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ABOUT ‘HAVAYAH’
‘Havayah’ is a permutation of the four letters of the unpronounceable, ineffable Name of God. In this form, the letters seem to form a female Name, which means roughly, ‘existence’ or ‘being.’ The rest of the first motif comes from the Book of Exodus (3:14). When Moses asks Who shall I say to the people has sent me, God replies, “tell them that ‘Eheyeh asher Eheyeh’ has sent you. This phrase has had different translations. Even though biblical Hebrew does not have tenses, a very literal rendering is, “I will be what I will be.”
The second motif, ‘Baruch Shem k’vod malchuta l’olam vo’ed,’ constitutes a variation of a well-known part of the liturgy. I have rendered it in the feminine, because the Name here is, as said, seemingly feminine in gender. It is not easy to translate but can be rendered as: “Praised be the Divine Name, the Glory of Her Dominion is forever!”
הויה, ××”×™×” ×שר ××”×™×” – ברוך ×©× ×›×‘×•×“ מלכותה ×œ×¢×•×œ× ×•×¢×“
PRODUCTION
Recording and engineering by Frank Wolf
Produced by Frank Wolf and Rabbi Andrew Hahn
Soundscaping by Frank Wolf
Mastered by Michael Fossenkemper, Turtletone Studios, NY
Melodies and arrangement by Rabbi Andrew Hahn
MUSICIANS
Rabbi Andrew Hahn: Acoustic guitar, electric guitar and vocal calls
Yehoshua Brill: Electric guitar
Taylor Bergren-Chrisman: Electric bass
Shoshana Jedwab and Elijah Tucker: percussion
Havayah Posse: Aliza Hava, Emily Stern, Shir Yaakov Feinstein-Feit, Rachel Brook, A. Segulah Sher, Laura Wolfe, Elijah Tucker
HAVAYAH GRAPHIC:
Shir Feinstein-Feit
KR will be writing much more extensively about this chant and its theology soon!
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