Earth Etude for Elul 22: Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li

by Daniel Kieval

The Hebrew letters of “Elul” are said to spell out ani l’dodi v’dodi li — I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me.

I invite you to listen to this song as a message of love being sung uniquely to you — perhaps from the Divine, perhaps from the Earth, perhaps from your own Inner Beloved. You might try listening with each of these lenses and seeing what happens.

Whoever the singer is, they are continually and faithfully offering their love and the possibility of relationship. Will you reciprocate? “I will be for you; will you be for me?”

Ani l’dodi v’dodi li
I will be for you
Will you be for me?

Hoping for you I wait
Turn my heart to this simple state
I will forgive
So you may live
With love in every breath I give

Ani l’dodi v’dodi li
I will be for you
Will you be for me?

It is your face I seek
My gentle fingers upon your cheek
And in your eyes
I see surprise
As holy sparks in you arise

Ani l’dodi v’dodi li
I will be for you
Will you be for me?

And when we burst into light
In the darkest of the night
Then you will see
We can be free
If you will come back home to me.

Daniel Kieval is a musician, naturalist, and educator living in western Massachusetts.

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