"IT’S ON US”
Aleinu L’shabei’ach literally means, “It’s upon us.”
Last winter Ellen Dreskin flew down from New York to join me in my home for a couple of days of study and creative work focused on what’s going on with Aleinu L’shabei’ach.
Here’s what we came up with.
If Bar’chu at the beginning of the service can be thought of as “The Call To Worship” then it might be reasonable to think of Aleinu L’shabei’ach at the end of the service as “The Call To Action.” We have shared our communal redemption story through moments such as Mi Chamocha; we have remembered the deeds and faith of our ancestors through the Amidah; and we have re-calibrated and re-energized our spirits in communal expression of our dreams and visions. Hopefully, the process of prayer during the worship service has made some kind of impact that changes us for the good. With this in mind, Ellen and I crafted an English setting for Aleinu L’shabei’ach that intends to explicitly unpack the core themes of our responsibility and the world’s need for action.
For more background regarding Ellen’s perspective on Aleinu L’shabei’ach click here.
Folks of all ages from all over the country have been asking Ellen Dreskin and me for a recording and sheet music for this new setting.
We’re delighted to share it with you.
It is available for free.
We are offering two recordings and sheet music.
One version is a piano/vocal in MP3 form. The piano is performed by Jef Labes from Rodef Sholom of San Rafael, CA
The second version is guitar/vocal in MP3 form. I am playing the guitar.
The sheet music is in PDF form.
CLICK BELOW FOR DAN NICHOLS’ AND ELLEN DRESKIN’S NEW ALEINU L’SHABEI’ACH
SHEET MUSIC