It's been a long time since I posted on this blog. Now I've decided to make it the 'home base' for my Monday Morning Message from the cantor. I make a promise not to post more than once a week, and not less than three times a month. Let's not get too crazy, right?

So! Here I am in May 2013, at the Cantors Assembly convention in NJ. It's a joyous annual gathering of hazzanim from all over the world, and we come together to learn, to be inspired by each other and by the amazing teachers -- both musical and other -- who come to teach and learn with us. I am supported by friends, greeted with love, and I greet my colleagues and friends with much love and affection. (By the way, that brings up a story about my grandmother, my mother's mother, but I'll tell that another time, I promise!)

We have the opportunity to spend four sessions, a total of 6 hours, with one teacher or one kind of practice, and I've chosen to be with Rabbis Jonathan Slater and Lisa Goldstein from the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. It's the perfect blend, for me, of text study, meditation, and shared reflection, and it has given me renewed hope, especially at this time in my life. And so I wanted to share this hiddush, this new teaching. It comes from a Chasidic collection of Torah commentaries called Me'or Eynayim -- 'light of the eyes.'

"For YHVH is a devouring fire" (Deut. 4:24) ... What does this mean? Whatever we become accustomed to ceases to make an impression on us. [so how do we wake up?] ... Torah warns, "Let the words of Torah be new to you as if they were given new today."

On the one hand we strive to become fluent in the language of prayer. Speed davenning is a competitive sport in my shul! But this text says, no! Approach each word as if it had been created fresh each day. Only by seeing each word of prayer or of Torah as newly created can we continually find meaning in it. That's my ongoing practice; to come to the text - and the music - as if it's a revelation, even though I've worked hours and weeks and years to master it!

NEXT TIME: The glass is not the water! (and other thoughts about our daily lives)

Come back every week. Tell friends. Please.