The Day My Battery Died ...
by Rick Flanders
Today I felt drained. After working late many nights and getting up early, talking to India and Boston for hours in stressful meetings, I felt like my battery was dead. I went out to start my motorcycle and its battery was dead too. I jumped the battery and decided to go for a recharge ride for my bike and me.
I couldn't put the stress out of my mind. So I decided to play Tikkun by Rahel in my helmet. She was my Hebrew teacher. These are Psalms in Hebrew set to music. Tikkun means to repair or heal. I headed out for the desert east of Grace Point Church (San Diego), listening to the songs of David in a Middle Eastern flavor.
The desert was blooming in such beauty from all our rain. I forgot all my stress and my mind was repaired.
My wife Becky said I arrived home noticeably better than when I left. Then she handed me a package from a friend Lucinda Lee Koch King which was a book of the study of the Psalms in Hebrew. How wonderful! Coincidence? I think not. It is nice to have friends who inspire!
by Rick Flanders
Today I felt drained. After working late many nights and getting up early, talking to India and Boston for hours in stressful meetings, I felt like my battery was dead. I went out to start my motorcycle and its battery was dead too. I jumped the battery and decided to go for a recharge ride for my bike and me.
I couldn't put the stress out of my mind. So I decided to play Tikkun by Rahel in my helmet. She was my Hebrew teacher. These are Psalms in Hebrew set to music. Tikkun means to repair or heal. I headed out for the desert east of Grace Point Church (San Diego), listening to the songs of David in a Middle Eastern flavor.
The desert was blooming in such beauty from all our rain. I forgot all my stress and my mind was repaired.
My wife Becky said I arrived home noticeably better than when I left. Then she handed me a package from a friend Lucinda Lee Koch King which was a book of the study of the Psalms in Hebrew. How wonderful! Coincidence? I think not. It is nice to have friends who inspire!
THE HEALING LIGHT PROJECT : People to People. A Human Experience
Shalom!
“G-D exists in many different forms and is found in many different places amongst us; each of us has our own unique experience. If we can find peace within ourselves, we can make peace throughout the world.”
I wrote that in 1981. Since then I’ve had so many experiences and have learned many things about life:
I remember a moment when I was living in Israel and had finally learned enough Hebrew to be able to interact – and in Israel I was meeting and interacting with people from all over the world. I was walking down the street when I stopped suddenly - as if I had been struck by lightning. I had a sudden revelation and at that moment reveled in the revelation that I had just become the richest person in the world - - because language had opened up just one single door – but it was a door to the entire world.
In 1981 I wrote, or “received” through the channels, a beautiful song. It came to me complete - in Hebrew. The song, “Lachash al haYam - Whisper by the Sea” acknowledges G-D’s presence in the world but wonders if we know our part in it.
1n 1995 I healed from a personal crisis as I sat with my guitar in hand and a book of Psalms in front of me. In 2004 I recorded 21 of the 27 healing songs, or psalms, as a musical work called “Tikkun”. Many others have found comfort and healing from it since then. It turns out that the words of King David actually DO represent our very HUMAN experience and that MUSIC is the perfect vehicle for sharing it.
The “Healing Light Project”
We are musicians, DREAMERS, who live in three different countries – America, Israel and Africa. We are in fact very different – culturally, traditionally, in how we speak, in the language that we use and in the way we live our lives.
HOWEVER, we see our differences as what makes us unique!
This is what the “Healing Light Project” is about coming together in the same place at the same time to learn about, share and celebrate our differences in song and dance, to share our traditions, culture, to learn a new language, to share a traditional meal ….
We may be dreamers but as musicians we KNOW that dreams DO come true. We are asking you join us. Bring us to your town, village, community and country. We want to meet each other and we want to meet you.
The “Healing Light Project” creates a musical bridge to bring us together – people to people - face-to-face - in CELEBRATION of our human experience. This is our “Tikkun” – this is how we will heal, fix, repair OURSELVES in order to create a more peaceful and joyous world for our children.
Listen to the sounds….
Shalom!
“G-D exists in many different forms and is found in many different places amongst us; each of us has our own unique experience. If we can find peace within ourselves, we can make peace throughout the world.”
I wrote that in 1981. Since then I’ve had so many experiences and have learned many things about life:
- As a Jew, and from my travels in the world, I have learned that, although people may APPEAR to be very different, in fact we are all the same - - - we’re all people of color with traditions, cultures and rituals that make us unique – not different.
- Language, if we take the time and make the effort to learn, is a tool that can bring us together rather than be a barrier that divides us.
I remember a moment when I was living in Israel and had finally learned enough Hebrew to be able to interact – and in Israel I was meeting and interacting with people from all over the world. I was walking down the street when I stopped suddenly - as if I had been struck by lightning. I had a sudden revelation and at that moment reveled in the revelation that I had just become the richest person in the world - - because language had opened up just one single door – but it was a door to the entire world.
- Music IS indeed a universal language. Dance too! Melody and rhythm work together to create harmony!
- Children are the ones who carry on our legacies. What kind of a world are we creating for them? Is it one of darkness or one of Light?
In 1981 I wrote, or “received” through the channels, a beautiful song. It came to me complete - in Hebrew. The song, “Lachash al haYam - Whisper by the Sea” acknowledges G-D’s presence in the world but wonders if we know our part in it.
1n 1995 I healed from a personal crisis as I sat with my guitar in hand and a book of Psalms in front of me. In 2004 I recorded 21 of the 27 healing songs, or psalms, as a musical work called “Tikkun”. Many others have found comfort and healing from it since then. It turns out that the words of King David actually DO represent our very HUMAN experience and that MUSIC is the perfect vehicle for sharing it.
The “Healing Light Project”
We are musicians, DREAMERS, who live in three different countries – America, Israel and Africa. We are in fact very different – culturally, traditionally, in how we speak, in the language that we use and in the way we live our lives.
HOWEVER, we see our differences as what makes us unique!
This is what the “Healing Light Project” is about coming together in the same place at the same time to learn about, share and celebrate our differences in song and dance, to share our traditions, culture, to learn a new language, to share a traditional meal ….
We may be dreamers but as musicians we KNOW that dreams DO come true. We are asking you join us. Bring us to your town, village, community and country. We want to meet each other and we want to meet you.
The “Healing Light Project” creates a musical bridge to bring us together – people to people - face-to-face - in CELEBRATION of our human experience. This is our “Tikkun” – this is how we will heal, fix, repair OURSELVES in order to create a more peaceful and joyous world for our children.
Listen to the sounds….
About “TIKKUN”
It is my belief that "The Psalms (Tehillim, Hymns)" are best acknowledged as the ultimate expression of human experience. These are the words of a man, poet, singer, healer, warrior, husband, friend and exemplary leader. They represent not just the life of one simple, yet complex and very extraordinary man, but also the lives and experiences of all men and women who lived, and live very human lives in extraordinary times.
The Psalms may be "ancient" yet they are very much alive and relevant to each and every one of us today. They are the prayers, poems and songs that represent the core essence of human existence; emotion, feelings and personal outcry, positive and negative, joyful and painful from deep within; mind, heart and soul.
Please take a moment to apply this one-of-a-kind musical work, "TIKKUN", to your heart for joy, healing, calm, relaxation, meditation, contemplation, reflection or simply to listen to. That's what it's here for.
It is my hope that in this small way we will succeed in creating a more peaceful loving existence in a challenging world.
The “Tikkun HaKlali” first appeared in my life in the mid 1980’s. I was living in Jerusalem. I had become a founding member of “Tofa’ah”, Israel’s first and leading all-woman band. The uniqueness of the band was that we adhered to Halachah/Jewish law, in particular the law regarding “Kol Isha” – a woman’s voice. In practice this meant that we performed only for women audiences. Our music was by and for women, expressing women's experience and perspective. This was, and still is a fabulous experience – but that is a tale for another time. What is relevant for now is that during those years I was blessed with wonderful friends who held the deepest respect for Torah and a Torah-based lifestyle.
At that time I was single and able to immerse in music full-time. What I immersed in was living my own brand of spirituality. I became a prolific songwriter drawing on life in Israel, my Jewish community, the works of ancient and contemporary sages and the wisdom of Torah, our quintessential instructional guide to life. I explored, experimented and ultimately remained “secular” in practice and deeply devoted in my heart. My colleagues and dear friends called me “the Spiritual one”. But I digress.
I fell in love with the stories and teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov z”l. Perhaps he has a fairly large following of creative artists, musicians, storytellers because he, himself was such a person. Nachman received the revelation of the “Tikkun HaKlali” sometime in the late 18th century. He taught it to his deciples and today he has growing following.
I "received" a song in 1984 that honored Rebbe Nachman and all the keepers of the book:
FIRE IN THE FOREST c 1984 All Rights Reserved
CD: Hinay Ma Tov; Track 5; Arranged & Produced by Tofa’ah; Sung by Laiya
There is a forest far away from here
There sits a weary man
Tending his treasures of wrinkles
And minding his wares
Blessings and prayers, he sings to the Lord.
Thickets of life in the pockets of time.
There's a fire in the forest
In the heart of illusion burns a steady flame
Glowing in the darkness;
Questioning life of the here and there.
Guarding the answers
Seekers of light yearning for wisdom.
Thickets of life in the pockets of time.
There's a fire in the forest
Sing to the heavens.
Reach for a shining star.
Covet the secrets of ageless wanderings.
Blessings and prayers.
Seekers of light sing to the Lord.
Thickets of life in the pockets of time.
There's a fire in the forest
I married in 1986 and we raised two amazing children. My musical career continued. Due to the obligations of motherhood musical performance transitioned into musical education for young children. My world was blessed with happy children and excited students.
The Psalms peeked into my life again very briefly in 1990. A knock on the door revealed two observant Jewish women who were doing “kiruv” work, trying to bring wayward “secular” Jews back to a Torah-based lifestyle. I invited them in, we talked, and they left me a few little booklets to read. I glanced at them briefly. One was the “Tikkun HaKlali”. With little time to read I shelved the booklets and continued living my life.
I met the “Tikkun HaKlali” again in 1995. My husband and I had parted ways and I became a single mom to my two young children then aged 4 and 7. I didn’t know it at the time but the separation nurtured a period of healing, of letting go of the anger and of returning to myself. I was becoming, evolving and growing. Yet I was also mourning the loss as I transitioned.
It was at this time that the “Tikkun HaKlali” did its healing work on me.
One evening I found myself tinkering on my guitar while simultaneously glancing through a book. The book happened to be a contemporary commentary on the “Tikkun HaKlali”. I was in a partial meditative state as I plucked on the guitar strings and stared at the words. As I stared, trancelike, certain verses jumped out at me. They became instantly attached to melodies, croons and chordal accompaniments that I was plucking out on the guitar. Over the course of three days I had received twenty-seven songs all drawn from verses of the psalms. I recorded each song as it came. I didn’t think much about it at the time. As a songwriter I was accustomed to going with the flow, allowing songs to come to, and through me, recording them and then shelving them for use at a future unknown time. The twenty-seven songs were shelved.
The most important part of this story is that after the three days of being in a trancelike state, freely allowing the “Tikkun HaKlali” to engage and flow through me, I felt 100% better. Somehow I felt I had been cleansed and was now energized and ready to move on and onward. I had been “healed".
In 2003 I was living in New Hampshire with my two young children (USA). We had moved in 1998. Why leave Israel? I have been asked that question many times and have offered just as many answers. Why? There is only one answer. This was my "Lech-Lecha" moment. It felt as if G-D had picked me up by the collar and, giving me a gentle kick in the butt said, “Go from the land... to the land that I will show you”. Or perhaps better understood as, "Go from this life to the life that I will show you". Why? Why did I need to leave my home - especially my home in Israel, the Jewish homeland, and start all over again in this "foreign" land? To this day I am still wondering. Only G-D knows the answer!
So then I was living in rural New Hampshire as a single mom raising two amazing children when a voice started whispering in my ear saying, “Remember those twenty-seven songs? Go get them off the shelf, wipe off the dust and give them to the world.” That voice kept tickling my ears until I finally pulled out that old cassette.
“What the heck were those songs anyway?” I wondered. I plugged in and listened.
"WOW! These are really nice songs," I acknowledged silently to myself.
So I started to learn them. Each one seemed to be complete - standing well on its own beautifully. All of them together were whole.
I began to include a song or two from “Tikkun” in my repertoire just to test the waters. I began to receive positive feedback from listeners. Then I met Aaron, a single dad, carpenter and musician who played on the oud and sitar. It was the sound I was looking for. We began to rehearse and perform the songs. I began to gain more confidence. Then I found Greg, a talented bass player, a High School student at the time. For a very brief moment, a matter of a few weeks, we formed a unique trio performing a very special set of songs. But I was about to lose both musicians – Aaron to an apprenticeship in carpentry and Greg to college. So to capture the essence of the music forever we headed over to Chris’s studio and very quickly laid down twenty-one tracks that were to become the CD recording of “Tikkun”. We had successfully captured and preserved those wonderful moments of our unique sound and spirit. Then I took the tracks to Jim for mixing and production. In the process I had sent the tracks to a few friends for their review and feedback.
“The songs are great but I can’t meditate to them. The added instrumentation distracts me.”
My good friend had spoken! I heeded the critique. The songs were wonderful. They were (and are!) unique and special and had a very calming and healing influence even on me! However, it was true that the additional instrumentation might, for some, interfere with a meditative practice. So I recorded an acoustic version of ten of the psalms, staying with the general order and sequence for reciting the “Tikkun HaKlali” as instructed by Reb Nachman. The final recording was now a 3-Disc set. Now the work was complete. Or so I thought.
The year was 2004. I sent the recorded CD package to a few Jewish music distributors. To my disappointment it seems the world was not yet ready for my offering.
“It’s very nice but if you want to reach the Jewish audience you will need to have the lyrics included in Hebrew with vowel points, English and transliteration. Even so this is not exactly the style of music that we feel will sell.”
THEY had spoken. So Jim and I went through a long and challenging process of putting together a lyric booklet. NOW the package was complete. Yet, as predicted, “Tikkun” is still waiting to be “discovered”.
When the world transitioned to a new millenium I believed that humanity would evolve and progress. Sadly, now 2016, the world is in chaos.
“Light” workers are being awakened to the task. “Tikkun” has still only reached a small audience, all of whom claim that they have benefited from it.
I am satisfied. Just knowing that even a few people have benefited from the work warms my heart. "Tikkun" is doing what it was meant to do!
It is my sincere hope and wish that "Tikkun" will finally reach a wider audience and will be a support and inspiration for healing of mind, body, soul and our world!
Listen to the sounds....
,
It is my belief that "The Psalms (Tehillim, Hymns)" are best acknowledged as the ultimate expression of human experience. These are the words of a man, poet, singer, healer, warrior, husband, friend and exemplary leader. They represent not just the life of one simple, yet complex and very extraordinary man, but also the lives and experiences of all men and women who lived, and live very human lives in extraordinary times.
The Psalms may be "ancient" yet they are very much alive and relevant to each and every one of us today. They are the prayers, poems and songs that represent the core essence of human existence; emotion, feelings and personal outcry, positive and negative, joyful and painful from deep within; mind, heart and soul.
Please take a moment to apply this one-of-a-kind musical work, "TIKKUN", to your heart for joy, healing, calm, relaxation, meditation, contemplation, reflection or simply to listen to. That's what it's here for.
It is my hope that in this small way we will succeed in creating a more peaceful loving existence in a challenging world.
The “Tikkun HaKlali” first appeared in my life in the mid 1980’s. I was living in Jerusalem. I had become a founding member of “Tofa’ah”, Israel’s first and leading all-woman band. The uniqueness of the band was that we adhered to Halachah/Jewish law, in particular the law regarding “Kol Isha” – a woman’s voice. In practice this meant that we performed only for women audiences. Our music was by and for women, expressing women's experience and perspective. This was, and still is a fabulous experience – but that is a tale for another time. What is relevant for now is that during those years I was blessed with wonderful friends who held the deepest respect for Torah and a Torah-based lifestyle.
At that time I was single and able to immerse in music full-time. What I immersed in was living my own brand of spirituality. I became a prolific songwriter drawing on life in Israel, my Jewish community, the works of ancient and contemporary sages and the wisdom of Torah, our quintessential instructional guide to life. I explored, experimented and ultimately remained “secular” in practice and deeply devoted in my heart. My colleagues and dear friends called me “the Spiritual one”. But I digress.
I fell in love with the stories and teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov z”l. Perhaps he has a fairly large following of creative artists, musicians, storytellers because he, himself was such a person. Nachman received the revelation of the “Tikkun HaKlali” sometime in the late 18th century. He taught it to his deciples and today he has growing following.
I "received" a song in 1984 that honored Rebbe Nachman and all the keepers of the book:
FIRE IN THE FOREST c 1984 All Rights Reserved
CD: Hinay Ma Tov; Track 5; Arranged & Produced by Tofa’ah; Sung by Laiya
There is a forest far away from here
There sits a weary man
Tending his treasures of wrinkles
And minding his wares
Blessings and prayers, he sings to the Lord.
Thickets of life in the pockets of time.
There's a fire in the forest
In the heart of illusion burns a steady flame
Glowing in the darkness;
Questioning life of the here and there.
Guarding the answers
Seekers of light yearning for wisdom.
Thickets of life in the pockets of time.
There's a fire in the forest
Sing to the heavens.
Reach for a shining star.
Covet the secrets of ageless wanderings.
Blessings and prayers.
Seekers of light sing to the Lord.
Thickets of life in the pockets of time.
There's a fire in the forest
I married in 1986 and we raised two amazing children. My musical career continued. Due to the obligations of motherhood musical performance transitioned into musical education for young children. My world was blessed with happy children and excited students.
The Psalms peeked into my life again very briefly in 1990. A knock on the door revealed two observant Jewish women who were doing “kiruv” work, trying to bring wayward “secular” Jews back to a Torah-based lifestyle. I invited them in, we talked, and they left me a few little booklets to read. I glanced at them briefly. One was the “Tikkun HaKlali”. With little time to read I shelved the booklets and continued living my life.
I met the “Tikkun HaKlali” again in 1995. My husband and I had parted ways and I became a single mom to my two young children then aged 4 and 7. I didn’t know it at the time but the separation nurtured a period of healing, of letting go of the anger and of returning to myself. I was becoming, evolving and growing. Yet I was also mourning the loss as I transitioned.
It was at this time that the “Tikkun HaKlali” did its healing work on me.
One evening I found myself tinkering on my guitar while simultaneously glancing through a book. The book happened to be a contemporary commentary on the “Tikkun HaKlali”. I was in a partial meditative state as I plucked on the guitar strings and stared at the words. As I stared, trancelike, certain verses jumped out at me. They became instantly attached to melodies, croons and chordal accompaniments that I was plucking out on the guitar. Over the course of three days I had received twenty-seven songs all drawn from verses of the psalms. I recorded each song as it came. I didn’t think much about it at the time. As a songwriter I was accustomed to going with the flow, allowing songs to come to, and through me, recording them and then shelving them for use at a future unknown time. The twenty-seven songs were shelved.
The most important part of this story is that after the three days of being in a trancelike state, freely allowing the “Tikkun HaKlali” to engage and flow through me, I felt 100% better. Somehow I felt I had been cleansed and was now energized and ready to move on and onward. I had been “healed".
In 2003 I was living in New Hampshire with my two young children (USA). We had moved in 1998. Why leave Israel? I have been asked that question many times and have offered just as many answers. Why? There is only one answer. This was my "Lech-Lecha" moment. It felt as if G-D had picked me up by the collar and, giving me a gentle kick in the butt said, “Go from the land... to the land that I will show you”. Or perhaps better understood as, "Go from this life to the life that I will show you". Why? Why did I need to leave my home - especially my home in Israel, the Jewish homeland, and start all over again in this "foreign" land? To this day I am still wondering. Only G-D knows the answer!
So then I was living in rural New Hampshire as a single mom raising two amazing children when a voice started whispering in my ear saying, “Remember those twenty-seven songs? Go get them off the shelf, wipe off the dust and give them to the world.” That voice kept tickling my ears until I finally pulled out that old cassette.
“What the heck were those songs anyway?” I wondered. I plugged in and listened.
"WOW! These are really nice songs," I acknowledged silently to myself.
So I started to learn them. Each one seemed to be complete - standing well on its own beautifully. All of them together were whole.
I began to include a song or two from “Tikkun” in my repertoire just to test the waters. I began to receive positive feedback from listeners. Then I met Aaron, a single dad, carpenter and musician who played on the oud and sitar. It was the sound I was looking for. We began to rehearse and perform the songs. I began to gain more confidence. Then I found Greg, a talented bass player, a High School student at the time. For a very brief moment, a matter of a few weeks, we formed a unique trio performing a very special set of songs. But I was about to lose both musicians – Aaron to an apprenticeship in carpentry and Greg to college. So to capture the essence of the music forever we headed over to Chris’s studio and very quickly laid down twenty-one tracks that were to become the CD recording of “Tikkun”. We had successfully captured and preserved those wonderful moments of our unique sound and spirit. Then I took the tracks to Jim for mixing and production. In the process I had sent the tracks to a few friends for their review and feedback.
“The songs are great but I can’t meditate to them. The added instrumentation distracts me.”
My good friend had spoken! I heeded the critique. The songs were wonderful. They were (and are!) unique and special and had a very calming and healing influence even on me! However, it was true that the additional instrumentation might, for some, interfere with a meditative practice. So I recorded an acoustic version of ten of the psalms, staying with the general order and sequence for reciting the “Tikkun HaKlali” as instructed by Reb Nachman. The final recording was now a 3-Disc set. Now the work was complete. Or so I thought.
The year was 2004. I sent the recorded CD package to a few Jewish music distributors. To my disappointment it seems the world was not yet ready for my offering.
“It’s very nice but if you want to reach the Jewish audience you will need to have the lyrics included in Hebrew with vowel points, English and transliteration. Even so this is not exactly the style of music that we feel will sell.”
THEY had spoken. So Jim and I went through a long and challenging process of putting together a lyric booklet. NOW the package was complete. Yet, as predicted, “Tikkun” is still waiting to be “discovered”.
When the world transitioned to a new millenium I believed that humanity would evolve and progress. Sadly, now 2016, the world is in chaos.
“Light” workers are being awakened to the task. “Tikkun” has still only reached a small audience, all of whom claim that they have benefited from it.
I am satisfied. Just knowing that even a few people have benefited from the work warms my heart. "Tikkun" is doing what it was meant to do!
It is my sincere hope and wish that "Tikkun" will finally reach a wider audience and will be a support and inspiration for healing of mind, body, soul and our world!
Listen to the sounds....
,