“Prayer Song,” a hymn by Stephen Hanan Kaplan from the play, David Dances (1975)

Contributor(s):

Stephen Hanan and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

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20 January 2020 under the Fair Use Right (17 U.S. Code §107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use)

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Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, הללו־יה hallelu-yah, hymns, כוונות kavvanot, Openers, המשכן the Mishkan

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Oh Lord, Oh Lord, come into my heart Build there your shrine and never depart Let every passion spring from you Let every song be new.
	Oh Lord, Oh Lord, come into my sight Consume the veil that hides Your Light With holy joy and grace divine Let every moment shine.
	Oh Lord, transform this lowly sphere That boundaries may disappear In mutual dependency Let every soul be free.
	Our burden Lord, is great indeed For everywhere are people in need Reply, respond, with healing word Let every call be heard.
	Oh Lord, Oh Lord, come into our lives With peace that blesses, love that revives The unity of all in all Let every thought recall.
	Oh Lord, let people be slaves no more Fling open wide Messiah’s door Salvation’s boundless benefit Let every breath admit.
	Oh Lord, may we be ever one A world of friends with quarrels none Let every person know his soul Let every heart be whole. Hallelu-Yah! Hallelu-Yah!

“Prayer Song” from David Dances, a play (1973/1975) by Stephen Hanan Kaplan is included in Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s Sabbath Supplement to his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi ~ As I Can Say It (for Praying in the Vernacular) (2009). The line “O Lord, O Lord, come into my heart, build there your shrine, and never depart” is quoted in Reb Zalman’s Davening: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer (Jewish Lights, 2012), chapter “Intention: Davvening with Kavvanah” p. 23.

Knowing that everything I think and feel is revealed and known to God is, in itself, an important form of divine service, of avodat ha-Shem. I want no barrier separating what I feel in my heart from what I’m praying and asking for. I want to make myself transparent of heart, transparent of mind, transparent of body—to say, “O Lord, O Lord, come into my heart, build there your shrine, and never depart.” I wish to constantly remember that everything I do is witnessed by that Infinite Witness. I want to invite that witness in and not shut it out. I want my awareness to bring me to the life described in Proverbs 3:6, “Be-khol derakhekha da’eihu, Know God in all your ways.”

Source(s)

Stephen Hanan

Stephen Mo Hanan Kaplan (b. 1947, Washington, D.C.) is a Tony-nominated actor and playwright. Beginning his career as a San Francisco based street performer, he created and performed the role of Gus the Theatre Cat in the early 1970s run of Cats. In 1975, ACT produced his play about King David, David Dances as part of their Plays in Progress series. He is also known for his roles in Malcolm X (1992), NET Playhouse (1964) and The Pirates of Penzance (1983), among other works.

Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=29349

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“David Dancing” (Richard McBee 1998)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)

“Prayer Song,” a hymn by Stephen Hanan Kaplan from the play, David Dances (1975)

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