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(Reel rattles)

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♪♪♪

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- My name is Aviva Chernick.

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- And I work as a Shaliach
- Tzibbur.


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- That's Hebrew for emissary
- of the congregation.


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Or the English might be Cantor.

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- I lead prayer.
- I sing and I lead prayer.


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My personal prayer practice

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- is what I imagine ultimately
- I'll get to do


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with a congregation.

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- We'll have a freedom
- with ourselves,


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- with our bodies,
- with our voices.


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With each other

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- a courage to work
- with the Keva,


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the structure of the Siddur,

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of the prayer book.

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But to have a spontaneity

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- that allows us to reach
- deeper levels


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and higher heights.

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- It's a very important part
- of Judaism,


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- the tension between Keva
- and Kavvana


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which is the structure,

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fixed practice and intention.

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- Maybe you might call it
- spontaneity.


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- Singing is a crucial aspect
- of everything I do.


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- It's a crucial aspect
- of living for me,


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my voice the use of my voice.

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- It's not the only component
- of prayer.


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But I think it's the one for me

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that most helps me to connect.

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It's my way in.

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(Bell dings)

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- My personal practice
- is evolving.


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- But what happens for me
- in my own space


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- is that I then get to bring
- myself


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- all of the things that
- I've gathered that inspire me,


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that move me,

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- the various practices
- that have taught me.


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- I'm studying specifically
- Jewish mindfulness meditation


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and it's changed my life.

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(Big exhale)

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(Speaking Hebrew)

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(Singing in Hebrew)

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The experience of chanting

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opens me up for the mystery.

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- It's like almost like there's
- a whirlpool,


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- and I let myself go inside
- the pool.


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(Singing in Hebrew)

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- And I let myself get
- carried without fear.


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- It's not a frightening
- whirlpool.


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(Singing in Hebrew)

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I let myself get swept up

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- in the circular nature
- of the current.


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- And I love that that relates
- to many other cultures


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that have that.

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- The Suffis have that in such
- a beautiful way.


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(Singing in Hebrew)

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- I have a lot of consciousness
- around my voice, awareness.


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- Sometimes I also have a lot
- of judgment


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and feelings about what's that?

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- What's that happening?
- Oh it feels tight.


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Oh, it's very dry, oh, oh.

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- So it's like, okay,
- let's start.


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Okay we circle around once.

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- Uhuh, yeah, you're still
- thinking


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- about how you're singing.
- Can you just go in again?


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Okay. And if I keep circling,

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- I can let myself drop
- into the music.


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- And I can let myself
- swim in it.


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(Singing in Hebrew)

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♪♪♪

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- So when I had my Bat Mitzvah
- when I was 12,


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- at that time in my synagogue
- where I practice,


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girls did not wear tallitot,

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prayer shawls, only men.

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- So I've been wearing
- a tallit for...


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I don't know, ten years maybe.

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And I love it.

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- There's this image of,
- of robing.


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And it's the same image

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- as when the light spreads
- across the sky in the morning,


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- when it just starts to fill
- the sky


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and then it spreads across.

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- So I wrap it around me
- like a big swath of light


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- across the sky,
- like a super hero.


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- (Chuckle)
- Like a super hero cape.


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- And then I hang out
- underneath my tallit,


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and I feel myself embraced

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- by all those who have come
- before me.


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(Singing in Hebrew)

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♪♪♪

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- Laying on tefillin
- is very new for me.


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- But it is a very physical
- practice,


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which I like.

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It's a very specific practice

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which challenges me,

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physically specific.

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It feels to me like it has

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- a whole other depth
- of mystical meaning


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- that I only get
- the smallest twinges of


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at this starter's point.

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- That marriage of heart and mind
- is moving for me.


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And, and having Torah

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Literally so close in body

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is a reminder.

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And that's,

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- I think that's what the purpose
- of tefillin is.


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It's a reminder.

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- It's like when we see
- the mezuzah


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on the right side of the door

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when we walk in and I kiss it.

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- I remember what I bring
- into this house matters.


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(Singing in Hebrew)

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(Singing in Hebrew)

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The standing prayer,

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- the root of Amidah
- is amud, to stand.


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- And the Amidah has
- this beautiful thing


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- which is that it begins
- with six words...


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(Says the prayer in Hebrew)

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"Oh Lord, open my lips

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- that my mouth may declare
- your praise."


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Guard my tongue,

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- is the beginning
- of the final prayer.


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Guard my tongue from evil.

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- So at the beginning it's open
- my mouth so I can...


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so I can really ah,

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- speak these,
- feel what these prayers,


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these Baha'i, these blessings.

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- Speak them from a place
- of the heart.


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And in the end remind me

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- that how I use my words
- matters.


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- That as I leave
- these words of prayer


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that I take the lessons of them

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- and the lessons of Torah
- into my daily speech.


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- And then the very end,
- as always,


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- is a prayer for peace,
- as it should be.


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(Singing in Hebrew)