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A Prayer for Peace

4/30/2022

A cousin of mine, after Shabbat services at Beth Shalom Synagogue in Overland Park, Kansas on February 26, called me that evening to ask me if I knew of the “Prayer for Peace” in Siddur Sim Shalom (a photo of the page is below), a translation of a prayer by Rabbi Nathan Sternhartz/Nathan of Breslov, the chief disciple and scribe of Rabbi Nachman. The Prayer for Peace took on greater meaning that Shabbat because the war in Ukraine had just begun, and Rabbi Nathan was from Ukraine.
My cousin wondered what I might do to set it to music,
After reading the prayer, which I have seen before, I didn’t see a way to add a melody to the prayer word for word. Instead, I thought that I could use the prayer as a starting point for something new, incorporating some of the words of the prayer into the lyrics.
My cousin presented this prayer to me while I was struggling with an ongoing creative block. I had just received an email with quotes about getting beyond such a block. The advice seemed to work.
Another impetus to complete the song was the current situation in Ukraine. This song is very much dedicated to their courage and to the hope that they will, once again, be able to sustain their world in positive ways.

Here is the link on YouTube: youtu.be/NEasg08hTuk

Into this World By Larry Karol
February 28, 2022
Inspired by “Prayer for Peace” in the SIDDUR SIM SHALOM prayerbook
(The Rabbinical Assembly/USCJ)
Dedicated to the people of Ukraine

Why have we come into this world?
To learn To teach To give
Why have we come into this world?
To grow To seek To live

God of compassion - Give us the courage
To work for the day when all people are free
Let Justice flow like a river
Let Peace fill the earth as waters fill the sea

Why have we come into this world?
To console To heal To share
Why have we come into This world?
To praise To build. To care

God of compassion Give us the courage
To work for the day when all people are free
Let Justice flow like a river
Let Peace fill the earth as waters fill the sea

Why have we come into this world?
To help To hope. To calm our fear
Why have we come into this world?
To speak To sing. To hear

God of compassion - Give us the courage
To work for the day when all people are free
Let Justice flow like a river
Let Peace fill the earth as waters fill the sea

Why have we come into this world?
To return. To restore. To forgive
Why have we come into this world?
To stand To lead To live

God of compassion = Give us the courage
To work for the day when all people are free
Let Justice flow like a river
Let love fill the earth as waters fill the sea

Let Justice flow like a river
Let love fill the earth as waters fill the sea

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February 10th, 2019 - Open Secrets

2/10/2019

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I offered prayers at a funeral a few days ago of someone outside my Temple community who had followed, on her own, many aspects of Jewish belief and some practices as well. The language she used to speak about God, and to pray, was Jewish. Offering Jewish prayers, both old and new, was the least I could do.
Participating in that funeral service made me think about my music, to which I have been listening in recent days. On the way to the funeral and back home several days ago, I played during my trip to El Paso all of my studio recordings (33 songs). Since then, I listened to all of my home-recorded songs that I have created between October, 1999 until now. The "Larry's New Originals" playlist features another 72 songs.
I supposed as the "songwriting parent" of those songs, I should be proud of all of them. There might be a few I would change, and I know that some songs bear similarities to others in terms of melody and chord progression.
   What I realized is that, for nearly every song, I can remember where I was when I wrote it and/or why I wrote it. Most songs were the result of a life event, a challenge that I was facing or that someone I knew was trying to meet with courage and resolve, current happenings in the world, or a specific encounter with a passage from the Bible or Jewish tradition that led me fashion a melody for a time-honored text.
The songs I have written are, first and foremost, a chronicle of my life, my soul, the events happening around me, and changes going inside me.
   And I would admit that, first and foremost, I am writing for myself. I approach my songs like the articles and sermons I create, as messages that communicate values that are essential to my heritage.
   In a few cases, a song has resonated enough for someone else that he or she has chosen to adopt it for a setting in which he or she is leading prayer or offering a musical sentiment at a community gathering. I am honored and touched when that happens.
I am not sure how I might approach writing a song that I would want other people to sing. People listening to my music and, as a result, singing along is a welcome by-product of my own creative process.
The 100-plus songs that I have written are like a book, an autobiography, turning what is inside of me into an "open secret," because songs are often a form of self-disclosure for the songwriter.
I will be turning 65 later this year. I have not decided whether or not to make at least one more trip to the studio to bring some of my music to life with broader instrumentation, harmonies, and the brightness that the recording process adds to a song.
In any case, the various places where my newer songs are available--on Reverbnation, Soundcloud, YouTube and on this website - offer a glimpse at the remainder of my life story as expressed in music.
   Keep listening and, if you so choose and feel moved to do so, sing along, even just a little, so that we can share my songs and my story.

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The "why" of songwriting - June 9, 2015

6/9/2015

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Three albums and one songbook released....34 years as a rabbi, with 16 of those as a Jewish songwriter. Why have I chosen to express my values and beliefs through music? Or...has the music chosen me? I don't have an answer to that question, but here is what I think I know.
1) I have always found personal expression through prose or poetry to be meaningful and cathartic. There is head and heart in articles, sermons, letters-to-the-editor, and op-ed columns. There is head and heart in songs as well, with one added feature: the melody, the chords, and the way in which words are put together to fit the melody add a rhythm and an emotional dimension to what I hope to convey. The song feels more complete, and involves greater sharing of what feel and believe.
2) In a song that lasts three of four minutes, I feel that I can communicate a message with a depth that I may not be able to reach in the same amount of time only with words.
3) The multiple modes of creativity involved in songwriting offer moments of challenge that lead to a feeling of having grown from the experience, once the song is complete. In other words, with each new song, I have a sense that I have added a new dimension to my identity and personality.
4) Every song is like a world unto itself, capturing a moment of my life. Sometimes I will tell people where I was when I first had the idea for a song, but what is more important is trying to define the inspiration and even the reason that song came into being. I can remember what events may have led to the attempt to put certain ideas or emotions into words with an accompanying melody. When the melody doesn't come, it's still possible to create a piece of prose or poetry that can stand on its own. When it does, the completion of the song becomes a mission, an "itch that needs to be scratched"! Finishing a song over the course of minutes, hours or days gives me, at least, a sense of accomplishment that I was able to shape the words in such a way that they fit into the structure of the melody, so that I could share with others my message of the moment.
5) Music can freeze time and, also, span time. The song which begins my second album, "Let Me Sing My Way Into Your Night," seemed complete when I wrote it in October of 1977. It was the song I used to end a long hiatus from songwriting in 1999. By adding a verse, and, several years later, a line from the book of Psalms, my 49 year-old self took the musical statement of my 23 year-old self and gave it new life.
6) Musical compositions of any type are memorable to a willing, interested and devoted listener. A tune with its accompanying lyrics might "stay" with someone else who has heard it and enjoyed it, but it can also become "their song" in addition to it being the song of the songwriter. The potential for sharing and remembering is enhanced by a melody that makes the one listening feel, in some way, he or she is "at home" with both words and music. If something in the tune or lyrics resonates in a unique way with the songwriter and listener, the song becomes can take on a long life of its own.
7) Anything we say or write and share with other people becomes our legacy. A song shared through a home recording, a studio recording (which takes the music to a different level) or a live performance allows the songwriter/performer to offer his or her gift to the world in a lasting way.

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God's Name...or...Many Names that become One

5/21/2013

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  In March of 2002, I attended the Kansas Prayer breakfast at the request of Governor Bill Graves as a way of reminding the participants in that gathering of the diversity of the faith community in the state.   I was asked to read the passage from Deuteronomy Chapter 8: “For the Eternal God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill; a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs and pomegranates, a land of olives trees and honey; a land where you may eat food without stint, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you can mine copper. When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to the Eternal your God for the good land given to you.” At the breakfast, I read these verses in English and chanted them in Hebrew as well.

     The message of diversity came, that morning, mostly from me and Governor Graves, but also from the featured speaker. Martha Williamson, producer of the popular television show, “Touched by an Angel,” did something surprising when she began her talk. She spoke about how her church youth group visited Temple Emanuel in Denver, where she learned a Hebrew song which she proceeded to sing (I can’t remember what it was…but I did translate it for her afterwards – I hadn’t heard it before). She also spoke about an episode from “Touched by an Angel” with a Jewish theme, titled “Chutzpah,” which brought the father, who was a sofer/scribe, and his daughter, an editorial cartoonist, closer together after years of emotional estrangement. Here is a link to the summary of that episode, which was co-written by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, a well-known author and scholar:

http://www.tv.com/shows/touched-by-an-angel/chutzpah-81901/

      After I left that event, I felt a need to express the common language that exists between faiths, whether related to terms that describe God, specific words used in prayer, and scriptural passages held in common.    One of my favorite books that suggests a universal approach to God is Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso’s In God’s Name, one of my favorite books to read about how the many names for God can bring people together. Find out more about this book at the following link:

http://www.jewishlights.com/page/product/978-1-879045-26-2

      That book was a source of ideas on which names of God to use in my lyrics.   Halleluyah and Amen were obvious choices for common words for worship to include in the song.   The idea about the “circle of salvation/redemption” came from a discussion with a United Methodist Minister in Topeka.   “No one who’s righteous will be left behind” is a paraphrase of an important Jewish teaching about salvation for humanity: “The righteous of all nations will have a share in the world to come.” (Tosefta Sanhedrin 13:2)

      I have always appreciated the richness of various names for God and terms related to the divine in Judaism.      Think for yourself about what these names/terms mean to you as you consider your thoughts about God: Shield…Savior…Ruler…Shepherd…Keeper…Friend…Protector…Creator…Sovereign…Healer…Almighty…Redeemer…Gracious One…Compassionate One…Helper…Parent…

    And the list could go on.   In Rabbi Sasso’s book, God’s many names bring everyone together into one place, where they simultaneously call out their favorite names for the divine and, through their united cry, God becomes One.   May we do all that we can in our lives to create that oneness – and reveal the Oneness – that permeates every corner of the human family.

"God's Name" - recorded on May 21, 2013

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On that Day...a path to Oneness and Unity

2/18/2013

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Below are a series of posts that I put onto Facebook before and after the 2012 election. The centerpiece of this flurry of expression was a melody for the text from Mishkan T'filah, the prayer of Reform Judaism in the United States (Central Conference of American Rabbis). The text originally came from the High Holy Day prayerbook On Wings of Awe, edited by Rabbi Richard Levy. Since November, I have been using this new original melody for this text every Friday night, and had the honor of singing it at Congregation Albert in Albuquerque during the New Mexico Statewide Synagogue Musicians Shabbaton on February 8-9.

November 3, 2012
I am going to try to say this carefully - these thoughts came to me when we read the Prayer for our Country this morning.
I pray that every citizen who wants to vote will have a chance to vote and that his or her vote will count.
I pray that, when the election is over, winners and losers will be able to even begin to strive to live out the motto on the Great Seal of the United States - E Pluribus, Unum - Out of Many, One. Our diversity of ideas can make us stronger, but it will take some work to get to that point. For all of our sakes, let's hope we still can get there.

November 5, 2012
In preparing for my Pirket Avot - Sayings of the Sages - class tonight at Temple, I came across a famous statement that certainly has implications for the American voter tomorrow....
If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now, when?
Thank you, Hillel, for your all-purpose declaration!

November 6, 2012
I woke up this morning thinking about the polarization in our country, the passionate feelings that sometimes keep us from recognizing our highest shared values. Some of those values are expressed in one of my favorite readings from the Ref orm prayerbook, Mishkan T'filah, which I set to music this afternoon as election day was winding down. May all of us blessed with unity, wholeness, freedom and peace. Based on a reading from the Mishkan T'filah prayerbook

May we gain wisdom in our lives
overflowing like a river with understanding
Loved, each of us, for the peace we bring to others
May our deeds exceed our speech
And may we never lift up our hand
but to conquer fear and doubt and despair
V'neemar v'hayah adonai l'melech al kol ha-aretz
Bayom hahu yihiyeh adonai echad ush'mo echad
(Thus it has been said, the Eternal One will be Sovereign over all the earth
On that day, the Eternal will be One, and God's name will be one).
Rise up like the sun, O God, over all humanity
Cause light to go forth over all the lands between the seas
And light up the universe with the joy of wholeness, of freedom, and of peace. V'ne-emar.....

Here is the link to a multi-track recording:
http://www.reverbnation.com/larrykarol/song/15411778-may-we-gain-wisdom-bayom-hahu

Below is the YouTube Video...

November 7, 2012
I got in my car this morning to go buy the morning newspaper to see what happened in local elections, having been well-schooled in the national results. As I started on my short drive, the words of a central declaration from Deuteronomy about God's oneness came to mind. The first and last word of Deuteronomy Chapter 6 verse 4 leaped to prominence:
SH'MA - Hear/truly listen - to yourself and to o thers
ECHAD - One - unity, oneness, interconnection
Communication - both expressing ourselves AND listening, whether we agree or disagree, is priceless because it necessarily creates interconnection.
Perhaps there is a path that we can tread together, on which we can speak, and listen, and do it over and over, until we find an unexpected place of intersection of ideas and commonality in feelings and objectives.
That is my hope today.

Here is a link to a live performance of this song at the Hava Nashira Songleaders' Workshop (held at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute Camp in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin) on May 31, 2013, during a Friday morning service)

http://www.reverbnation.com/larrykarol/song/17534348-may-we-gain-wisdombayom-hahu-live

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Don't Let Me Fall

2/17/2013

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On January 5, I attended a meeting of CAFe', Communities in Action in Faith of Southern New Mexico, the local affiliate of PICO (People Improving Communities Through Organizing). I listened to the stories told by those who had gathered for training on the issues of immigration reform and preventing financial institutions from foreclosing on homes while homeowners were in the midst of seeking a loan modification. The experiences of foreclosures and family-splitting deportations are very real, and the causes are, quite often, policies that fall short of acknowledging the humanity of the people being affected by narrow-minded rules and decisions.
That evening, I began to hear in my mind the words of a reading from the Reform Jewish prayerbook, Mishkan T'filah, taken from a poem by Yiddish poet Katya Molodowsky (translated by Kathryn Hellerstein). Katya Molodowsky immigrated to the United States in 1935 after living in Russia and Poland (she was born in 1894 and died in 1974).
This is the text in the prayerbook:
Don't let me fall
as a stone falls upon the hard ground.
And don't let my hands become dry
Like the twigs of a tree
when the wind beats down the last leaves
And when the storm raises dust from the earth
with anger and howling,
don't let me fall.
I have asked for so much,
but as a blade of your grass in a distant wild field
lets drop a seed in the lap of the earth
and dies away,
sow in me Your living breath
as You sow a seed in the earth.
(the next two lines are the ending blessing for the reading about creation in the morning introductory prayers)
Baruch atah adonai, Rofei chol basar u-maf-li la-a-sot
Blessed are You, Adonai, who heals all flesh, working wondrously.
The melody began with four descending notes, the first three a step apart and the last note a fourth below the third note. It was a musical way of illustrating the sense fo falling, but the major key turned the phrase into a plea, even a proclamation that "falling" was not going to happen if God was present. At the beginning of the poem, the chords move and then pause while the first line is sung, as if to represent either breathing or a heartbeat, the pulse of living. As I constructed the music, I felt as if I was interacting with the lines of the poem to fashion independent melodies that echoed each other and that always came back to the "don't let me fall" theme. The ending blessing about healing and wonders completes this prayer with a declaration that even when we feel that we are falling, God - and people around us through whom God is working - will offer us support and hope.

(I made the recording on YouTube just after I created the melody).

To learn about CAFe', go to http://www.organizenm.org/

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Why Do We Hold On to What We Should Leave Behind?

2/17/2013

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We all carry our past with us every day. There are many reasons to carry with us memories of loved ones who touched us in a positive way and experiences that left a lasting impact on us so as to build our character. In those cases, we retain the adornments and enhancements of those moments, even if we were actually facing a challenge that seemed insurmountable, and even if we found a way to snatch a "victory" out of a "defeat."
Yet, memories and experiences can also be "baggage." Lasting hurt, grudges, regrets, anger and hatred can weigh us down more than we realize. The past, rather than being behind us, is in front of us, before our eyes, creating our lens for the here and now, preventing us from seeing the good that could be a part of our lives.
It may be, too, that we are so attached to positive relationships - friends, colleagues, or leaders - from our past that, when a new person enters into those positions, we refuse to accept that they might have anything to offer in comparison to a cherished predecessor.
The Jewish High Holy Days attempt to guide us to "let go" of our hurts, our grudges, our hatred, and even our own mistakes and errors in judgment, so that we can move forward with a sense of feeling unburdened by aspects of our past. It means forgiving others and ourselves, even if we can't forget.
The images in the song "Why Do We Hold On?" came from the descriptions in the Torah about the Pillar of Cloud/Fire that led the Israelites through the wilderness to the Promised Land. There were times with the people moved from one place to another, and other instances when the Pillar rested in a certain spot, directing the people to rest and remain in that location for the time being.
In our lives, we may not know when it is time to "leave" or "stay." Sometimes we may actually "leave" without moving to a new community. Sometimes "staying" might mean that we should open our eyes and see that the new place where we have arrived has many gifts to give us, even if it is not perfect. That notion can apply to people as well.
I have always told Bar/Bat Mitzvah families: "Your special day doesn't have to be perfect, but it should be meaningful and memorable." It is the same with life, and if we have the wisdom to let go of anything that we should leave behind, we will be better able to find contentment in the future. When we relinquish the pain that we no longer need as a traveling companion, the days ahead will be filled with peace and, yes, even happiness.

Why do we hold on? (L. Karol) - Copyright 2008 Larry Karol
Based on Psalm 25, High Holy Day Prayers and Parashat B’ha-alot’cha
I can see where You’re going, will you let me follow?
There hasn’t been a time when you’ve led me astray
Can I trust how you tell me not dwell upon the past
To look ahead without regret to make tomorrow a better day
to make tomorrow a better day

CHORUS: Why do we hold on to what we should leave behind?
Why do we choose our pain over peace that we could find?
Forgiveness can lift a broken soul and ease a worried mind
Why do we hold on, hold on, why do we hold on to what we should leave behind?

There are signs all around us telling us to stay
To rest inside the goodness that guides us on our way
There’s a fire that is burning, giving light when darkness falls
Can we let go of the familiar so we can answer when You call?
so we can answer when You call - CHORUS

When we stand in confusion, not knowing where to turn
Point us in the right direction to live the lessons we have learned
To live the lessons we have learned - CHORUS
Why do we hold on to what we should leave behind?

Live at Hava Nashira June 1, 2012 - Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute Camp, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
http://www.reverbnation.com/larrykarol/song/13502793-why-do-we-hold-on-live

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A New Heart and Spirit

2/17/2013

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“And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit into you: I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh; and I will put my spirit in you. Thus I will cause you to follow My laws and faithfully to observe my rules.”
(Ezekiel 36:26-27)
    As I studied this passage in the summer of 2010 with the intention of expressing its meaning in music and lyrics, I wondered how this declaration by the prophet Ezekiel to his people of God’s message of enduring presence and partnership could apply to us today. In that passage, Ezekiel told his people, Judeans (Jews) living in exile in Babylonia, that they could regain their if they replaced their “heart of stone” with a new “heart of flesh” that would restore and raise their spirits and bring them close to God once again.
   I wrote this song as many American citizens were losing jobs, homes and financial security in the wake of a national crisis.   Reducing hours of workers put many in dire straits, forcing many people to make difficult choices. The attitude and culture of financial institutions that made clients secondary to the profit motive led to this untenable situation.
In ancient Israel, it was the prophet who was called to deliver God’s message. The prophets did not choose to take on their crucial role in society, but they knew they had to speak out when they saw injustice and the need for change.   The message of Ezekiel that resonated with me at such a trying time was that everyone – including organizations, institutions, and government - needed to preserve within themselves the “heart of flesh” that sees all people as created in the divine image. We need to recognize that no one is immune to finding themselves in a difficult situation which might require assistance and compassion from others.   The prophet Micah articulated well the meaning of a “heart of flesh”: be fair, just, merciful and humble, and see all people as equals.
   The prophetic voice of ancient times reminded the people to listen to the still, small voice inside of them that would open their hearts to their fellow human beings with genuine concern.
  My song “Heart” attempts to renew Ezekiel’s message for the here and now. Seeing the best in each other will ensure that we will care about the well-being of all people as we care about our own well-being.   That is the true meaning of community.  May such a spirit prevail among us in our nation and throughout the world.

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First Post!

7/27/2011

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Start blogging by creating a new post. You can edit or delete me by clicking under the comments. You can also customize your sidebar by dragging in elements from the top bar.

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A Prayer for Peace

February 10th, 2019 - Open Secrets

The "why" of songwriting - June 9, 2015

God's Name...or...Many Names that become One

"God's Name" - recorded on May 21, 2013

On that Day...a path to Oneness and Unity

Don't Let Me Fall

Why Do We Hold On to What We Should Leave Behind?

A New Heart and Spirit

First Post!

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