HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEONARD!

[Sheila]

I wish you a very happy, if belated, birthday dear Leonard. I hope it was a good one and that the year ahead will be happy, healthy and successful for you. Thank you for all the joy you have given us over the years, and especially during this year's tour. I wish you continued success.

Sheila

[Fljotsdale]

An Interpretation.

The illustration in Leonards's message contains connected hands and a "shiin" in the center of the unified heart. This also stands for shaddai, the Hebrew name for G-d
A kohen ( priest), which is Leonards heritage, traditionally has his hands form this letter shiin, as he recites the Priestly Prayers.

That prayer is as follows:

May the Lord bless you and guard you – יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה, וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ
May the Lord shine His countenance toward you and be gracious to you – יָאֵר יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וִיחֻנֶּךָּ
May the Lord lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace – יִשָּׂא יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם


I cannot express how moved I am by this respectful, humble way for LC to acknowledge the outpouring from this forum . ...and to implore G-d to bless us, to guard us, to be gracious to us and give us us peace:

It doesn't get any better!

Extraordinary!


Leonard from Montreal

Thank you.

The prayer quote is from the Book of Ruth, is it not?

[Womanfromaroom]

Dear Leonard,

I also want to send you my very, very best, if somewhat belated, birthday wishes!! I hope that you will celebrate many more anniversaries and that you will carry on to live for music much longer! Of course, I realize that normally, the birthday celebrant receives presents. But in this case, it will have to be the other way round, for I would very much like to express my gratitude for what you have given me (and, no doubt, countless others): So thank you so much for all the profound insights and joy your songs and your works of art bring, and just for also being such a kind, warm-hearted person - an inspiration in every way!

[leonardmtl]

Yes, it is....and he also quoted from Ruth at the end of his Toronto show, although it was somewhat inauduble from the 5th row because of the unbelievable excitement of the audience..a reach to a universal book to illustrate a beautiful way to express love...Wow!

Did he quote Ruth elsewhere ?

Leonard from Montreal

An Interpretation.

The illustration in Leonards's message contains connected hands and a "shiin" in the center of the unified heart. This also stands for shaddai, the Hebrew name for G-d
A kohen ( priest), which is Leonards heritage, traditionally has his hands form this letter shiin, as he recites the Priestly Prayers.

That prayer is as follows:

May the Lord bless you and guard you – יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה, וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ
May the Lord shine His countenance toward you and be gracious to you – יָאֵר יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וִיחֻנֶּךָּ
May the Lord lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace – יִשָּׂא יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם


I cannot express how moved I am by this respectful, humble way for LC to acknowledge the outpouring from this forum . ...and to implore G-d to bless us, to guard us, to be gracious to us and give us us peace:

It doesn't get any better!

Extraordinary!


Leonard from Montreal

Thank you.

The prayer quote is from the Book of Ruth, is it not?

[Fljotsdale]

Yes, it is....and he also quoted from Ruth at the end of his Toronto show, although it was somewhat inauduble from the 5th row because of the unbelievable excitement of the audience..a reach to a universal book to illustrate a beautiful way to express love...Wow!

Did he quote Ruth elsewhere ?

Leonard from Montreal

I was kindly sent a sound recording of that show. So I heard it.

Not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me. He uses biblical events a lot in his lyrics, as you know.

One of the things I love most about Leonard is that he doesn't hide that he is an ordinary, fallible man - but at the same time he is also a most extraordinary man. It is hard not to love him.

[Tchocolatl]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEONARD - BELATED
....... our new dog- his name Leonard, of course!

"I swept the marble chambers,
But you sent me down below"



Nice doggy dog, Federico Garcia Lorca, in any case.

leonardmtl wrote:An Interpretation.

The illustration in Leonards's message contains connected hands and a "shiin" in the center of the unified heart. This also stands for shaddai, the Hebrew name for G-d
A kohen ( priest), which is Leonards heritage, traditionally has his hands form this letter shiin, as he recites the Priestly Prayers.

That prayer is as follows:

May the Lord bless you and guard you – יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה, וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ
May the Lord shine His countenance toward you and be gracious to you – יָאֵר יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וִיחֻנֶּךָּ
May the Lord lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace – יִשָּׂא יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם

Thanks for the translation - so to speak.

This prayer silents me. I am all silence and quietness.

This may be a proof of miracle or something

[Richard]

Happy Birthday, Mr. Cohen!

A little belated this time
But I'm sure you don't mind

Even my best friends don't get an email birthday greeting each year.
But you're special, even if not really a friend.

Don't be a Stranger.

Richard

[leonardmtl]

I wonder, do you still have the words to the Book of Ruth moment in Toronto. I'd love to put words to the intensity of what I saw....

Yes, LC is the real deal...he opens his shirt and shows his heart...... I cried through the whole show with my shirt open!

leonard from Montreal

Yes, it is....and he also quoted from Ruth at the end of his Toronto show, although it was somewhat inauduble from the 5th row because of the unbelievable excitement of the audience..a reach to a universal book to illustrate a beautiful way to express love...Wow!

Did he quote Ruth elsewhere ?

Leonard from Montreal

I was kindly sent a sound recording of that show. So I heard it.

Not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me. He uses biblical events a lot in his lyrics, as you know.

One of the things I love most about Leonard is that he doesn't hide that he is an ordinary, fallible man - but at the same time he is also a most extraordinary man. It is hard not to love him.

[lilyrose]

From Leonard in Bucharest:

Thank you so much for your good wishes, your encouragement, and your blessings.
They are deeply appreciated.

Leonard

Jarkko, thank you for conveying the message, how very wonderful that Leonard wrote to us!...

[lightning]

The Birthday Cake on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u23KksKM45U

[friscogrl]

Lightning, thanks for posting this.
Don't you just love him!!

Frisco

[Fljotsdale]

I wonder, do you still have the words to the Book of Ruth moment in Toronto. I'd love to put words to the intensity of what I saw....

Yes, LC is the real deal...he opens his shirt and shows his heart...... I cried through the whole show with my shirt open!

leonard from Montreal

I was wrong. It isn't Ruth, it's Numbers chapter 6, verses 24 to 26.

The verses in Ruth that I had in mind were:

"Do not plead with me to abandon you, to turn back from accompanying you; for where you go I shall go, and where you spend the night I shall spend the night. Your people will be my people, and your god my god. Where you die I shall die, and there is where I shall be buried. May (god) do so to me and add to it if anything but death make a separation between me and you."

It wasn't the words, but the same intensity of feeling in the words that made me mistake.

To get the words from the concert, I'll just have to listen to the recording again, won't I?

Eh... just put it on and noticed I have the Moncton concert, not the Montreal, but he said the same thing... I'm almost certain. I hope I didn't hear it u-tube... I'm geting senile...

[devadeborah]

Happy Birthday Mr Cohen.....your songs, your presence your confirmation has made life more , you have held many hands and hearts into the depths with a profound glory. I just love you ..... the heart has no borders...so it must be forever...... Deborah

[Violet]

... I've decided to forego the poem I'd originally posted here, for the one on p. 10... that one somehow expresses more of what I wanted to say... v.

[Minna]

Happy belated birbday Leonard!