Ruach - New Jewish Tunes by Transcontinental Music Publications

Words/Music by Neal Katz and Alan Cook

The new Reform prayer book, Mishkan T’filah, reinstates this prayer for messianic redemption, full of meaning for religious Zionists, to its original place at the conclusion of the Yotzeir in Shacharit (morning service) after an absence of 150 years. Changing perceptions and the birth of the State of Israel in 1948 saw the rise of a Reform Zionist voice in North America and assured the eventual return of Or Chadash, the petition to “shine a new light upon Zion, that we all might merit its radiance.”

- Cantor Alane Katzew
URJ Dept. of Worship, Music and Religious Living

CHORUS
Or chadash, a new light will shine.
Al Tziyon tair, on Jerusalem.
Bringing us home to the land of our people.
Or chadash, and a new light will shine.

VERSE 1
Unto Av ram You issued a command.
Lech l’cha, and I’ll show you a new land.
And a covenant was sworn that our nation would be born,
And we’d grow to be num’rous as the sand.

CHORUS

VERSE 2
Driven away for hundreds of years.
In a thousand lands we cried a million tears.
With our heart turned toward the skies, we looked homeward with our eyes,
And prayed that our return would soon draw near.

CHORUS

VERSE 3
And now how glorious it seems.
We’ve come home to the land of our dreams.
Over the mountains the sunrises high.
It’s a new day, it’s our home land, it’s our time.

CHORUS