Throughout scripture and Jewish thought, the number eight is found symbolizing new beginnings. The eighth letter in the Hebrew aleph-bet is the letter 'khet' (though usually transliterated using 'ch'). As you can see on the album cover, khet very much looks like a doorway, so it is naturally used in representation of the door-posts of Pesach, on which the Hebrews painted the blood of the Pesach lamb to protect their firstborn fathers, husbands, and sons from the angel of death that fateful night. The morning after Pesach, the firstborn of the twelve tribes of Ya'akov, given new life, walked through their blood-splashed Egyptian doorways for the last time, and began their journey to becoming the nation of Israel. How apropos it is that 'khet' is the first letter in the word 'khai', meaning 'life'.

New beginnings are more than a simple moment of change; they are the start of something meant to endure. Their endurance depends on our initiative to get up and keep going as Avraham did when God commanded him, "Lech l'cha!" Their fruition depends on our tenacity to apprehend God's heart and to accomplish His purposes. Their reward depends on our willingness to redefine our present by what lies ahead, rather than by what lies behind.

All of us need new beginnings in our life. Our album 'New Beginnings' is meant to do more than express the beauty of new beginnings or illustrate the journey. May this music propel you forward in the new beginnings He intends for you. Let it accompany your times of prayer and meditation on the Scriptures. Let it calm your heart and mind so you can hear and focus on God's voice, and begin to see more clearly the journey to completion--the ultimate new beginning--He so desires to lead you on.