B’nai Jeshurun Music
Music lies at the heart of spiritual life at B’nai Jeshurun. Our prayer is carried by melodies drawn from across the Jewish world, reflecting the rich diversity of Jewish culture and tradition. From nigunim, wordless melodies, to piyutim, liturgical poems, song opens the heart, deepens prayer, and binds a community together. On Shabbat and holidays, our spiritual leaders are joined by an extraordinary ensemble of musicians whose voices and instruments help shape the sound of prayer at BJ.
Musical life extends beyond the sanctuary as well through the Micki Levin Concert Series, which brings leading artists in Jewish and world music to our community and expands the ways music can serve as a pathway to spiritual connection.
We invite you to explore the Music Library below. The Music Library features a growing collection of the melodies we sing. Each prayer includes audio drawn from our livestream services alongside the Hebrew text, transliteration, and English translation. The prayers are organized in the order of the service so you can follow along, learn a particular melody, and explore the liturgy step by step.
Kabbalat Shabbat
Yedid Nefesh
Yedid Nefesh is a beloved 16th-century mystical poem traditionally attributed to Eleazar Azikri, expressing the ...
Lekhu Neranena (Psalm 95)
We begin our day with an expression of gratitude with Modeh Ani. In Hareini Mekabel, ...
Shiru L’Adonai (Psalm 96)
Shiru L’Adonai (Psalms 96) is one of the six psalms of Kabbalat Shabbat, inviting all ...
Psalm 98
Psalm 98 is a jubilant song of praise, calling on humanity and the natural world ...
Mizmor L’David (Psalm 29)
Mizmor L’David (Psalms 29) is a majestic psalm describing the powerful “voice of God” resounding ...
Lekha Dodi
Lekha Dodi is a 16th-century poem sung as the spiritual centerpiece of Kabbalat Shabbat to ...
Tov L’hodot & Ma Gadlu (Psalm 92)
Tov L’hodot & Ma Gadlu (Psalm 92) is the psalm designated for Shabbat itself, recited ...
Kol beru-ei ma’lah umatah
Kol Beru-ei Ma’alah Umatah is a piyut calling on all heavenly and earthly beings to ...
Umalkhuto & Mi Khamokha
Umalkhuto & Mi Khamokha is an expression of awe at God’s uniqueness and redemptive power, ...
Ufros Aleinu
Ufros Aleinu is a plea for divine protection and peace, asking God to shelter us ...
V’shamru
V’shamru (Exodus 31:16–17) is a declaration of Shabbat’s eternal covenant, affirming that by observing Shabbat, ...
Salaam/Od yavo
Od Yavo Shalom Aleinu written by Israeli musician Mosh Ben-Ari, this song is a hopeful ...
Hamal'akh Hagoel Oti children blessing (Genesis 48:16)
HaMalakh HaGoel Oti (Genesis 48:16), is a prayer, often recited as a blessing for children, ...
Shalom Aleikhem (Sufi)
Shalom Aleikhem is sung before kiddush to welcome the angels who accompany us home and ...
Kiddush
Kiddush is the blessing over wine that gathers us together, sanctifies the moment, and welcomes ...
Yigdal
Yigdal is a concluding piyut based on Maimonides’ 13 principles of faith, sung as a ...
Shabbat Morning
Modeh Ani & Hareini Mekabel
We begin our day with an expression of gratitude with Modeh Ani. In Hareini Mekabel, ...
Shahar Avakeshkha
Shahar Avakeshkha is a beloved medieval Hebrew poem by the Spanish Jewish poet-philosopher Solomon ibn ...
Elekha
Elekha (Psalm 30) is a psalm describing a spiritual journey from distress to gratitude, reminding ...
Ki Le'Olam Hasdo (Psalm 136)
Ki L’olam Hasdo (Psalm 136) is a biblical psalm of communal praise whose repeated refrain— ...
Mizmor Shir L'Yom HaShabbat (Psalm 92)
Mizmor Shir L’Yom HaShabbat (Psalm 92) is the psalm designated specifically for Shabbat as a ...
Ashrei (Psalm 145)
Ashrei (Psalm 145) is an alphabetical psalm of praise celebrating God’s compassion and sustaining presence.
Psalm 148
Psalm 148 is part of the closing Halleluyah psalms of the morning service, calling on ...
Halleluyah (Psalm 150)
Halleluyah (Psalm 150) is the climactic final psalm of the Book of Psalms, summoning the ...
Nishmat Kol Hai
Nishmat Kol Hai is a central hymn of the Shabbat and festival morning liturgy, praising ...
Shokhen Ad
Shokhen Ad concludes Pesukei deZimra, the section of the service that spiritually prepares us to ...
El Adon
El Adon is a beloved medieval piyyut recited on Shabbat morning before the Sh'ma, praising ...
Tehilot & Mi Khamokha
Tehilot and Mi Khamokha are prayers that describe the Exodus from Egypt and quote verses ...