The Baal Shem Tov, or Besht —  the founder of Chasidism — 
met the soul of the Messiah during an ascent to heaven. 
The Besht asked him, "When will the Master come?" 
The Messiah answered, "When your wellsprings break forth to the outside!" 
(from a letter written by the Besht to his brother-in-law about one of his soul ascents) 

Kinah LeKhurban Gan Eden ~ Richard Kaplan

Cantor Richard Kaplan, z"l, composed this kinah (lament) for Tisha B'Av about the destruction of the earth. Gan Eden of course is the Garden of Eden, both a place and a time. It is the imagined birthplace of all life and species, and an echo of the time when the real Earth was untrammeled. Khurban (or churban) usually refers to the destruction of the First and Second Temples, but here to the Temple of the Earth, which the Jewish Temple was meant to represent according to midrash.

The song articulates the voice of Gaia, the Earth, embodied in Richard's plaintive voice. Richard died on the first day of Sukkkot this year, and thinking about him has made me want so much to hear his voice, calling us to truth.

The song comes from his album "Life of the Worlds: Journeys in Jewish Sacred Music"", which can be purchased through Amazon; individual songs can be purchased through iTunes, and it's here on Spotify.

This is the one of the few contemporary songs on Neohasid. We offer it with the added hope that it will inspire others to compose more kinot appropriate to this age when we so urgently need to stop destroying the biosphere of this planet. You can also download more prayers for the Earth here.

Listen to Kinah Lekhurban Gan Eden

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