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Prayer for Music Service, by Rabbi Morrison David Bial (1962)

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The prophet spoke:
Sing, O heaven,
be joyful, O earth,
and break into singing, O mountains! (Isaiah 49:13)
Nature is saturated with melody;
heaven and earth are full of song. (Naḥman of Bratzlav[1] The quote, offered in Leaders of Hasidism by Samuel Aba Horodezky (translated from Yiddish to English by Maria Horodezky-Magasanik, 1928), may be paraphrasing Likutei Moharan II:63. Thanks to Isaac Gantwerk Mayer for his suggestion of LM II:63. )
O Lord,
we would turn our lives
into paeans of praise unto Thee.
We would unite in harmony
with every other human being,
to join with them
in passionate chorus before Thee.
Rank upon rank of singers,
seized with the rhythm of life,
suffused with the poetry of existence,
partners in the composition of creation,
we lift our hearts with our voices
to express our thanksgiving.
We are not just creatures of flesh and blood:
we are the notes of a celestial symphony
rendered through the ages;
we are the instruments
upon which the notes are played;
we are the choristers and the musicians
responding to the direction
of the composer and conductor of the world,
of Thee.
“All true melodies
come from the source of sanctity.”[2] Possibly a paraphrase of Likutei Moharan I:64.5. A Treasury of Jewish Quotations (ed. Joseph L. Baron 1996) suggests Likutei Moharan page 54a (1874 ed.), but I haven’t been able to verify where this page reference points to in Likutei Moharan.  
Every happy deed,
every expression of love,
every act of selfless sacrifice,
of giving and sharing
is a response to the chords of humanity and religion
intermingled.
Teach us, O Lord,
truly to respond with our whole being,
to open ourselves to Thee and to Thy children
so that we may be bearers of Thy melodies
in a world that cries for Thy songs.

“Prayer for Music Service” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 61, from where this prayer was transcribed.

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Notes

Notes
1The quote, offered in Leaders of Hasidism by Samuel Aba Horodezky (translated from Yiddish to English by Maria Horodezky-Magasanik, 1928), may be paraphrasing Likutei Moharan II:63. Thanks to Isaac Gantwerk Mayer for his suggestion of LM II:63.
2Possibly a paraphrase of Likutei Moharan I:64.5. A Treasury of Jewish Quotations (ed. Joseph L. Baron 1996) suggests Likutei Moharan page 54a (1874 ed.), but I haven’t been able to verify where this page reference points to in Likutei Moharan.

 

 

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