The Song for the Month this month is one of my favorites — a setting of “Or Zarua.” We sang this at CBI on Kol Nidre night, as this verse is traditionally sung at the start of Kol Nidre services; for me, it always seems particularly appropriate for this season, since it speaks about the sowing of light and about how God is the source of all light. In these darkening days of Kislev and December, that’s a message I need to hear!
The words are:
אור זרע לצדיק
ולישרי לב שמחה.
כי עמך מקור חיים
באורך נראה אור.
Or zarua la-tzaddik
U’l'yishrei-lev, simcha.
Ki imcha m’kor chayyim (3x)
B’orcha nir’ei or.
(Light is sown for the righteous, and for the upright of heart, joy.
For with You is the source of light; in Your light, we see light.)
The melody — which is really gorgeous — is by Shir Yaakov Feinstein-Feit; you can listen to his recording of it here on bandcamp, or via the embedded player below.
