Sometimes creating a rabbinate, or a life for that matter, is about finding Torah (wisdom, guidance, Truth) wherever we can. In Dolly Parton’s “Eagle When She Flies” I hear the deep reminder that being our truest selves means knowing our weaknesses just as well as we know our strengths and being willing to teach and to lead from those places of vulnerability.
As Simcha Bunim of Peshischa taught, we hold always a piece of paper in each of our pockets and on one it is written “I am dust and ashes,” and on the other is written “For my sake the world was created.”
And so, I offer this raw recording of Ms. Parton’s deep Torah (as sung into my iPhone while rehearsing at home). And I invite you to join me in aspiring to lead not only from our wholeness but from our brokenness as well:
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I had a wonderful time last week singing this and many other songs in celebration of the release of my new album “at the edge of the unknown.” Its twelve songs are quite simply the most love and Torah I could squeeze onto one shiny plastic disc. If you’d like your own copy, you can order it right here using the “buy now” button or download it from CD Baby or iTunes.
The title track bespeaks my sense of the edge of the unknown as a place of both uncertainty and unlimited possibility. Enjoy!
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Last week’s concert was in support of Berks Women in Crisis an organization dedicated to helping women stuck in the grips of domestic violence find their own voices and make positive changes in their lives and the lives of their children. Celebrating the new album and giving to BWIC at the same time felt profoundly connected with my own vision of helping one another bring our whole selves into song.
For updates on this and other ongoing efforts in voice-finding, sign up in the box on the right.
