As a sort-of follow up to last week’s Jesus-Justice-Joy post from Shannon, Orin writes this week to share a new lyric video of a song he recently wrote which has also been published.
The song has two Hebrew words as its title and part of the refrain: Hachnasat Orchim. This most simply translates to “hospitality,” but in the world of the Jewish faith, it’s more specifically about the welcoming of the stranger. This song is included in a book of music for the Reform Judaism movement (you may recall a few times a month Orin plays for services at Temple Shaare Emeth) titled, in English, “Jewish Songs of Protest and Hope.” While writen for Judaism, I think it’s also not hard to hear in the lyrics Jesus’s similar teachings of welcome and love – He was, of course, himself a Rabbi and teacher during his earthly ministries.
I hope the music inspires singers and listeners to prayer, and then to action: bringing hope into the world, and making that hope real by action and change.