On The Banks Of The Promised Land Sheet Music

[Stella Kreuter]

DescriptionScored for SAB, keyboard, flute, percussion, and optional congregation, this setting of the folk hymn PROMISED LAND captures perfectly the rugged beauty of 19th-century American folk hymnody. Useful as a choral anthem or as a congregational hymn setting, this joyful expression of praise and hope will find wide use among smaller choirs.

Text

On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,

and cast a wishful eye

to Canaan's fair and happy land

where my possessions lie.

Refrain

I'm bound for the promised land,

I'm bound for the promised land.

Oh, who will come and go with me?

I'm bound for the promised land.

A native of Exeter, Samuel Stennett spent his childhood in London where his father served a Baptist church as pastor. In 1758, he succeeded his father in the pastorate of the Baptist church in Little Wild Street, London, where he served until his death. A scholarly man, Stennett received a D.D. from King's College, Aberdeen in 1763. Known also as a friend of the reigning monarch, George III, Stennett nonetheless refused political or social opportunities to devote himself to ministry. His prominence among the Dissenting ministers of London afforded occasions to use his influence with political figures on behalf of religious liberty. Stennett authored 39 hymns, five of which appeared in Rippon's Selection (1787). His grandfather, Joseph Stennett, had also been a prominent Dissenting hymn writer, publishing several hymnals reflecting his Puritan-rooted religion of the heart. Samuel Stennett continued the tradition, although with less passionate language of glory and grace than had marked his grandfather's Puritan-influenced notions of Christian experience.

Stennett wrote seven stanzas for "On Jordan's Stormy Banks." The hymn is also known by the title Stennett gave it, "Promised Land." Critics have noted that "Promised Land" echoes a well-known hymn by Isaac Watts, "There Is a Land of Pure Delight." More than any other of Stennett's hymns, "Promised Land" found enormous popularity in 19th-century America. Its acceptance by American Methodists and its subsequent use in camp meetings and brush arbors help account for this. The hymn has appeared in each American Methodist hymnal since Francis Asbury included it in his Supplement to the Pocket Hymn Book (1808). Stennett's eight stanzas are generally reduced to three or four, and several of these may be slightly altered. The song found its way into the 1835 Southern Harmony and is part of the American shape note tradition. At some times in American history, evangelicals have reinterpreted Stennett's biblical metaphors with a this-worldly eye toward the promised land just over the horizon on the western frontier.

"Promised Land" has been set to various tunes. Perhaps the best-known in the United States today is PROMISED LAND, a traditional early-nineteenth-century American melody with a strong resemblance to a once-popular dance tune. William Walker's Southern Harmony attributes the tune to a Miss M. Durham. Rigdon M. McIntosh revised PROMISED LAND and changed it from minor to major tonality. McIntosh also added a refrain. "Promised Land" can be found in American hymnals in major or minor keys and with or without refrains.

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I distinctly remember arriving at my first rabbinical position at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, New York. It was summer, 1989 and the rest of the clergy were away on their much-needed vacations. Before my first Friday night service, I asked congregants if the tradition of the congregation was to stand before the open or closed ark at Aleinu. They were unsure. I was unsure. Congregants immediately started coming to see me with life problems that had never occurred to me. I learned to sit, to listen, to be present, and to share Jewish tools and Jewish sources of ancient wisdom for walking through hard times. I was 29 years old, and just getting started. And now I am 64 and completing a very full and fulfilling synagogue rabbinate.

Day after day, all throughout my rabbinate, I have witnessed the ways in which Jewish tradition, ritual and community have made a profound positive difference in the lives of thousands of synagogue members as they celebrate and observe the highs and lows of a human life. In every synagogue Jonathan and I have served, our vision has included radically welcoming any person to enter as they are and walk the path of Judaism at their own pace.

What has struck me most, from October 7, 2023 until now, is how unfailingly all parts of our community refuse to cower or bend to the will of those who would like us all to disappear. Services have been full and heartfelt. We keep starting new classes on top of the old ones. There is a hunger to learn more about our Judaism, to grow a deeper sense of connection and belonging, to proudly express our Jewish selves, even as we work for peace for all peoples.

I am filled with gratitude for the health of this Jewish community as we prepare to transition to rabbis emeritus who plan to stay in our current home as long as possible. With Rabbi Bauer set to step up on July 1 to be our next senior rabbi, Emanu-El is poised to open a brand-new exciting chapter in the almost 175-year Emanu-El history book. Rabbi Jonathan and I will be away July 1 through the end of December and then back in January, 2025 to support Rabbi Bauer and to attend our favorite services on most Fridays. I hope you will be there, too. Nothing kicks off a weekend like the beautiful, musical, hope-filled services at Emanu-El.

Unfortunately, throughout the generations, our society has often feared, ostracized and ridiculed individuals with any category of disability. You might think that with our belief that every person is created by God and carries a spark of God within, we would be the most inclusive, welcoming people. But societal prejudices run deep. We often simply do not know how to welcome in people we perceive as different than ourselves.

Over time we learned that there are methods and measures that can be implemented at Temple to create an environment that welcomes everyone. Hiring special needs teachers, teaching assistants and tutors trained with skills to help children with disabilities participate in all facets of Temple life has been one method. We believe that it is the right of every Jewish child to be called to Torah as B Mitzvah. We design services that are meaningful and accessible for each child on an individualized basis.

Ideally, we want Jews with any kind of disability of all ages to fully participate in all areas of Temple life. As a synagogue we can continue to raise awareness and educate ourselves. We can work on our own journey to overcome societally inculcated bias and stigma associated with difference. And we can always remind ourselves that the root idea of Judaism is that each one of us is created in the divine image and we each carry a spark of the divine within ourselves.

If you happen to be at services Friday, February 9th, we plan to have resource information available to all of our congregants. May we always look for the holiness in each and every person. Happy JDAIM!

Charles Silberman in his Book, A Certain People, now almost forty years old, taught that we Jews as a people always think we are dying, and so we are always working to save ourselves! That notion that we have a communal hypochondria, the side-effect of which is that we are always working on ourselves and trying to improve, is an observation I think is right on point.

It is good to consider how Congregation Emanu-El is in many ways thriving, even as we worry about the conflict in Israel, and the new antisemitism that has reared its ugly head, representative of some of the fractures in American society.

This past month 250 people turned out for our monthly Tot Shabbat which has been growing and growing in popularity. As you see parents make new friends there and at our beautiful preschool, with children filling up the room, one wonders about the claim that the city is bereft of people under the age of eighteen.

Our Young Adult program led by YALC with its signature Late Shabbat is thriving with attendance increasing to upwards of 400+ young adults filling up the sanctuary, all wanting to connect to Jewish life and build community here at Emanu-El.

And our new building proceeds on schedule; the construction team has now dug what will become the foundation of our updated home, giving us a glimpse at an even more dynamic spiritual future here for Jewish San Francisco.

I could go on much further, because there are so many ways to engage, but I wanted to give you a more global perspective of what is happening in this beautiful and meaningful community. Perhaps it will help you remember that there is so much good out there despite the disappointments, and that your engagement matters!

I kvetch with you every month that I am writing these words in late October for you to read in the first week of December. If it used to be challenging to guess how things would be in the Jewish world a month from now, it has only gotten harder.

Enter Chanukah, December 7th through 14th. A holiday focused on light. We need light. A holiday focused on miracles. We need miracles. A holiday that reminds us that Jews have persevered through the darkest of times. We need that reminder.

As we reel from the horrific attack on Israel by Hamas we begin to remember those who perished, understand what was lost, and consider how we can come together and go forward. It is paramount that we see Hamas differently from other actors in the conflict as they are a nihilistic terrorist organization bent on destruction. They clearly state that they have no interest in finding a path to peace and they certainly reject a two-state solution. The killing we witnessed on social media was a modern-day pogrom, and the targets were civilians, the innocent, children, elderly, and even babies. Their deaths were celebrated by these haters, and those who try to use phrases that equate Israeli actions which we at times must condemn, with what Hamas did, either do not understand what they are seeing with their own eyes, or do not want to understand.

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