Tonight we light the 3rd candle.
The question is:
What 3 musicians, poets or artists inspire you?
This past year, I have depended on music and poetry. Here are mine. I hope you will add yours in the comments. I could name so many but here are my top three:
1) Batya Levine whose music is so deep. This year, at our first-ever Path With Heart High Holy Day services, we opened Rosh Hashanah with “Karov” (Hebrew for “draw near”) and Yom Kippur with “We are Good, We Are Flawed.” Batya’s album, “Karov” can be listened to on Spotify & YouTube — but please consider purchasing her debut album on Bandcamp.
2) In the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the movement for racial justice, Melvin Kindall Myles and Stephen C J Simmons Sr released “I Was Not Silenced” – their powerful interpretation of a song by Rabbi Micah Lapidus. Springdale Baptist Church in Memphis created a video with images blending both the protests of the Civil Rights Movement with the protests of today. I had their song on repeat for months. You can follow both Melvin and Stephen on YouTube and Spotify. I wrote more about it here.
3) Jan Richardson, who is a minister, poet and artists wrote a book of poems and blessings (The Cure For Sorrow) in the wake of her husband’s death. A member of my community sent it to me and it was of enormous comfort after my mom died in September.
Here’s a poem from her book:
*** Honorable mention to Prince, whose rendition of “A Case of You” moved me beyond. How did I not know about Prince’s enormous talent before?
Now it’s your turn. What 3 artists have inspired you this year?
One candle has the power to light up the darkness. One person has the power to light up our lives.
— I’ll be posting a new question each day with a photo of our precious #Bo, our Labradoodle. For my favorite potato latkes recipe click here. For the Chanukah candle blessings, click here.
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