The seventh wedding blessing

[rhu]

Today in Daf Yomi we read about the seven blessings that constitute the core of the Jewish wedding ceremony, and that are repeated at each meal for the week after the wedding, provided there's a minyan and at least one "new face". These blessings are beautiful, and the final one is often sung by the entire assembly.

Several years ago, our good friends sethg_prime and lucretia_borgia honored me by asking me to recite the seventh blessing under their chuppah. The amazing thing about this honor is that it was my reaching the final word of the blessing that would actually transform them from a betrothed couple to a married one.

I was dissatisfied with the usual melody for three reasons. (1) Properly sung, the melody involves repetition of words, which causes halachic problems with the validity of the bracha; conversely, making it halachically ok destroys its musical integrity. (2) The melody puts the word stresses on the "wrong" syllables (i.e., it's typical European/Ashkenzaic word stresses; because that is not the way I normally recite Hebrew texts, this could also jeopardize the halachic validity of what I was doing). (3) I wanted something that would capture how special this moment was to my dear friends.

So, of course, I wrote my own melody. I'm very proud of it, and I've used it a few times at sheva brachot for other friends, and it was accepted for publication a few years back in the Journal of Synagogue Music. But I'd be happier if it were "out there" for people to consider whenever they are singing sheva brachot.

So in honor of their anniversary last week, and in consequence of today's daf, I have uploaded a PDF of the sheet music and a (quickly-recorded) MP3 of me singing it to my website.

Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Sovereign of Infinity, Who created
Joy and gladness,
Groom and bride,
Mirth and songs of gladness,
Pleasure and delight,
Love and bosom-friendship,
Peace and companionship.

Speedily, Adonai our God, let there be heard
In the cities of Judah and the courtyards of Jerusalem,
The voice of joy and the voice of gladness,
The voice of a groom and the voice of a bride,
The voice of grooms' celebrations from their wedding canopies,
And youths at feasts full of their melodious song.

Blessed are You, Adonai,
Who brings gladness to a groom with the bride.

Comments

[autotruezone.livejournal.com]

"Sovereign of Infinity", eh? That certainly beats the last gender-neutral translation I saw, "Monarch of Time and Space" (from the Hillel Haggada), which I could never say with a straight face because it sounded too much like a Dr. Who villain.

Anyway, I like how your tune has both solemnity and peppiness, both of which are important for a Jewish wedding. Unfortunately, it's a few months too late to use at my brother's wedding/sheva brachot.

I'm sure that you're aware (though perhaps some of your audience isn't) that #1 can be overcome by letting the wedding guests sing the repetitious parts while you pause. This works most of the time, since the usual melody is well-known, though it of course can vary depending on the number and background of the guests.

I mostly agree with you on #2, but doesn't it go a bit far to say that the common ashkenazi pronunciations might make the blessings be halachically invalid?

BTW, do you know a good tune for the "Al hamichya" blessing (the blessing said after eating grain products other than bread, or similar blessings recited after wine or certain kinds of fruit)?

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

#1 can be overcome by letting the wedding guests sing the repetitious parts while you pause.

Yes, but when I do that, it feels like a hefsek for me. I'm pausing in the middle of a b'racha for longer than it would take me to say "Shalom Aleichem, Rebbi".

but doesn't it go a bit far to say that the common ashkenazi pronunciations might make the blessings be halachically invalid?

I should have linked my parentheticals more closely. Since that is not the way I pronounce Hebrew, it would perhaps not be valid for me to use that pronunciation for the b'racha.

"Sovereign of Infinity", eh? That certainly beats the last gender-neutral translation I saw

I'll choose to take that as a compliment. :-)

Anyway, I like how your tune has both solemnity and peppiness, both of which are important for a Jewish wedding.

Thank you.

BTW, do you know a good tune for the "Al hamichya" blessing

I don't even know a bad tune for "Al hamichya."