Sh'ma (These Waters)

A mother let go of her child 

When the great rolling river was kinder than men

Yocheved, she prayed he’d remember her love

As her tears washed him into the Nile

A woman she stood at the edge

Of the water she wept with her timbrel in hand

Miryam, she sang though she knew not her fate

And the water like mercy gave way

Sh’ma yisrael

Adonai eloheinu

Sh’ma yisrael

Adonai, Adonai echad

A mother she stood on a pier

She crossed the Atlantic, its violence and grace 

Sofia, she cradled her Sarah and sang

may these people be kinder to you 

Sh’ma yisrael

Adonai eloheinu

Sh’ma yisrael

Adonai, echad

Baruch shem kavod 

Malchuto, l’olam va’ed

Now I stand here at the shore

Of Lake Michigan, watch my boy play in the waves

Centuries passed, did the tide ever change? 

Will I too cross these waters one day?

Will I too cross these waters one day?