Rumi service PDF

Thanks to everyone who attended yesterday’s Rumi Shabbat service! So far I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback, which is great; perhaps this is something we’ll do again at some point.

A few people have asked if they could have a copy of the service. The answer is a resounding yes! Here it is. (I’ve also posted this to Velveteen Rabbi.) Enjoy. Shavua tov!

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Rumi Shabbat

 

interweaving the poems of Sufi mystic

Jalal ad-Din Rumi (d. 1273)

with the Shabbat morning liturgy

 

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Download Rumi-Service [pdf, 2MB]

Announcing the upcoming Rumi Shabbat service at Congregation Beth Israel

On Saturday, May 5, at 9:30am, Congregation Beth Israel will celebrate Shabbat with a unique service in which each of the poems of the traditional liturgy is paired with a poem by Sufi mystic poet Rumi.

“For many of us today,” says Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, “the poetry of our Hebrew liturgy may be inaccessible or obscure. The poetry of Rumi, especially in Coleman Barks’ beautiful translations, is wildly popular in America today. This is a chance to see our prayers in a new light, through the lenses of Rumi poems which speak to the same themes as our classical prayers.”

The service will run from 9:30-11am, as usual; at 11am the community will enjoy a kiddush (the blessing of wine/juice and bread, and a bit of snacking and conversation time) followed by text study.

“This week,” Rabbi Barenblat says, “we’ll probably spend our text study time discussing the service we will have just experienced. People may want to talk about the Rumi poems, or about the poetry of the Hebrew liturgy, or both.”

For this Rumi Shabbat service, the community will pray using a booklet of prayers collected by Rabbi Barenblat, inspired by her colleague Rabbi Ed Stafman of Bozeman, Montana, a fellow musmach (ordinand) of ALEPH: the Alliance for Jewish Renewal. “Rabbi Ed led a Rumi morning service this winter at Ohalah, the annual conference of Jewish Renewal clergy,” explains Rabbi Barenblat. “As soon as I experienced that, I knew I wanted to bring it home to CBI.”

Congregation Beth Israel, Northern Berkshire county’s only synagogue, was founded in 1893 and today is affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism. 53 Lois Street, North Adams 01247.

Five upcoming “special services” at CBI

Dear members and friends of CBI,

Many of you have spoken with me about the things you do and don’t enjoy about our “usual” Shabbat morning service, and also about the desire to do something a bit different from time to time.

I’m writing to let you know that I am planning one “special service” — one service which does something a little bit different from our usual mode of prayer — during each month of this winter and spring.

On January 21, I will lead a service which leavens the words of our siddur with contemporary poetry — not the poems which appear in Mishkan T’filah, but diverse beloved poems from my own deep bookshelves.

On February 25, we’ll have a special guest; I will once again be leading davenen (prayer / services) with my friend rabbinic student David Markus. Edited to add: Alas, David can’t join us this month — but we’ll see him in March! David will me also on March 17. We’ll bring new music, harmonies, Torah teachings, and joy to both of these services. (He’s led with me at CBI before — most recently in mid-November.)

On April 28, I will lead a contemplative service, a chant-based service featuring a stripped-down liturgy of short chants interspersed with meditative silence which will allow the meanings of the prayers to settle deeply in our hearts. (This will be similar, though not identical, to the contemplative chant-based service I led in early November; we will pray with many of the same melodies we used then.)

On May 5, I will lead our first ever Rumi Shabbat — a morning service in which each prayer of the morning service is paired with a poem by Persian mystic poet Rumi, so that the Rumi poems illuminate our prayers in new ways.

I always look forward to seeing you at CBI (and I know that the same is true of R’ Howard Cohen and R’ Pam Wax, our other usual shlichei tzibbur / prayer-leaders) — and I especially hope that one or more of these special services will appeal to you.

Your thoughts, questions, and comments are always welcome!

Contemplative chants for morning prayer

Here are the prayers we’ll be using during our Contemplative Chant-Based Service on November 6. Feel free to download, to listen online, and to enjoy! (If you’d like a cd of these prayers, either before the service so you can learn them in advance, or after the service, just let Reb Rachel know.)

1. Prayer for gratitude

מודָה אָנִי! / מודֶה אָנִי!
Modah ani (women) / Modeh ani (men)
I am grateful before You!

Modah Ani (mp3)

2. Prayer for the soul

.אֵלהַי נְשָמָה שְנָתַתָ בִי טהורָה הִיא
Elohai neshama, shenatata bi, tehora hee.
My God, the soul that You have placed within me is pure.

Elohai Neshama (mp3)

3. Ashrei (Happy!)

אַשְׁרֵי יוֹשְׁבֵי בֵיתֶךָ, עוֹד יְהַלְלוּךָ סֶּלָה:
Ashrei yoshvei veitecha, od y’hallelucha, selah!
Happy are they who dwell in Your house;
they will praise You, always!

Ashrei (mp3)

4. Kol HaNeshamah (All That Breathes) – from Psalm 150

כֹּל הַנְּשָׁמָה תְּהַלֵּל יָהּ הַלְלוּיָהּ:
Kol haneshamah t’hallel Yah.
All that breathes will praise You!

Kol HaNeshamah (mp3)

5. Yotzer Or (Creator of Light) – 1st blessing before the Shema

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, יוֹצֵר אוֹר, וּבוֹרֵא חֹשֶךְ,
עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם וּבוֹרֵא אֶת הַכֹּל:
Baruch atah, Adonai eloheinu, melech ha-olam, Yotzer or u-vorei choshech, oseh shalom u-vorei et ha-kol.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, sovereign of creation, creator of light and former of darkness, maker of peace and creator of all.

Yotzer Or (Round) (mp3)

6. V’yached L’vavenu (Unify Our Hearts) – 2nd blessing before the Shema

וְיַחֵד לְבָבֵנוּ לְאַהֲבָה וּלְיִרְאָה אֶת שְׁמֶךָ.
V’yached l’vavenu, l’ahavah u-l’yirah et sh’mecha.
Unify our hearts in love and awe of Your name!

V’Yached Levavenu (mp3)

7. The Shema

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל, יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ, יְיָ אֶחָד:
Shema Yisrael, adonai eloheinu, adonai echad!
Hear, O Israel; Adonai is Our God; Adonai is One!

Shema (zhikr chant) (mp3)

8. Ozi v’zimrat Yah (God’s Song is My Liberation) – 3rd blessing surrounding the Shema

עָזִי וְזִמרָת יָה וַיְהִי–לִי לִישֻעָה.
Ozi v’zimrat Yah, vay’hi li l’y'shua.
My strength is in Your song, and You will be my salvation.

Ozi v’zimrat Yah (mp3)

9. Shalom chant (to end our silent amidah)

שָׁלוֹם, שָׁלוֹם, שָׁלוֹם, שָׁלוֹם.
Shalom, shalom, shalom, shalom.

Shalom chant (mp3)

10. Ana, El Na (Prayer for Healing) – after our Torah service

נפשי חולת אהבתך, אנא, אל נא, רפא נא לה!
Nafshi cholat ahavatecha; ana, El na, refa na la.
Your beloved is sick; please, God, heal her.

Ana El Na (mp3)

11. Ein Od Milvado (There is Nothing But God) – our Aleinu

אֵין עוד מִלבַדו, ה’ הוא הָאֶלהִים.
Ein old milvado, Hashem hu ha-elohim.
There is nothing but God; God is God.

Ein Od Milvado (mp3)

12. Shviti (I Keep God Before Me Always)

שְוִיתִי אָדונָי לְנֶגְדִי תַמִיד.
Sh’viti Adonai l’negdi tamid.
I keep God before me always.

Shviti (mp3)

13. Wordless niggun, to close

Niggun (mp3)