DJC Pride Shabbat Songs 2026

2 days ago
4 min read

Thank you for joining us at our annual DJC Pride Shabbat! The DJC Choir was proud to highlight 2SLGBTQI+ songwriters and composers, including DJC members Alan Gotlib, Tamar Geraci, and former Rabbi Miriam Margles. We’re delighted to share our song list and lyrics so you can listen and learn more (including links to recordings).

Modah Ani | Aly Halpert

𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑎ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑖 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑘ℎ𝑎

𝑟𝑢𝑎𝑐ℎ ℎ̣𝑎𝑖 𝑣𝑒𝑘𝑎𝑦𝑎𝑚

מוֹדָה אֲנִי לְפָנַיִךְ

רוּחַ חַי וְקַיָּם

I was made for this morning

I was made to be here

All the life around me

Is a gift so I may heal

from Loosen, 2022

Hallelu | Tamar Geraci

Hallelu kol han’shamah t’hallel Yah

Let all that breathes praise Yah. Hallelujah.

Ilu Finu | Miriam Margles

Ilu finu maleh shira ka’yam.

If our mouths were as full of song as the sea...

from This is the Day / Zeh Hayom, 2018

It’s Not in My Body | Rae Spoon

It’s not in my body,

The answers you want from me.

Yes, I am my body,

But you try to turn it on me.

I just wanna travel in this ship,

Without answering for all of it.

Don’t you know there’s many, many ways,

To live a life in the length of a day.

Send home the search party.

What you seek just isn’t in me.

While you’re tearing me apart,

It feels like an autopsy.

from bodiesofwater, 2018

The Village Wrabel

No, your mom don't get it and your dad don't get it

Uncle John don't get it

, and you can't tell grandma

'Cause her heart can't take it and she might not make it

They say, "Don't dare, don't you even go there

Cutting off your long hair, you do as you're told"

Tell you, "Wake up, go put on your makeup

This is just a phase you're gonna outgrow"

There's something wrong in the village, in the village, oh

They stare in the village, in the village, oh

There's nothing wrong with you, it's true, it's true

There's something wrong with the village, with the village

There's something wrong with the village

Feel the rumors follow you

From Monday all the way to Friday dinner

You got one day of shelter

Then it's Sunday hell to pay, you young lost sinner

Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chair

Whispering that same prayer half a million times

It's a lie, though, burying disciples

One page of the Bible isn't worth a life

By Andrew Pearson, Stephen Wrabel and Andrew Jackson, 2017

Another Flame | Alan Gotlib

As your candle was aflutter, and the flame began to sputter

You tried hard, although you felt it was in vain.

And the fear in you grew stronger, that your light would be no longer,

Yet despite a loss so tragic, there has also been a gain.

For you’ve touched the lives of others, friends and lovers, sons and mother,

And you’ve left hending much more than just a name.

There’s a comfort in the knowing, what was started won’t stop growing,

For your dying candle sparked another flame.

Another flame so bright to conquer indifference.

Another flame to spread the tolerance the world so sorely needs.

A light that will eradicate the darkness of the hate ignorance breeds.

So despite your dying ember we stand proudly and remember

How your candle was the beacon you became.

And we know it will continue, the bright spirit that was in you,

For your dying candle sparked another flame.

Everything Possible | Fred Small

We have cleared off the table, the leftovers saved

Washed the dishes and put them away

I have told you a story and tucked you in tight

At the end of your knockabout day

As the moon sets its sails to carry you to sleep

Over the midnight sea

I will sing you a song no one sang to me

May it keep you good company

You can be anybody you want to be

You can love whoever you will

You can travel any country where your heart leads

And know I will love you still

You can live by yourself, you can gather friends around

You can choose one special one

And the only measure of your words and your deeds

Will be the love you leave behind when you're done

Some children grow up strong and bold

While some are quiet and kind

Some race on ahead, some take it slow

Some go in their own way and time

Some women love women, some men love men

Some leave every label behind

You can dream all the day never reaching the end

Of everything possible you’ll find

Don't be rattled by names, by taunts, by games

But seek out spirits true

If you give your friends the best part of yourself

They will give the same back to you.

Adon Olam | Miriam Margles

Adon olam, asher malach, b'terem kol y'tzir nivra.

L'et na'asah v'cheftzo kol, azai melech sh'mo nikra.

V'acharey kichlot hakol, l'vado yimloch nora.

V'hu haya, v'hu hoveh, v'hu yih'yeh b'tifara.

V'hu echad, v'eyn sheni l'hamshil lo, l'hachbira.

B'li reishit, b'li tachlit, v'lo ha'oz v'hamisrah.

V'hu Eli, v'chai go'ali, v'tzur chevli b'et tzarah.

V'hu nisi umanos li, m'nat kosi b'yom ekra.

B'yado afkid ruchi b'et ishan v'a'irah.

V'im ruchi g'viyati, Adonai li v'lo ira.

translation: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-majesty-of-adon-olam/