A song unto prayer
Shira L’Tefilah
Arise and listen!
I have formed you from the dust, I breathed life into you
I hear your cries so silent; I see your prayers sealed within
They fill my chambers with praise, like rushing waters they come
Arise and listen!
O my beloved flower, surrounded by weeds and thorns
Do you not know; have you not heard me?
You are so fair for you have triumphed!
Beset on all sides, you stayed your ground.
And then, you send forth such beautiful pollen
Spreading forth your seed, with tender song
You cry, you cry to me all the day
Asking me to make your voice beautiful?
O, my child, I long for your song!
You give life, spread hope amongst your kin; flowers spring forth, encouraged to life.
It is you I treasure; those possessed by invincible hope.
You needn’t be a tree; your fruit is more pleasant!
Arise and listen!
I crown you with love; I increase you in new garments.
You have spread my garden’s estate; grown you have outside my fence.
Crying to the wilderness: bloom, make a path!
Arise and seek…
Desert flower, you hear me so clear
There is no word, no speech, no sounds in the desert
All told me, naught can bloom there; you said, I will go and I will hear
Arise and listen!
The trees, some mock you; they show off their fruit
I have seen, I perceive how they have caused strife
Yet they cannot help: their fruit falls in abundance
Animals come, but still more rots; I feed you with the richest of their accoutrements
They, so mighty, can they not do more, give more, bear more?
You, so hungry and thirsty; you gasp to try to sing to me!
How tender you are to me! How much I cry for you!
Here, alone in the Heavens, I long to tend to you
The trees, they say, “we stand on our own; we just, compassionate rule.”
By their canopies, they deceive you; they shut out the heavens from sight
I send forth rain, I blow with mighty winds; some fall, some uprooted but perceive not.
Little one, you found shelter amidst thorns, dwelling near the bush
Come and walk with me!
Be fruitful - go, go - so that a path of flowers be found in the wilderness
That they who come upon say, “where is the gardener who created thee?”
Growing in the darkness and wild desolation, “how could this be!”
Remember and observe
You left the garden, your home; on wings you arrived
Your forebears I planted; nourished from them I made you
They taught you my Torah, they testified of me
Now, farther away, more alone in the wilderness you wonder
In your distress you long for peace; you cry for justice
Have I not said, did you not hear? “Establish justice…multiply.”
Your toil is hard, you lament under the burden of the hod
With your tears, your blood, your sweat – all your sacrifices
They nourish and bring life, making the desert soil rich for your planting of life
Arise and sing!
You have allowed me to do wondrous things, you are strong: take heart!
All was designed for its purpose; some freely choose happiness
Others steal to increase, connive so you despair to toil for them, but yet you triumph!
Arise and sing!
The L-rd has mercy on all G-d’s designs; the L-rd exalted is King.
With toil you have planted, in joy you shall reap and go forth aloft
Exult in your triumphant work; like hardened steel you were cast, hammered in the forge.
Arise and sing my beloved!
Soon all the earth, all that is from the dust, shall sing and dance; shall know I am G-d the L-rd!
You will raise your spirits, with song you shall fly on the wind; breath shall not escape you
Ye who say you love me, majestic trees, steal no more and nourish my flowers; O that I be forgotten, but that my creations pursue peace and justice, living humbly and with mercy!
Arise and listen to my whisper in your ear, my bride of youth!
Fill the earth with splendor all my loves, I will establish you forever.
Augment your desire so that I may fulfill it
Great are those that show mercy to the small and stranger; fill my earth with such beauty!
Arise and listen!
The G-d of glory thunders, the L-rd flashes forth lightning
Gracious, merciful, loving Father and King; everlasting G-d of all that is for all eternity
More mighty and enduring than tumultuous waves; the holy L-rd King of hosts hears and is your uplift
I, G-d make the bowed upright: listen!
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