming September, when I return to the Cologne Jewish Music Festival. But first, I get to perform it locally; if you live in my neck of the woods, I invite you to join me at the Woodstock Jewish Congregation on Sunday, May 3 at 11:30am. The performance will be preceded by a brunch. You can register here.

In this video, I describe and share a song by Leonard Cohen, If It Be Your Will. As he frequently did in his writing, Cohen draws deeply from Jewish sources and sensibilities in this piece. And of course, he puts his unique stamp on the song, poignantly describing the broken human condition, while still reaching for transcendence. Here are the lyrics:

If it be your will, that I speak no more

And my voice be still, as it was before

I will speak no more, I shall abide until

I am spoken for, if it be your will

If it be your will, that a voice be true

From this broken hill, I will sing to you

From this broken hill, all your praises they shall ring

If it be your will, to let me sing

If it be your will, if there is a choice

Let the rivers fill, let the hills rejoice

Let you mercy spill on all these burning hearts in hell

If it be your will, to make us well

Then draw us near, and bind us tight

All your children here, in their rags of light

In out rags of light, all dressed to kill

And end this night, if it be your will

If it be your will

May we all find the songs that deepen and enliven our days.

With love,

Rabbi Jonathan Kligler

(My gratitude to Marka Knight for introducing me to this song.)

I donate all revenues from paid subscriptions to this blog to the Sulha Peace Project