Open the Gates: Songs of Love and Longing for the Divine

The title song of Open the Gates: Songs of Love and Longing for the Divine was written on Asara B’Tevet, which is observed as a minor fast day in many traditional Jewish communities. I was a fellow at Yeshivat Hadar and was struck by the line “Petach sha’arei shamayim litflilateinu” while we were davenning the special section of prayers in the morning service to commemorate the day. These four words ask G-d to open the gates of heaven to our prayer. I imagined all of us as beams of light, grounding into the earth and rising into the heavens. I imagined our channel to the Divine being cleared of all blockages and all of our prayers harmonizing and rising together through the gates of heaven. I meditated on this verse throughout the day and by the time I got home “Open the Gates” was born.