About

We are loved by an unending love is based on a text by Rabbi Rami Shapiro, a poet whose interpretations of the liturgy are used in many synagogues and prayer books, and whose poetry I have set before for chorus. “We are loved by an unending love” is a beautiful text, expressing the power of connection between human beings and between human and the divine, at all points in our lives and beyond.

We are loved by an unending love  was commissioned by Helen and Daniel Sonnenshine for Ohef Sholom Temple of Norfolk, Virgina, in memory of Kathleen Franz, a beloved mezzo soloist with the congregation for many years. As a tribute to Kathleen Franz, I have included a prominent solo for mezzo-soprano in the piece.  The premiere of the piece was on October 30, 2011, by the Ohef Sholom Temple choir, Chuck Woodward, conductor; Robynne Redmon, mezzo-soprano.

–Gerald Cohen  

Score

Text

We are loved by an unending love.
We are embraced by arms that find us even when we are hidden from ourselves.
We are touched by fingers that soothe us even when we are too proud for soothing.
We are counseled by voices that guide us even when we are too embittered to hear.
We are loved by an unending love.
We are supported by hands that uplift us even in the midst of a fall.
We are urged on by eyes that meet us even when we are too weak for meeting.
We are loved by an unending love.
Embraced, touched, soothed, and counseled,
Ours are the arms, the fingers, the voices;
Ours are the hands, the eyes, the smiles;
We are loved by an unending love.        

-Rami Shapiro

Listen/Watch

Performances

Premiere: Ohef Sholom Temple choir (Norfolk, VA), Chuck Woodward, conductor; Robynne Redmon, mezzo-soprano, October 2011