[Hazzan Jack Kessler and Cantor Abbe Lyons are developing a new genre of Haftarot -- Prophetic readings for use on Shabbat morning prayer services -- that are in English, are chanted in Haftarah trope, and are prophetic words spoken or written by persons who may have been from a spiritual tradition other than Judaism, or may be in English translation from a Jewish Prophet or prophetic voice. This particular Haftarah is woven by Cantor Abbe Lyons from passages of Dr. Martin Luther King's "Beyond Vietnam" speech of April 4,1967,exactly one year before he was killed. (Reb Arthur Waskow worked with Cantor Lyons to choose passages from the speech.) We suggest using it on the Shabbat of Martin Luther King Birthday weekend or a Shabbat close to April 4, the anniversary of Dr. King's death. Cantor Lyons has set its English words to the traditional Haftarah melodies. This new Haftarah takes seven minutes to chant.]
Listen to Cantor Lyons' chant here.
Text for the Haftarah, with the musical trope marks, is here.
Dancing in God's Earthquake
Rabbi Arthur Waskow’s newest book Dancing in God's Earthquake: The Coming Transformation of Religion is now available!
Gloria Steinem calls it, “A wonderful book! Before the hierarchies and divisions of religions, there was the all-inclusive circle of spirituality. In Dancing in God’s Earthquake, Rabbi Arthur Waskow helps us trace our path back to our spiritual home.”
For an inscribed book, write him at The Shalom Center. Otherwise, order at Orbis, 1-800-258-5838). He calls this book the “harvest of my whole life-experience – and like a harvest, intended not only to draw on the past but to feed the future.”