Siddur Shirah Chadashah
A draft excerpt of A new Shabbat Morning Liturgy for Liberal Judaism
Shirah chadashah shib’chu g’ulim l’shimcha al-s’fat ha-yam.
A new song the redeemed sang to You at the shores of the sea. from the G’ulah/Redemption Blessing (in the section Sh’ma and its blessings)
Co-editors׃
Rabbi Lea Mühlstein and Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah
Editorial Group׃
Rabbi Janet Burden
Rabbi Dr Margaret Jacobi
Rabbi Dr René Pfertzel
Rabbi Mark Solomon
Rabbi Alexandra Wright
This booklet may not be reproduced in full or in parts and may not be scanned for electronic use.
As this is a draft version and not all texts used will be included in a final copy of the siddur, the copyright of all texts remains the exclusive property of the original authors and may not be reproduced without their explicit permission.
Introduction
This draft Shabbat morning service represents the first stage towards the publication of a new siddur. Why does Liberal Judaism need a new siddur? Liberal Judaism has published a new prayer book every 25 to 30 years ‘ … in order to satisfy the needs of the age’ – a core principle first articulated by Lily Montagu in the Jewish Quarterly Review in 1899. So, concerning Service of the Heart, published in 1967 and Siddur Lev Chadash, published in 1995, on each occasion, the new siddur responded to its particular ‘age’. For example, unlike previous prayer books, Service of the Heart employed modern English throughout. And then, in 1995, the publication of Siddur Lev Chadash took issues of translation a step further with the introduction of gender inclusive language. Significantly, both Service of the Heart and Siddur Lev Chadash in turn included more Hebrew, with the 1995 prayer book going further still. The first Liberal prayer book to be given a Hebrew name and to have a right-side ‘Hebrew’ opening, Siddur Lev Chadash also adopted the traditional order of service.
So, in 1995 Siddur Lev Chadash was both the most radical and the most traditional siddur to date – and also the most comprehensive in terms of the variety of services included and the sheer range and quantity of study material. It is obvious why the needs of 1990s Britain required the language of prayer to reflect increasing gender equality. It is less easy to fathom the new embrace of tradition. To understand this development, we should consider the impact of the Sho’ah, which cast an immense shadow over the second half of the 20th century that perhaps could not be articulated for many decades. Following the destruction of tens of thousands of Jewish communities, Liberal Judaism responded to the sense of loss and the impulse to revitalise Jewish life with a flowering of liturgical creativity and a renewed appreciation of our precious liturgical inheritance.
Siddur Lev Chadash was a monumental achievement, and like Service of the Heart before it, has become much-loved. And now, 23 years later, we have begun the process of producing a new siddur, aware that the process will take several years to complete in full.
Just as the titles of the 1967 and 1995 prayer books were significant, so is the title of the new one. The name Siddur Shirah Chadashah, ‘prayer book of a new song’, reflects the desire to express the prayers we have inherited in new ways, and the determination to ensure that the siddur is as accessible and comprehensible as possible. Since the dawn of a new millennium, alongside Liberal Judaism’s championing of equality, the new watchword has been inclusion. And so, in preparing this draft Shabbat morning service, we have considered how the individual may be included and enabled to participate. The first step towards this goal has been to make explicit the way in which the traditional structure of the service takes the individual on a journey via prayers and blessings which focus on universal and personal issues, into the heart of the congregational experience, signalled by the bar’chu, the call to prayer.
The concern with the individual’s experience of the service is also reflected in the inclusion of transliteration alongside the Hebrew. Of course, individuals must always be encouraged to learn to read Hebrew, if they missed out on acquiring this skill when they were younger, or have become rusty, and our congregations do make provision for Hebrew learning. The inclusion of transliteration is not a substitute for the skill of Hebrew reading but rather an aid. Once individuals who cannot read Hebrew are able to participate fully in the service, they may feel inspired to learn to read it.
The lay-out of each double-page spread is also intended to enable participation and a fuller comprehension of the service. Looking at
the top half of the double page spread from right to left, you will find transliteration to the right of the Hebrew and a translation to the left of the Hebrew. And then, to the left of the translation, a grey box containing explanatory points and questions for reflection.
On the far left of the double page, you will see a vertical menu indicating the headings for each section of the service, with the current one highlighted in bold. By glancing at the menu, rather than simply being taken through the service by the rabbi or service leader, the individual will be able to gauge where they are in the service, where they have been, and where they are going. On the bottom half of the double page spread, you will find readings and poems, both traditional and contemporary, reflecting on the theme of the prayer or blessing. These may be read by the congregation as alternative texts, or read by the individual in silence to themselves during the service.
As mentioned, Siddur Lev Chadash adopted gender inclusive language. However, this was only in respect of the English translation, primarily because Hebrew is a binary gendered language. Even ‘you’ in Hebrew is masculine or feminine, with feminine and masculine plural forms as well. True to the spirit of creating ‘a new song’, the name of Siddur Shirah Chadashah is in the feminine form and the siddur includes feminised Hebrew versions of some of the prayers. For example, the morning blessings are presented in feminine Hebrew – and also in the gender neutral first-person plural, n’vareich, ‘let us bless.’ Feminine Hebrew has also been used for a handful of other prayers. For example, the second blessing of the Amidah, the ‘standing’ central prayer, known as G’vurot, God’s ‘powers’, is presented in feminised Hebrew to subvert the traditional association of ‘powers’ with masculine attributes. Hopefully, the inclusion of transliteration, will aid congregants, including those who are able to read Hebrew, to articulate the unfamiliar feminine sounds. At the same
time, in order to ensure that most of the prayers remain familiar, the number of prayers in feminine Hebrew has been restricted.
In order to allow time during the service for congregations to explore different versions of the prayers and the additional readings, the beginning of the service has been shortened. And so, for example, instead of a full Mah tovu, a one-line version, with other short sung texts offered as alternatives. As with previous prayer books, there will be a range of Shabbat morning service options in the new siddur, and one of these will include the full Mah Tovu.
This draft Shabbat morning service is being distributed at the beginning of 2018 to give congregations and congregants time to get to know it before submitting feedback to the editors by the beginning of 2019. It is hoped that congregations will use the draft at least once a month during the year.
In presenting this first draft of the new Shabbat morning service, which has been prepared with contributions from a small group of rabbinic colleagues, and then tweaked following input from the rabbinic conference as a whole, the editors are deeply aware that Siddur Shirah Chadashah will be the first Shabbat and daily prayer book in over fifty years not to be crafted by our esteemed and dearly loved late senior colleague, Rabbi John D. Rayner, zichrono liv’rachah, may his memory be for blessing. As novice liturgists, we hope that in due course the new prayer book, improved in the process of consultation, will be a worthy tribute to his enduring influence.
January 2018 / Tevet 5788
Rabbi Lea Mühlstein and Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah Editors, Siddur Shirah Chadashahahead of ourselves. We have to bring ourselves, all of who we are, together. And so we begin with blessings, prayers and songs that touch on the universal concerns of each individual. The first step encourages us to express our gratitude for our lives and for the simple gift of each day.
She can be found adorned with robe and diadem, like a bride bedecked continually, each morning.
The faithful One, in trust, will send her back, in favour; none perish through the error of the Creator of evening and morning. Refresh your weary soul, Your unique one, perfect and pure. If you do not keep your own soul alive, how will you merit the light of morning?
I shall give thanks to God who tests the heart When the morning stars sing together. Anonymous
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
Morning Blessings
We are about to embark on a journey. We have arrived here from different places and circumstances. We have come here as individuals with our own concerns, pre-occupations and hopes. Shabbat offers us the opportunity to link our lives with the lives of others and the generations of our people. But we cannot run
I shall give thanks to God who tests the heart When the morning stars sing together. Take good care of your soul׃ she is turquoise, agate and jasper. her light is like the light of the sun, like the light of seven mornings.
She was hewn from the Throne of Glory, sent to dwell in a desert land to deliver it from flames and shed light on it in the morning. Awaken yourself, for every night your soul ascends on high to give account for her deeds to the Maker of evening and morning.
Putting on the Tallit
Blessed are You, Eternal One our God, Sovereign of the universe, who makes us holy through the commandments, and commands us to wrap ourselves in a fringed garment
Mah-tovu ohalecha Ya’akov, mishk’notecha Yisra’el.
Mah yafeh ha-yom, Shabbat shalom.
or or
Mah-gad’lu ma’asecha Yah, m’od am’ku machsh’votecha.
Hareini m’kabbeil alai et mitzvat ha-borei, v’ahavta l’rei’acha kamocha.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
Teach me, my God, to pray, and bless
The mystery of the withered leaf No less than the splendour of ripe fruit; For freedom to see, to feel, to breathe, To know, to hope—and to fail. Instruct my lips in blessing, song and praise
When time renews itself each dawn and night, That my today be not as yesterday, Nor any of my days become routine.
Leah GoldbergTraditionally, Mah Tovu is recited as we step across the threshold into the synagogue. The verse is so familiar that we may forget that it is a quotation from the Moabite sorcerer Balam, who had been sent to curse the Israelites and was impelled to bless them instead.
Take a moment to reflect on our people’s preoccupation with how others see us. What do we think about ourselves as a people and as individual Jews?
How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel!
How wonderful it is today, Shabbat Shalom!
God, how great are Your works, Your thoughts are so very deep.
Let’s make the world out of love and darkness.
I hereby accept upon myself the commandment of the Creator׃ ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
Elohai, n’shamah she-natata bi t’horah hi. Attah v’ratah, attah y’tzartah, attah n’fachtah bi. V’attah m’shamm’rah b’kirbi. V’attah atid litt’lah mi-menni l’chayyei olam. Kol-z’man she-ha-n’shamah bkirbi, modeh/modah ani l’fanecha Adonai
Elohai veilohei dorotai, ribbon kol ha-ma’asim, adon kol-ha-n’shamot.
Baruch attah Adonai, asher b’yado nefesh kol-chai v’ruach kol-b’sarish.
My God, I thank you for my life and my soul and my body; for my name, for my sexual and affectionate nature, for my way of thinking and talking. Help me realise that in my qualities I am unique in the world, and that no one like me has ever lived׃ for if there had ever been someone like me, I would not have needed to exist. Help me make perfect my own ways of love and caring, that by becoming perfect in my own way, I can honour Your name, and help bring about the coming of the messianic age.
Congregation Sha’ar Zahav
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
At the beginning of our service, the focus is on the individual challenged to face the day. This blessing assumes a soul that is separate from the body (for which traditionally there is a separate blessing). This was the rabbinic perspective influenced by Greek thought. Within the biblical world-view, body and soul are indivisible.
My God, the soul that You have given me is pure. You created it, formed it, and breathed it into me, and You sustain it within me. One day You will take it from me, into universal life. As long as the soul is within me, I will give thanks before You, my Living God and God of the generations before me, the power within all deeds, guide of every human soul.
Blessed are You, Divine Life, in whose hands are the souls of all the living and the spirits of all flesh.
Don’t let me fall as a stone falls upon the hard ground. And don’t let my hands become dry as the twigs of a tree when the wind beats down the last leaves. And when the storm raises dust from the earth with anger and howling, don’t let me fall.
I have asked for so much, but as a blade of Your grass in a distant wild field lets drop a seed in the lap of the earth and dies away, sow in me Your living breath, as You sow a seed in the earth.
Katya MolodowskyB’ruchah at Sh’chinah, m’kor chayyeinu, she-asitinu kid’mut Elo’ah. B’ruchah at Sh’chinah, m’kor chayyeinu, she-asitinu beit Ya’akov, Le’ah v’Rachel, Bilhah v’Zilpah. B’ruchah at Sh’chinah, m’kor chayyeinu, zokefet k’fufot. B’ruchah at Sh’chinah, m’kor chayyeinu, mattirah asurot. B’ruchah at Sh’chinah, m’kor chayyeinu, malbishah arummot. B’ruchah at Sh’chinah, m’kor chayyeinu, ha-m’chinah mitz’adeinu alei adamah.
You have blessed me with many gifts, God, but I know it is my task to realize them. May I never underestimate my potential; my I never lose hope. May I find the strength to strive for better, the courage to be different, the energy to give all that I have to offer.
Help me, God, to live up to all the goodness that resides within me. Fill me with the humility to learn from others and with the confidence to trust my own instinct.
Thank you, O God, for the power to grow. Amen.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
Departing from tradition, the first selection of morning blessings is in the second person feminine singular addressing God as Divine Presence, Source of our Life. The second selection is in the first common plural addressing God as the Wellspring of Life.
When we reflect on the shift from second to third person, within each blessing, we see how addressing God quickly transforms into the expectation that with God’s intervention words will be translated into deeds. In our progressive understanding, we are the ones called to act.
Blessed are You, Divine Presence, Source of our life, who makes us to become the likeness of the Divine.
Blessed are You, Divine Presence, Source of our life, who has made us the house of Jacob, Leah and Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah.
Blessed are You, Divine Presence, Source of our life, raising up those bent low.
Blessed are You, Divine Presence, Source of our life, releasing those who are bound.
Blessed are You, Divine Presence, Source of our life, clothing the naked.
Blessed are You, Divine Presence, Source of our life, who supports our steps on earth.
But the discipline of blessings is to taste each moment, the bitter, the sour, the sweet and the salty, and be glad for what does not hurt. The art is in compressing attention to each little and big blossom of the tree of life, to let the tongue sing each fruit, its savor, its aroma and its use.
N’vareich et ein ha-chayyim, m’shannah ha-b’riyyot.
N’vareich et ein ha-chayyim, she-as’tah chullanu y’chidot s’gullah. N’vareich et ein ha-chayyim, m’kor da’ateinu v’rigsheinu.
N’vareich et ein ha-chayyim, m’kor cheiruteinu v’ach’rayuteinu.
N’vareich et ein ha-chayyim, ha-m’chaddeshet b’chol yom tamid ma’aseih v’reishit.
N’vareich et ein ha-chayyim, asher nat’nah la-sechvi vinah l’havchin bein yom u-vein lailah.
“In every place where I cause my name to be mentioned I will come to you and bless you”. Bless, O God, those who are assembled here in Your name. Grant that we may all draw from this service a renewed consciousness of Your presence, a deeper loyalty to our faith, and a stronger resolve to order our lives in harmony with Your will.
John D. Rayner on Exodus 2021׃
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
There is a custom of reciting 100 blessings every day. Here we offer a short selection of morning blessings. They reflect the individual’s journey from sleep to readiness to embark on a new day. Most Jewish prayers are formulated as blessings and most of the blessings express gratitude for gifts of life. Regardless of our personal experiences, when we recite blessings we articulate the hope that through our covenantal relationship with God there will be healing, renewal and redemption for all.
Let us bless the Wellspring of life, source of the endless diversity of beings.
Let us bless the Wellspring of life, from whom each of us emerges a unique individual.
Let us bless the Wellspring of life, source of our intelligence and our emotions.
Let us bless the Wellspring of life, source of our freedom and our responsibility.
Let us bless the Wellspring of life, renewing the work of creation continually, every day.
Let us bless the Wellspring of life which gives the rooster intelligence to distinguish between day and night.
Dear God, as I pray day after unpredictable day, May the voice of my soul springs forth from my lips. May I turn to you, God, in tears, in laughter, and in song. And may my prayer be answered. Amen.
Levyexperience and that of previous generations. And yet,
soon as we begin to sing, the music transforms our concern with literal meanings and enables us to draw on our own spiritual resources and express our own sense of awe and wonder.
Baruch she-amar v’hayah ha-olam, baruch hu. Baruch oseh v’reishit. Baruch omeir v’oseih.
Baruch gozeir u-m’kayyeim. Baruch m’racheim al ha-aretz.
Baruch m’racheim al ha-b’riyyot.
Baruch chai la-ad v’kayyam la-netzach.
Baruch podeh u-matzil, baruch sh’mo.
Bishvachot u-vizmirot n’gaddelcha u-n’fa’ercha, yachid, chei ha-olamim.
Baruch attah Adonai, melech m’hullal ba-tishbachot.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
Songs of Praise
Our tradition provides us with psalms and songs to express our praise for the grandeur of the marvel of creation and acknowledge the creator. When we read these words on the page, we sometimes apprehend
With our new liturgy, we are returning to the more customary translation of Baruch as Blessed.
As we say Blessed, we are acknowledging that the Eternal is the Source of Blessing, and so with each statement we are willing the One who is Blessed to endow us and the world with blessing.
And in the hope of receiving these blessings we express our praise and our sense of awe and wonder.
Blessed be the One whose word gives being to the world.
Blessed be the Origin of every beginning.
Blessed be the word which is deed, the will which is fulfilment.
Blessed be the compassion which embraces the world and all beings.
Blessed be the living spirit which endures and prevails.
Blessed be the One whose name brings rescue and redemption.
Our songs of praise acclaim Your greatness and Your wonder, Unifying life-force of all worlds.
Blessed are You, eternal flow of Being, calling forth our psalms of praise.
Hal’luyah, Hal’lu Eil b’kodsho, Hal’luhu birki’a uzzo. Hal’luhu bigvurotav, Hal’luhu k’rov gud’lo. Hal’luhu b’teika shofar, Hal’luhu b’neivel v’chinnor. Hal’luhu b’tof u-machol, Hal’luhu b’minnim v’ugav. Hal’luhu b’tziltz’lei shama, Hal’luhu b’tziltz’lei t’ru’ah. Kol ha-n’shamah t’halleil Yah. Hal’luyah.
There is a person who sings the song of the soul; finding everything, complete spiritual satisfaction, within the soul. There is a person who sings the song of the nation; clinging with a sensitive love to the entirety of the Jewish nation and singing its song, sharing in its pains, joyful in its hopes, speaking with exalted and pure thoughts regarding its past and its future, investigating its inner spiritual nature with love and a wise heart. There is a person whose soul is so broad that it expands beyond the border of Israel; singing the song of humanity. This soul constantly grows broader with the exalted totality of humanity and its glorious image, yearning for humanity’s general enlightenment. And there is a person who rises even higher, uniting with all existence, with all creatures, and with all worlds. And with all of them, sings.
based on Rav Kook
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ
Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
Realising that for many it will not be possible to recite the entire book of Psalms each day, the rabbis taught that the obligation is fulfilled by reciting the final psalm. In Psalm 150 praise of God becomes an orchestral finale.
We praise God with a host of instruments, the shofar, the lyre, harp, tambourine, lute, pipes and cymbals. Psalm 150 reminds us that in Temple times, the service of God was accompanied by musical instruments.
Praise God!
Praise God in the sanctuary, praise God in the firmament of God’s power.
Praise God’s mighty deeds, praise God’s abundant greatness.
Praise God with Shofar blast, praise God with lyre and harp.
Praise God with tambourine and dance, praise God with lute and pipe.
Praise God with sounding cymbals, praise God with loud cymbals.
Let every soul praise the Eternal. Praise God!
David blessed the Eternal One in the sight of all the congregation, and David said, “Blessed are You, Eternal One, God of our father Israel, from eternity to eternity. Yours, Adonai, are greatness, might, glory, endurance, and majesty – yes, all that is in heaven and on earth; to You, Adonai, belong sovereignty and supremacy over all. Wealth and honour flow from You, for You rule over all. With You are power and might, and through You all can find greatness and strength. Now, our God, we give You thanks and praise Your glorious name”.
Nishmat kol-chai, t’vareich etshim’cha Adonai Eloheinu, v’ruach kolbasar, t’fa’eir u-t’romeim zichr’cha malkeinu tamid, min ha-olam v’ad ha-olam attah Eil. Elohei ha-rishonim v’ha-acharonim, Elo’ah kol-b’riyyot, adon kol-toladot, ha-m’hullal b’rov ha-tishbachot, ha-m’naheig olamo b’chesed, u-v’riyyotav b’rachamim. L’cha l’vad’cha anachnu modim.
N’shamah
Blessed be the air that we breathe
The breath of life
At once within and without
Blessed be the inhaled breath
Blessed be the exhaled breath
Blessed be the relation of inhaling and exhaling
Blessed be the cycle of air and breath and life
N’shamah
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
In this prayer, we acknowledge that the Breath of Life is common to all living creatures. The word for breath, n’shamah, came to designate the soul, but the language we inherit from the Torah emphasises the physicality of all things so n’shamah is breath, ruach—usually translated as spirit— is another word for wind and nefesh is being.
While Elohai N’shamah emphasises the unique individual human, Nishmat Kol Chai reminds us that the human is connected to all living beings.
The breath of life in every creature shall bless Your name, Eternal our God, and the spirit of all flesh shall recall Your beauty and Your greatness, our eternal Sovereign. From everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
God of the first, and God of the last, God of all living creatures, Master of all generations. You are adored in all worship. You guide Your world with love, and your creatures with compassion. To You alone we declare our gratitude.
Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created. When the Eternal God made earth and heaven—when no shrub of the field was yet on earth and no grasses of the field had yet sprouted, because the Eternal God had not sent rain upon the earth and there was no-one to till the soil, but a flow would well up from the ground and water the whole surface of the earth—the Eternal God formed Adam from the dust of the earth. God blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living being.
Yishtabbach sh’meich la-ad m’kor chayyeinu, ruach chazakah u-k’doshah ba-shamayim u-va-aretz. Ki lach na’ah, Sh’chinah m’kor chayyeinu v’chayyei doroteinu, shirah u-sh’vachah, halleil v’zimrah, b’rachot v’hoda’ot mei-attah v’ad olam. B’ruchah at Yah, ruach m’lei’ah tishbachot, eim ha-hoda’ot, ein ha-nifla’ot, ha-m’zammeret shirei zimrah, Sh’chinah b’tocheinu, chei ha-olamim. Yitgaddal v’yitkaddash sh’meih rabba, b’alma di v’ra chir’uteih, v’yamlich malchuteih, b’chayyeichon u-v’yomeichon u-v’chayyei di chol beit Yisra’eil, ba’agala u-vizman kariv, v’imru amein.
Y’hei sh’meih rabba m’varach, l’alam u-l’almei almayya.
Yitbarach v’yishtabbach, v’yitpa’ar v’yitromam v’yitnassei, v’yit-haddar v’yit’alleh v’yit-hallal sh’meih d’kud’sha, b’rich hu, l’eilla min-kol-birchata v’shirata, tushb’chata v’nechemata, da’amiran b’alma, v’imru amein.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
Our liturgy abounds with different names of God. Yah and Sh’chinah are two of these.
More familiar in the address Hal’lu-Yah—Praise Yah—Yah points to the ungraspable nature of God.
By contrast, Sh’chinah— Divine Presence—expresses the nearness of God in our midst.
Praised be Your name for ever, strong, sacred Spirit filling heaven and earth. To You, indwelling Source of our lives and the life of all generations, let hymns and psalms be sung; to You all praise and thanks are due from now and for ever. Blessed are You, Yah, Spirit that fills all praises, source of thanksgiving, fount of wonders, singer of all songs, Sh’chinah within us, life of all worlds.
Chatzi Kaddish, the halfKaddish, is used to divide sections of the service and reminds us that we have made a new departure in our liturgical journey.
Traditionally, the Chatzi Kaddish is recited prior to the call to prayer in morning services.
Chatzi Kaddish is one of a number of versions of the Kaddish that include the full Kaddish - dividing between different services, the Rabbis’ Kaddish—recited after study—and the most familiar Mourner’s Kaddish.
Magnified and sanctified be the great name of the One by whose will the world was created. May God’s rule become effective in your lives, and in the life of the whole house of Israel. May it be so soon, and let us say׃ Amen.
May God’s great name be praised for eternity.
Blessed and praised; glorified, exalted and extolled; lauded, honoured and acclaimed be the name of the Holy One, who is ever to be praised, though far above the eulogies and songs of praise and consolation that human lips can utter; and let us say׃ Amen.
Shabbat Morning Service: Songs of PraiseAgain and again our liturgy returns to the Exodus from Egypt. Our ancestors enter into a covenant with God having been liberated from slavery in Egypt. It was that experience of redemption that transformed their lives. As Jews remember, we are inspired by the hope that in every generation there is the possibility of freedom.
As partners with God we are challenged to empower ourselves and others to play our part in repairing the world.
We are now ready to come together as a community. We do this by responding as one to the call to prayer, which summons us to connect our community with the whole people of Israel.
Bar’chu et Adonai ha-m’vorach.
Baruch Adonai ha-m’vorach l’olam va’ed.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ
Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
Jewish prayer is predominantly in the form of blessings expressing praise of God. As we come together as a community connecting with our people across the generations, the focus of our prayer shifts to the expression of our core beliefs; at the heart, the Oneness of God and the summons to listen and to act.
As we approach the Sh’ma, we also recognise the Eternal One as the Creator of the whole world while also acknowledging our particular covenant, our commitment to the One who entered into the lives of our ancestors and whom we encounter through the words of Torah.
Bless the Source of BEING, which is blessed. We bless the Source of BEING throughout all time and space.
Bless BEING, which is a blessing.
All that is, all that was, and all that shall be is blessed.
Bless the Unity of all things, which is blessed. We bless the Unity of all things throughout eternity.
Shabbat Morning Service: The Sh’ma and its BlessingsBlessed are You, Infinite Power that we are, Majesty of the universe, Forming light and creating darkness, Making harmony and creating chaos, You, O infinite, do all this. You fill and embrace all things, Guiding Your universe as it unfolds and evolves, Turning planets, suns and galaxies In their celestial dance, Moving the atoms, molecules and cells
Baruch attah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, yotzeir or u-vorei choshech, oseh shalom u-vorei et ha-kol. Ha-mei’ir la-aretz v’la-darim aleha b’rachamim, u-v’tuvo m’chaddeish b’chol yom tamid ma’aseih v’reishit. Mah rabbu ma’asecha Adonai. Kullam b’chochmah asita, mal’ah ha-aretz kinyanecha. titbarach, Adonai Eloheinu, al shevach ma’aseih yadecha v’al-m’orei-or she-asita, y’fa’arucha selah.
Baruch attah Adonai, yotzeir ha-m’orot.
That are our very being. In Your compassion
You let the sun shine upon the earth, And on all creatures that live here.
In Your goodness
You renew, day after day, the work of creation. How many, how varied are Your works, O Eternal!
All of them fashioned in wisdom, The earth is full of your riches.
Siddur P’nei Or
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ
Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
In Isaiah we read that God makes peace and creates evil. In Jewish thought there is no separate demonic realm. This theological position is muted for liturgical purposes referring to “all” rather than “evil”. Importantly, the blessing emphasises that creation is not a once and for all event but rather an every day miracle requiring us to actively participate in the task of renewing creation day by day.
You form light and create darkness
As time is a tapestry of day and night, Our lives are a weaving of light and dark. Like a slow dawn we discover who we are, Like twilight we linger in doubt and anxiety;
We endure nights of rejection by others - and ourselves, And bright days of acceptance, And joy in who we are.
Blessed are You, Eternal Source of All, forming light and creating darkness, establishing peace and creating the whole.
As You shed light upon the earth, Your compassion brings light to all who live on it. In Your goodness, You renew creation each day, ceaselessly bringing forth a myriad of forms, each a unique marvel. With wisdom You have made them all, filling the earth. As Your light shines within and around them, they sing of Your glory. Blessed are You, Eternal Source of All, continually bringing forth light.
You make peace and create everything
We look around and see a world Of endless change and diversity; As we rejoice in the variety of creation, We come to accept our own uniqueness; As we delight in our own uniqueness, We appreciate all human diversity, And live at peace with ourselves and with all creation.
Mark Solomon Shabbat Morning Service: The Sh’ma and its BlessingsAhavah rabbah ahavatnu, Shaddai ezrateinu, chemlah g’dolah viteirah chamalt aleinu. Sh’chinah m’kor chayyeinu, ba’avur doroteinu she-bat’chu vach, va-t’lam’den chukkei chayyim, kein t’chonninu u-t’lamm’dinu. Immeinu, ha-eim ha-rachamanah, ha-m’rachemet, rachami aleinu, u-t’ni v’libbeinu l’havin u-l’haskil, lishmo’a, lilmod u-l’lammeid, lishmor v’la’asot u-l’kayyeim et-kol-divrei torateich b’ahavah. V’ha’iri eineinu b’torateich, v’dab’ki libbeinu b’mitzvotayich, v’yachadi l’vaveinu l’ahavah u-l’yir’ah et sh’meich. Ki vanu vachart l’yachadeich b’ahavah. B’ruchah at Yah, ha-bocheret b’ammah Yisra’eil b’ahavah.
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 counselled by voices that guide us even when we are too embittered to hear. We are loved by an unending love...
from Rami Shapiroרחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ
Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
This blessing focuses on the particular covenant between God and Israel, which centres on love. However, this is not love as emotional outpouring. Covenantal love is unending but not unconditional.
The Hebrew word for heart, leivav, denotes the mind hence the emphasis here on our powers to draw on our intellectual capacities. Indeed, love is work׃ the work of engagement so that we live by God’s teaching and thus fulfil our side of the covenantal bargain.
How greatly we feel Your love, Eternal God, and how tenderly Your compassion surrounds us! Our Source and our Strength, generations of our people trusted in You, for You taught them the laws of life. Continue to teach us, graciously strengthening our will to discern wisdom and become enlightened. May we hear You as we learn and teach, keep and act upon the words of Your Torah. Let our eyes see by the light of Your teaching; guide us to fulfil Your mitzvot. In integrity of heart, let us feel love and awe for Your name, for You have called upon us to declare Your unity with love.
We bless You, Source of Love and Life, for calling Your people Israel to serve You.
You gave us Your Torah out of love, a Torah of life. But some of the words of the Torah do not give us life. Perhaps You did not say those words, and they were put into Your mouth by unwise men. Or perhaps they simply do not mean what men have said they mean. Your love is deeper than words, stronger than lawsHelp us hold fast to Your love and the words of life in Your Torah.
Shabbat Morning Service: The Sh’ma and its Blessings Mark SolomonV’ahavta eit Adonai Elohecha, b’chol l’vav’cha, u-v’chol nafsh’cha, u-v’chol m’odecha. v’hayu ha-d’varim ha-eilleh, asher anochi m’tzavv’cha ha-yom, al l’vavecha. V’shinnantam l’vanecha, v’dibbarta bam, b’shivt’cha b’veitecha, u-v’lecht’cha va-derech, u-v’shochb’cha u-v’kumecha. U-k’shartam l’ot al yadecha, v’hayu l’totafot bein einecha. u-ch’tavtam al m’zuzot beitecha u-vish’arecha.
lives of your children here on this earth which the Creator prepared for those who came before you, for as long as the skies are above the land. And the Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying׃ Speak to the Israelites, telling them how to make tzit-tzit on the four corners of their clothes for all generations. When making such tzit-tzit, put a sky-blue thread among them so that when you see it, it will remind you of the mitzvot - to follow them and not wander off trying to satisfy yourselves with false values and many possessions.
But become conscious and act according to the divine instruction given you, so that you may experience your true holiness. I am the Source of Being, the Power of all your powers, who drew you out of the narrow places to be your Power. I am the Eternal One, your Power.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
Hear this, O Israel׃ the Source of Life is our God, a single Source uniting all.
Blessed be the Name by which God’s glorious majesty is known forever
You shall love the Source of Life with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. Let the words which I command you this day be always in your heart. Repeat them faithfully to your children׃ just as you speak them when you are at home, speak them in the wider world. Let them guide your hands and focus your vision, both when you take your rest and when you rise each day. Write them on your doors and on your gates, that they may frame your passages through life.
Watch yourselves that you do not become seduced by your desire to dominate and possess, destroying the work of Creation. For then, the Source of Creation will turn against you, and the world in which you live will no longer sustain you, and you will be lost upon the face of the earth which the Creator has provided for you.
Make these words part of your understanding and spirit, bind them to witness the works of your hands, see through them as they focus the image before your eyes, teach them to your children, discuss them at home, on the road, before you sleep and when you wake. Pass through them as they frame your places of passage. In this way you will fulfil your lives and the
Shabbat Morning Service: The Sh’ma and its BlessingsGod said to Moses׃
Let Israel throughout her generations make tzitzit Fringes, with a thread of blue, On the corners of her garments
To look at and remember all the mitzvot of God And do them. Otherwise
All of you will follow only what your eyes see And your hearts desire, Forgetting that everything you see And whatever you desire Are signs of My presence in the world.
But looking at the knotted fringes
You will remember as a knot around the finger That everything you see That whatever you desire Can be seen and done
As one of My mitzvot. Thus you will share the holiness of God Who saw you as slaves in Egypt
And desired you to become a people of God. I am the Source of Life, Your God. adapted from Richard Levy
L’ma’an tizk’ru va-asitem et kol mitzvotai vi-h’yitem k’doshim leiloheichem. Ani Adonai Eloheichem asher hotzeiti etchem mei-eretz Mitzrayim, lih’yot lachem leilohim, ani Adonai Eloheichem.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
Marking the Gateway
Fixing the m’zuzah
Age-old legacy of Blood shed and daubed The Night of Vigil
Before the great escape From slavery To freedom. And so we mark this Gateway Eternal threshold Between Home and Away Refuge and Wilderness Safety and Danger Certainty and Mystery Security and Liberation.
May we always be as Eager
To leave As to enter To relinquish As to hold. And May the Eternal One Guard our going out And our coming in Now and forever. And let us say׃ Amen.
Elli Tikvah Sarah
The genius of Jewish teaching is the translation of abstract concepts into rituals, illustrated here by the m’zuzah and tzit-tzit, which prompt remembrance.
Do all this to stay conscious of My mitzvot, so that you fulfil them, for by this you affirm Godliness in life. I am the One who led you out of oppression to be Your God. I am the Source of Life, your God.
Shabbat Morning Service: The Sh’ma and its BlessingsEmet v’yatziv v’yashar v’kayyam v’tov v’yafeh ha-davar ha-zeh aleinu l’olam va’ed. Emet sha-attah hu, Adonai Eloheinu, veilohei avoteinu, malkeinu melech immoteinu, yotz’reinu tzur y’shu’ateinu, podeinu u-matzileinu mei-olam hu sh’mecha, ein Elohim zulatecha. Emet attah hu rishon v’attah hu acharon, u-mi-bal’adecha ein lanu moshia. Mi-Mitzrayim g’altanu, Adonai Eloheinu, u-mi-beit avadim p’ditanu. Mosheh u-Miryam u-v’nei Yisra’eil l’cha anu shirah b’simchah rabbah, v’am’ru chullam׃
Swinging back and forth, the arc described by the pendulum is truth. If you stop the pendulum, anywhere along the arc, and you say, this point here at the zenith, say right here, that’s truth, or if you stop it down here at the midpoint, and say, that’s truth, you’re wrong. You’ll always be wrong. Because the truth is the pendulum, and you know this because you’ve lived and you’ve experienced life and all of its struggles. And you know that it is always a pendulum, and it is always in motion.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ
Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
“Every people is a question which God addresses to humanity; and every people, from its place, with its special talents and possibilities, must answer for its own sake and for the sake of humanity. [...] Through its prophets, its teachers, its righteous ones, Israel was able to learn how to listen to the question which God addressed to it.”
These words by Rabbi Leo Baeck teach us that God, whom we address as the redeemer of the people Israel, is also the God of all peoples and that alongside our Truth there are other Truths revealed to other peoples.
This is the Truth that stands upright and firm; these words that are good and enduringly beautiful. It is true that You, Eternal One, are the Source of our strength, as You were for our ancestors before us. Through You we come to know the majesty of creation, for You created us. Acknowledging that You are the bedrock of our existence is our salvation, for You help us to live creatively. We have no power without You. It is true that You existed before anything else and will exist forever. We have no freedom that does not come from You. You continually bring us out of the confines of souldestroying slavery. With great joy, we sing as Moses, Miriam and all Israel did before You at the shores of the sea׃
Truth is not the best loved of virtues; and yet it is one of the noblest, as it is, perhaps, the hardest of them all. It needs courage and resolution and strength of will׃ it must be loved for its own sake, or it will not be practised.
Israel Mattuck Shabbat Morning Service: The Sh’ma and its BlessingsWill the ground sink away from under me?
The song still unformed–How can I sing?
To take the first step–To sing a new song–Is to close one’s eyes and dive into unknown waters. For a moment knowing nothing risking all–But then to discover The waters are friendly
ba-eilim Adonai. Mikamocha, ne’dar ba-kodesh, nora t’hillot, oseih fele.
Shirah chadashah shib’chu g’ulim l’shimcha al-s’fat ha-yam. Yachad kullam hodu v’himlichu v’am’ru׃ Adonai yimloch l’olam va’ed. Tzur Yisra’eil, kumah b’ezrat Yisra’eil, go’aleinu Adonai tz’va’ot sh’mo, k’dosh Yisra’eil. Baruch attah Adonai, ga’al Yisra’eil.
The ground is firm. And the song–the song rises again. Out of my mouth come words lifting the wind. And I hear for the first the song that has been in my heart silent unknown even to me.
Ruth Sohnרחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ
Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
These verses are drawn from the song sung by the Israelites after the crossing of the Sea of Reeds.
A song of victory, the full text exults in the defeat of the Egyptians. Not wishing to revel in the death of the enemy, the rabbis recount God admonishing the angels with the words׃ “My children are drowning and you would sing before me.”
This midrash teaches us that as we rejoice in our salvation, we should acknowledge that our liberation came at the expense of others.
The Song of Miriam
I, Miriam, stand at the sea and turn to face the desert stretching endless and still. My eyes are dazzled The sky brilliant blue Sunburnt sands unyielding white. My hands turn to dove wings. My arms reach for the sky
Who is like You, Eternal one, among those people worship? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendour, revealing Your wonders?
A new song the redeemed sang to You at the shores of the sea. Our voices join theirs as we give thanks and acknowledge You as the Source of our strength׃
The Eternal One reigns forever.
Rock of Israel, be ever the help of Your people Israel. You are the God of the hosts of heaven, yet You continually free us by revealing the power of Your holiness.
We bless You, Source of Life, who empowers Israel.
and I want to sing the song rising inside me. My mouth open I stop. Where are the words? Where the melody? In a moment of panic My eyes go blind. Can I take a step Without knowing a Destination? Will I falter Will I fall
Shabbat Morning Service: The Sh’ma and its Blessingsהדימע
once communally. This is not the Liberal tradition, but as the community prays together, each individual is invited to find their moment for personal prayer. According to the Talmudic sages, the T’fillah was to be recited while standing, hence one of its names Amidah – “standing”. Individuals may choose whether to remain standing through to Oseh Shalom or to sit after the K’dushah (the third blessing).
In this sacred moment
I reach beyond myself
To find myself Other-selves – and You And accept Your gift of Ceasing Relinquishing
Pausing
In this stillness
I reach within myself To draw out tears – and thanks Hurts – and fears
Tumbling together – with Blessings
This strange concoction is Enough ‘My cup overflows’ Shalem – shalom Wholeness – peace.
Elli Tikvah Sarahרחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
Amidah
We have arrived at the central prayer. The rabbis of old called it simply Ha-T’fillah, the prayer. On the one hand, it is a communal prayer, on the other, we are invited to approach God as individuals – “Eternal One open up my lips, that I may declare your praise”.
In some traditions, the Amidah is recited twice, once in silence as a personal prayer and Standing before the Eternal Standing Between ‘sitting in your Home’ And ‘walking along the way’ Between staying here And going there Anywhere Before that… Before Doing anything Standing here Hineini
‘Here I am’ Now in this moment
Present Being Senses alert Listening Apprehending Waiting…
And then… My lips open Ancestors on my back Powers in my hands To destroy and create To oppress and liberate To wound and heal To die and live
Adonai s’fatai tiftach u-fi yaggid t’hillatecha. יִפוּ .חָתְּפִתּ יַתָפְשׂ יָנֹדֲא .ךֶָֽתָלִּהְתּ דיִגַּי
Baruch attah Adonai, Eloheinu veilohei avoteinu v’immoteinu. Elohei Avraham, Elohei Yitzchak, veilohei Ya’akov. Elohei Sarah, Elohei Rivkah, Elohei Racheil, veilohei Le’ah. Ha-Eil ha-gadol ha-gibbor v’ha-nora Eil elyon, gomeil chasadim tovim v’koneih ha-kol, v’zocheir chasdei avot v’immahot, u-meivi g’ullah livnei v’neihem, l’ma’an sh’mo b’ahavah. melech ozeir u-moshia u-magein. Baruch atah Adonai, magein Avraham v’ezrat Sarah.
I stand on the shoulders of family of friends, of teachers, of strangers who themselves stand on the shoulders of people who stood on shoulders… each generation of shoulders a rung on Jacob’s ladder reaching me up toward Heaven just beyond my grasp Mark Nazimova
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
Eternal God, open up my lips, that my mouth shall declare Your praise.
A Meditative Amidah
Avot v’Immahot - God of all Generations
y Do my ancestors live in me today?
y What do they teach me?
y What in their legacy do I cherish and where do I depart from their teachings?
y Whom do I claim as a spiritual parent or teacher?
Bilhah
Laban gave me to his daughter Rachel; My sister Zilpah to his daughter Leah.
We were six mothers׃
‘Six covered wagons’ Six matriarchs׃
Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, Zilpah and Bilhah.
Blessed are You, Eternal One, our God and God of our ancestors׃ of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; of Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah; great and mighty, awesome and exalted God. You deal kindly with us and embrace us all. You remember the faithfulness of our ancestors, and in love bring redemption to their children’s children for the sake of Your name. You are our Sovereign and Helper, our Redeemer and Shield.
Blessed are You, O God, Shield of Abraham and Protector of Sarah.
My sister Zilpah came first, Sweet as perfume from aloes and myrrh, A mother in Israel to happiness and fortune. I was last, troubled and weak, Mother of judgement and strife, Dishonoured by Leah’s firstborn.
At gibbura l’olam, Shaddai, m’chayyah meitim at, rabbah l’hoshi’a.
Mashiva ha-ru’ach u-morida ha-geshem, mazricha ha-shemesh u-morida ha-tal. M’chalkelet chayyim b’chesed m’chayyah meitim b’rachamim rabbim. Somechet nof’lim v’rofah cholim u-matira asurim, u-m’kayyemet emunatah li-sheinei afar. Mi chamoch ba’alat g’vurot, u-mi domeh lac,h g’vurah m’mittah m’chayyah u-matzmiachah y’shu’ah.
V’ne’emenet at l’hachayot meitim.
B’rucha at Shaddai m’chayyah ha-meitim.
Overwhelmed by the awesome power and mystery of the universe, we seek help to overcome our innate weaknesses. Science has chipped away at the vast unknown that pervades our world but much remains that is still beyond our understanding. We feel the wind in our faces and move through the rain and snow that swirls about us. But we are barely able to predict them and cannot control them. The living are sustained by marvels of medicine, perhaps divinely inspired but accomplished through much time and effort. Captives are freed after human intervention and life persists despite incredible odds. Our existence is rooted in life and death but they are still beyond our comprehension. We seek salvation but know not its source or dimension. We are mere humans, seeking support beyond ourselves.
Stan Samuelsרחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
A Meditative Amidah
G’vurot - God’s Power
y Can I feel the power of God within me?
y Can I sense it in the world around me?
y What qualities are strong within me?
y How am I growing and gaining strength?
y What in me is stagnant, weak or in need of support?
y Where do I look for sustenance?
y Who needs to feel the strength of my love and care this week?
Source of All, Your vital energy sustains our world, redeeming it from lifelessness. The wind blows and the rain falls, the sun shines and the dew descends. In Your compassion, You have granted us life. You renew our will to honour life, raising up those brought low and supporting those who stumble. Your healing powers work ceaselessly within us. Inspire us to free the enslaved and to remember those who sleep in the dust. How can we understand this Miracle of Life, and to what could it be compared? The eternal cycle of death and life rules over all, but in this is hope of renewal. Faithful is the cycle, and faithful it shall remain.
Blessed is the Source of All, continually renewing life.
You have called me into life, setting me in the midst of purposes I cannot measure or understand. Yet I thank You for the good I know, for the life I have, and for the gifts that – in sickness and in health – have been my daily portion׃ the beauty of earth and sky, the visions that have stirred me from my ease and quickened my endeavours, the demands of truth and justice that move me to acts of goodness, and the contemplation of Your eternal presence, which fills me with hope that what is good and lovely cannot perish. For all this, I give thanks.
N’kaddeish et shimcha ba-olam k’sheim she-makdishim oto bishmei marom, ka-katuv al-yad n’vi’echa.
Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, Adonai tz’va’ot, m’lo chol ha-aretz k’vodo.
K’vodo malei olam.
Baruch k’vod Adonai mi-m’komo. Mi-m’kom’cha, malkeinu, tofi’a, v’timloch aleinu, ki m’chakkim anachnu lach.
Holy, Holy, Holy
A spirit of generosity and kindliness. May we always be grateful for its presence.
Holy the moment of gratitude
The recognition of beauty
The search for the best in each.
Let us sanctify that search, and each small step achieved toward Godliness
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ
Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
A Meditative Amidah
K’dushah - God’s Holiness
The K’dushah expresses the idea that God’s reality is found everywhere within and beyond this world. The Torah teaches that we can bring something of God’s holiness to this world by elevating our behaviour in all realms of life - eating, working, community affairs, family, friendship and intimate relationships and repairing the world.
We sanctify Your name on earth as in the prophet’s vision the hosts of heaven proclaim Your holiness above, as it is written׃
Holy, holy, holy is the Eternal God of heaven’s hosts! The fullness of all the earth is Your glory!
God’s glory fills the universe.
Blessed is the glory of the Eternal One, revealed in every place.
From Your hidden place, Majestic One, shine forth in Your reign of goodness, for we wait in hope for You.
Dabbeir el kol adat b’nei Yisra’eil v’amarta aleihem׃ k’doshim tih’yu ki kadosh ani Adonai Eloheichem.
Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them׃ You shall be holy, for I, the Eternal One your God, am holy.
Leviticus 19:2
L’dor va-dor naggid godlecha, u-l’neitzach n’tzachim k’dushat’cha nakdish, v’shivchacha Eloheinu mi-pinu lo yamush l’olam va’ed.
Baruch Attah Adonai, ha-Eil ha-kadosh.
Yimloch Adonai l’olam Elohayich Tziyyon, l’dor va-dor. Hal’luyah.
Have you rejected the gifts that surround you? Have you abandoned your hope and your being?’
This, then, is God’s command׃
Let holiness enter you, Fortify you, Shine through you. Let holiness carry you into marvellous moments And majestic years. Learn and teach, Study and pray, Lifting your life with zest and zeal. Let holiness be your journey and your destination.
Blessed are You, God of holiness.
Alden Solovy
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
A Meditative Amidah
K’dushah - God’s Holiness
y Where do I find the sacred in my life?
y Can I recall a holy moment?
y How can I bring a greater awareness of the sacred to my life?
y How can I work with others to sanctify life?
The Eternal One shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, from generation to generation. Haleluyah!
From generation to generation we tell of Your greatness, and to all eternity we will proclaim Your holiness. Your praise, O our God, shall never depart from our lips.
Blessed are You, Eternal One, the holy God.
Let Holiness
Let holiness sparkle from your face, Radiate from your eyes, Emerge from your lips.
Let holiness enter your heart, Infuse your lungs, Expand your chest.
Let holiness fortify your bones, Fire your nerves, Enliven your flesh.
For holiness is in the earth and the sky, The storm and the quiet, The flow of blessings from G-d’s creation, Divine wisdom and mercy, Calling out to you dear sisters and brothers׃ ‘Awake you slumberers!
Yis’m’chu v’mal’chut’cha shom’rei shabbat v’kor’ei oneg. Am m’kad’shei sh’vi’i, kullam yis’b’u v’yit’an’gu mi-tuvecha. U-va-sh’vi’i ratzita bo v’kiddash’to, chem’dat yamim oto karata, zeicher l’ma’aseih v’reishit.
Eloheinu veilohei avoteinu, r’tzeih vim’nuchateinu, kadd’sheinu b’mitzvotecha v’tein chelkeinu b’toratecha, sabb’einu mi-tuvecha, v’samm’cheinu bishu’atecha, v’taheir libbeinu l’ovd’cha be-emet. V’hanchileinu, Adonai Eloheinu, b’ahavah u-v’ratzon shabbat kodshecha, v’yanuchu vah kol Yisra’eil m’kadd’shei sh’mecha.
a golden calf, that the erection of a Tabernacle, of holiness in space, was commanded. The sanctity of time came first, the sanctity of man came second, and the sanctity of space last. Time was hallowed by God; space, the Tabernacle, was consecrated by Moses.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
A Meditative Amidah
K’dushat Ha-yom - Holiness of the Day
We deepen our awareness and appreciation of sacred time. The meaning of Shabbat and the festivals is to celebrate time rather than space. On Shabbat we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the world of creation to the creation of the world.
y Was there ever a time when I felt a glimpse of true peace?
y How do I want to mark Shabbat in my life?
y What keeps me from experiencing Shabbat as I would like to?
y How might I be today so that I may deepen my celebration of this Shabbat?
Those who keep the Sabbath and call it a delight taste the joy of redemption. The people who hallow the seventh day delight in Your goodness. For it pleased You to set this day apart, that we may cherish it above all other days, and pause to remember that the world is Your creation.
Our God and God of our ancestors, may our rest on this day be pleasing in Your sight; sanctify us by Your commandments and make us loyal to Your Teaching. Satisfy us with Your goodness, gladden us with Your salvation, and purify our hearts that we may serve You in truth. In Your gracious love, Eternal One, let the holiness of Your Sabbath enter our hearts, and may all Israel, who hallow Your name, be exalted by its peace
Blessed are You, O God, for the holiness of the Sabbath.
When history began, there was only one holiness in the world, holiness in time. When at Sinai the word of God was about to be voiced, a call for holiness in man was proclaimed׃ “Thou shalt be unto me a holy people.” It was only after the people had succumbed to the temptation of worshipping a thing,
23A
ךְָמַּעְבּ
ָיְי .הֵצְר הָבֲהַאְבּ
.ָיְי הָתַּא ךְוּרָבּ ׃דוֹבֲעַנ הָאְרִיְבּ ךְָדַּבְל
Let me build Your tabernacle With my own hands So that Your glory Will dwell with us Once again.
I will build a sanctuary
In the space between my heart and my soul, Clearing the residue of sorrow and misdeeds, Making a place for Your covenant, Your wisdom and Your truth, To rest in me.
Come, my people, Shake off your slumber. Shake off your despair. God’s majesty waits only for an invitation. Let your days be the woven fabric of love. Let your life be the golden lamp of peace. Together, we will become The staves and the planks, The walls, the curtain and the table, Each one of us a pillar, A sacred congregation, A faithful assembly, In service to God’s Holy Name.
Solovyרחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
A Meditative Amidah
Avodah - Service
y When do I feel a sense of awe?
y What inspires a sense of awe within me?
Prayer
It is a reaching out A yearning Desire wrapped in longing Despair wrapped in joy
Eternal God, be gracious to Your people Israel, and in Your love accept our prayers. May our worship now and always be acceptable in Your sight.
Blessed are You, O God, in awe we acknowledge You alone.
We cry out into darkness And luminous silence And glorious, sheltering peace And offer
The sacrifice of Of what?
What do we sacrifice? What do we place on the altar of our hope?
It is not what we pray that matters
It is, ever and always That we pray That changes us And redeems us And heals us
Prayer is the heart of us The centre of us We open our lips And let our souls fly Free
Modim anachnu lach, sha-attah hu, Adonai Eloheinu, veilohei avoteinu l’olam va’ed. Tzur chayyeinu, magein yish’einu, attah hu l’dor va-dor. Nodeh l’cha u-n’sappeir t’hillatecha, al chayyeinu ha-m’surim b’yadecha, v’al nishmoteinu ha-p’kudot lach, v’al nissecha she-b’chol yom immanu, v’al nifl’otecha v’tovotecha she-b’chol eit, erev va-voker v’tzohorayim.
Baruch attah Adonai, ha-tov shimcha u-l’cha na’eh l’hodot.
For the sake of longing, longing for beauty
Thanks for ugliness. Thanks that they’ll clash, love and hostility.
For the sake of sweetness, sweetness of sleep Thanks for fatigue. Thanks for the surging fires and waterfall’s humming. Thanks, thanks, thanks.
Thanks, thanks for thirst, which revealed weakness. Thanks, thanks for the torment, which will bring deeds to perfection.
Thanks that I do love, though fear might be gripping my heart. Thanks, thanks, thanks…
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
A Meditative Amidah Hoda’ah
- Thanksgiving
We remember some of life’s blessings and appreciate the goodness in our lives.
• Has something happened in my life that makes me thankful?
• Have blessings nourished me over the years?
• What miracles greet me in daily life?
• What have I given to others?
We give thanks that You, Eternal One, are our God, as You were the God of our ancestors. You are the Rock of our life, the Power that shields us in every age. We thank and praise You for our lives, which are in Your hand; for our souls, which are in Your keeping; for the signs of Your presence we encounter every day; and for Your wondrous gifts at all times, morning, noon and night.
Blessed are You, O God, Source of goodness, to whom our thanks are due.
Děkuji/Thanks
God created, created a sprig so I could weave wreaths. Thanks, thanks for pain, which teaches me to inquire. Thanks, thanks for failure, that will teach me diligence so that I could, so that I could bring a gift, though no strength might remain, thanks, thanks, thanks.
Thanks, thanks for my weakness, which teaches me humility. Humility, humility for joy, humility without oppression. For tears, thanks for tears, they will teach me emotion. For the living who, for the living who speak out and cry for sympathy.
Sim shalom tovah u-v’rachah chein va-chesed v'rachamim aleinu v’al kol Yisra’eil ammecha. Bar’cheinu avinu kullanu k’echad b’or panecha, ki v’or panecha natata lanu, Adonai Eloheinu, torat chayyim, v’ahavat chesed, u-tz’dakah u-v’rachah v’rachamim, v’chayyim v’shalom, v’tov b’einecha l’vareich et-am’cha Yisra’eil v’et-kol-ha-ammim b’choleit u-v’chol-sha’ah bishlomecha.
Baruch attah Adonai, oseh ha-shalom.
and within, close combat, face-to-face, the faces always my own, my lover-face, my enemy-face.
Wars with the old weapons – sticks and stones, blunt axe, words, dull ripping knife, love and hate, and wars with newfangled weapons – machine gun, missile, words, land mines exploding, love and hate. I don’t want to fulfil my parents’ prophecy that life is war. I want peace with all my body and all my soul. Rest me in peace.
Amichaiרחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
A Meditative Amidah Shalom -
Peace
• Do tensions keep me from a sense of peace?
• Am I in conflict at this moment?
• Do I want to make peace?
• How can I bring more wholeness and peace to my own life, into the lives of others and the world around me?
Grant peace, welfare and blessing, grace, love and mercy, to us and to all Israel, Your people. As a loving parent, bless us with the light of your presence, Eternal God, You have revealed to us the law of life, a love of kindness and righteousness, blessing and mercy, life and peace. For it is good in Your sight that Your people Israel and all peoples be blessed at all times with Your gift of peace.
Blessed are You, O God, the Source of peace.
I, may I rest in peace
I, may I rest in peace – I, who am still living, say, May I have peace in the rest of my life.
I want peace right now while I’m still alive.
I don’t want to wait like that pious man who wished for one leg of the golden chair of Paradise, I want a four-legged chair right here, a plain wooden chair. I want the rest of my peace now.
I have lived out my life in wars of every kind׃ battles without
Hashmi’eini va-boker chasdecha, ki-v’cha vatachti, hodi’eini derech zu eileich, ki-eilecha nasati nafshi, hadricheini va-amitecha, v’lamm’deini, ki-attah Elohei yish’i. Ot’cha kivviti kol-ha-yom, sh’lach or’cha va-amit’cha, heimmah yanchuni, y’vi’uni el-har-kodsh’cha v’el-mishk’notecha, leiv tahor b’ra-li, Elohim, v’ruach nachon chaddeish b’kirbi.
Elohai n’tzor l’shoni mei-ra, u-s’fatai mi-dabbeir mirmah, v’lim’kal’lai nafshi tiddom, v’nafshi ke-afar la-kol tih’yeh. P’tach libbi b’toratecha, u-v’mitzvotecha tirdof nafshi. v’chol-ha-chosh’vim alai ra’ah m’heirah hafeir atzatam v’kalkeil machashavtam.
l’ratzon imrei fi v’hegyon libbi l’fanecha, Adonai, tzuri v’go’ali.
shalom bimromav, hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu v’al kolYisra’eil v’al kol-yosh’vei teiveil.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
A Meditative Amidah
Sh’tikah - Silence
Rabbi Mendel of Satanov taught׃ “Before you open your mouth, be silent and take counsel with your heart asking׃ ‘What benefit will my speech bring me or others?’”
• Should silence be considered more valuable than speech?
• Are there times when silence may be harmful?
• Are there times when I should speak out?
• Does being silent and/ or taking time to reflect ‘before opening my mouth to speak’ prove to be helpful?
• How can silence be a fence for wisdom (Pirkei Avot 313׃)?
Let me feel Your loving kindness in the morning, for in You I trust. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, God of my salvation and my constant hope. Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy mountain, to Your dwelling-place. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a willing spirit within me.
O my God, guard my tongue from speaking evil and my lips from telling lies. Even when others curse me, may my soul be silent, and humble as the dust to all. Open my heart to Your Teaching, and make me eager to do Your will. Dissuade those who seek to harm me, and let not their plans prevail.
May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable to You, O God, my Rock and my Redeemer.
May the One who makes peace in the highest, grant peace to us, to all Israel, and to every living being, and let us say׃ Amen.
תאירק
again in an annual cycle, and yet, now we prepare ourselves to hear it anew. As we read the familiar words, we seek new meanings and ways of connecting the sacred text with our lives.
read again
Hak'heil et-ha-am ha-anashim v'ha-nashim v'ha-taf v'geircha asher bisharecha l'ma'an yishm'u u-l'ma'an yil'm'du v'yar'u etAdonai eloheichem v'sham'ru la'asot et-kol-div'rei ha-torah hazot. U-v'neihem asher lo-yad'u yishm'u v'lam'du l'yir'ah et-Adonai eloheichem.
We All Stood Together
My brother and I were at Sinai. He kept a journal of what he saw, of what he heard, of what it all meant to him.
I wish I had such a record of what happened to me there.
It seems like every time I want to write I can’t – I’m always holding a baby, one of my own, or one for a friend, always holding a baby, so my hands are never free to write things down.
And then as time passes, the particulars, the hard data, the who what when where why, slip away from me, and all I’m left with is the feeling.
But feelings are just sounds the vowel barking of a mute.
My brother is so sure of what he heard – after all he’s got a record of it –consonant after consonant after consonant.
If we remembered it together, we could recreate holy time sparks flying.
Merle Feld
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
The Reading of Torah
We have arrived at the highpoint of the Shabbat service when, having recited the prayers of our tradition, we turn to the reading of the Torah, to receive the ancient words for ourselves today.
This text from Deuteronomy emphasises that everyone is included in the moment of Revelation. As Liberal Jews we are sensitive to this and are aware also that our language has expanded to be even more inclusive transcending the gender binary.
Assemble the people – men, women, and children, and the strangers in your cities – to hear, and learn to revere the Eternal One, your God, and observe faithfully all the precepts of this Torah. And let their children who do not yet know it hear, that they too may learn the eternal one, your God.
In each age we receive and transmit Torah.
As each moment we are addressed by the World. In each age we are challenged by our ancient teaching. At each moment we stand face to Face with Truth. In each age we add our wisdom to that which has gone before. At each moment the knowing heart is filled with wonder. In each age the children of Torah become its builders and seek to set the world firm on a foundation of truth.
Rami ShapiroThe scroll is taken from the Ark
Sh’ma Yisra’eil, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad.
Echad Eloheinu, gadol Adoneinu, kadosh sh'mo.
Gad'lu l'Adonai itti, u-n'rom'mah sh'mo yach'dav.
V'ha'eir eineinu b'toratecha, v'dabbeik libbeinu b'mitz'votecha, v'yacheid l'vaveinu l'ahavah u'l'yir'ah et sh'mecha.
Ein ha-rachamim, heitivah virzoneich et-tziyyon, ki-vach l'vad batach'nu. Sh'chinah m'kor hab'rachah, ru'ach olamim.
We are the people of the book and letters march busy as ants carrying the work of ages through our minds.
We are the people of the book. Through fire and mud and dust we have borne our scrolls tenderly as a baby swaddled in a blanket, travelling with our words sewn in our clothes and carried on our backs.
Let us take up the scroll of Torah and dance with it and touch it and read it out, for the mind touches the word and makes it light. So does light enter us and we shine.
Marge Piercyרחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
We have chosen to include a revised version of Av Ha-rachamim, which was omitted from Siddur Lev Chadash. In the version found in the previous prayerbook, Service of the Heart, there is no mention of Zion. We have decided to offer a gender-inclusive rendition. We have also reinstated the reference to Zion, aware that it is also our task to work towards peace and redemption in the land of our ancestors that is home to two peoples. Our commitment to this task is also expressed in Ki Mi-tziyon recited as we elevate the Torah scroll.
Source of compassion, may it be Your will to bring goodness to Zion, for we trust in You alone. Divine Presence, Fountain of blessing, Spirit everlasting.
Hear, O Israel׃ the Eternal One is our God, the Eternal God is One.
One is our God, great our Sovereign; holy is God’s name.
Let us magnify the Eternal One; together let us exalt God’s name.
Open our eyes to Your Teaching, make us faithful to Your commandments, and whole-hearted in the love and awe of Your name.
We are the people
We are the people of the word and the breath of the word fills our minds with light. We are the people of the word and breath of life sings through us, playing on the pipes of our bones and the strings of our sinews an ancient song carved in the Laurentian granite and new as a spring azure butterfly just drying her wings in a moments splash of sun. We must live the word and make it real.
Shabbat29A
Blessing before the Torah
Bar’chu et-Adonai ha-m’vorach.
Baruch Adonai ha-m’vorach l'olam va'ed.
־רַבְדוּ הָרוֹת אֵצֵתּ ןוֹיִּצִּמ יִכּ ׃םָֽלָשׁוּריִמ הָוֹהְי
Baruch attah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher natan lanu torat emet v'chayyei olam nata b'tocheinu.
Baruch attah Adonai, notein ha-torah.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
The opening of the Torah blessings is an echo of the call to prayer, the Bar’chu. The person reciting the Torah blessing is calling the congregation to the public reading of the Torah. Whether or not the person reciting the blessings personally reads from the scroll, they are fulfilling the Mitzvah of the Torah reading. Traditionally, this is indicated by holding the Atzei Chayyim (lit. Trees of Life), the wooden rollers, while reciting the blessings. Significantly, the Chatimah (‘sealing’), the concluding words of both blessings, speaks of God as the one who is ‘giving’ (notein) Torah. The understanding is that the Torah was not given once and for all in the past but is a continual gift in the present. It is our responsibility to bring the Torah alive for us today.
Bless the Source of Being, which is Blessed.
We bless the Source of Being throughout all time and space.
Blessed are You, Eternal One, our God, sovereign of the universe׃ You have called us to serve You by giving us Torah. Blessed are You, Eternal One, giver of Torah.
Blessed are You, Eternal one, our God, sovereign of the universe׃ You have given us true teachings, and implanted within us eternal life. Blessed are you, Eternal One, giver of Torah.
For out of Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of God from Jerusalem.
Blessing after the Haftarah
Baruch attah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher bachar bin'vi'im tovim v'ratzah v'divreihem ha-ne'emarim be'emet. Baruch attah Adonai, ha-bocheir ba-torah u-v'mosheh av'do u-v'yisraeil ammo u-vin'vi'ei ha-emet va-tzedek.
Baruch attah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, tzur kolha-olamim, tzadik b'cholha-dorot, ha-eil ha-ne'eman, ha-omeir v'oseh, ha-m'dabbeir u-m'kayyeim, she-kol-d'varav emet va-tzedek. Al-ha-torah v'al-ha-avodah v'al-ha-n'vi'im v'al-yom ha-shabbat ha-zeh, shenatata lanu, Adonai Eloheinu, lik'dushah v'lim'nuchah, l'chavod u-l'tifaret, al-ha-kol, Adonai eloheinu, anachnu modim lach, u-m'var'chim otach, yit'barach shimcha b'fi kol-chai tamid l'olam va'ed. Baruch attah Adonai, m'kaddeish ha-shabbat.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
Scholars suggest that the Haftarah was introduced in the time of the persecutions instigated by the AsyrianGreek emperor Antiochus IV, who banned the public reading of Torah, as well as the observance of Shabbat and circumcision. We remind ourselves of the story each year at the festival of Chanukkah. For most of the Torah reading cycle, the Haftarah reflects a theme of that week’s Torah portion. For example, the Haftarah for B’reishit (the first portion of the book of Genesis) is from Isaiah 4210׃5-43׃, and opens, “Thus says the Eternal God, the One who created the Heavens and stretched them out, who made the Earth and all that grows in it...” On a special Shabbat or Festival, and in the three weeks leading up to Tish’ah b’Av and in the weeks after until Rosh Ha-shanah, the Haftarah expresses seasonal concerns.
Blessed are You, Eternal one, our God, sovereign of the universe׃ You inspired faithful prophets, and took pleasure in the words they spoke in truth. Blessed are you, Eternal One, giver of the Torah, through Your servant Moses, Your people Israel, and the prophets of truth and righteousness.
Blessed are You, Eternal One, our God, Sovereign of the universe׃ You have been our Source of strength and righteousness throughout the ages, the faithful God whose word is deed, whose every word is true and just.
For the Torah, for the Divine Service, for the prophets, and for this Sabbath day which you, Eternal One, our God, have given us for holiness and rest, for honour and beauty׃ for all these we offer thanks. May Your name be blessed by all the living forever.
Blessed are You, Eternal One, You make the Sabbath holy.
Shabbat Morning Service: The Reading of TorahCongregations may wish to include one or several of the prayers that follow.
Eternal God, whose presence fills the universe, we ask you blessing for our sovereign Lady, Queen Elizabeth, and all the Royal family; for those who govern our country, and for all who influence the quality its national life. Make them conscious of their responsibility, and teach them to exercise it in accordance with Your will, and in the interests of – in particular, the vulnerable, the poor, and marginal. May we all help to fashion in this country a society that excels in freedom and justice, tolerance and compassion, equality and diversity, so that it may be a force for righteousness and peace in the life of humanity. And let us say׃ Amen.
Eternal God, our Creator and Liberator, as we celebrate Shabbat together and rejoice in our many blessings, we pause to remember Your children across the world whose lives are blighted by the curses of poverty and persecution. We think of the many millions across the globe, driven from their homes by tyranny, violence and destitution, risking their lives as they make their escape in the hope of finding refuge and security elsewhere.
- pause -
Eternal Teacher of Your people Israel, as the children and grandchildren and descendants of refugees, aware of Your teachings of justice and our sacred obligations towards the stranger, we express our commitment before You now to open our hearts and our hands and our communities to welcome those in need of refuge, and to do what we can to contribute to the alleviation of their suffering. And let us say׃ Amen.
Eternal God, our work and Redeemer, Grant blessing to the State of Israel, created an age-old dream and to be a haven for the oppressed. Inspire its leaders and citizens with faithfulness to the aims of its founders׃ to develop the land for the benefit of all its inhabitants, and to implement the prophetic ideals of liberty and justice. May they live in harmony with one another and in peace with their neighbours, and cause to come true once more the ancient vision, that ‘out of Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of God from Jerusalem.’
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
Eternal God, as you blessed our ancestors in generations past, bless now this congregation׃ its leaders and its members, and all who enter this synagogue to meet, to study and to pray. Comfort the sorrowing hearts among us and heal those in anxiety or pain. We pause now to think of those we know in need of solace and healing. We think of family members, of friends, and of members and friends of our community, as well as ourselves. - pause -
We pray that we may all find here community and friendship, renewal of purpose and hope, a deeper understanding of our heritage, and a sense of Your abiding presence. Bless all congregations of the house of Israel throughout the world; that those who live under oppressive rule soon be freed; and they will unite to witness to Your truth and do Your will.
As the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians continues to rage decade after decade, to pray for peace seems a hopeless and naï�ve folly. And yet, today it is more urgent than ever that a just and peaceful resolution is achieved that acknowledges the needs of both peoples for sovereignty and security. And so, we pray׃
El Malei Rachamim, God Full of Compassion, who heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds, we ask You to show all Your children the way of love and compassion, so that hatred ceases to scar their lives
Ein Ha-Chayyim, Source of Life, we call upon You to send Your abundant blessings into every home, Israeli and Palestinian, so that new hope may overcome old fears.
Adonai Tzadik, Righteous One, who exhorts us to pursue Justice, we fervently pray that a spirit of righteousness may prevail, so that both peoples find the courage to reach a just settlement of their differences.
Oseh Shalom, Maker of Peace, who teaches us to be seekers of peace, we entreat You now to spread Your tabernacle of shalom-salaam over all the inhabitants of Your land, and to support the peacemakers among both peoples in their efforts to walk the path of reconciliation, so that a just peace may reign supreme at last – bimheirah b’yameinu, speedily in our own day. And let us say׃ Amen.
ShabbatY'hal'lu et-sheim Adonai, ki-nis'gav sh'mo l'vaddo.
Hodo al-eretz v'shamayim, va-yarem keren l'ammo, t'hillah l'cholchasidav, liv'nei yisraeil, amk'rovo. Hal'luyah.
Ashreinu. Mah-tov chel'keinu. U-mah-na'im goraleinu. U-mah-yafah y'rushateinu.
Ki lekach tov natatti lachem, torati al-ta'azovu. Eitz-chayyim hi la-machazikim bah, v'tom'cheha m'ushar, d'racheha darchei-no'am, v'chol-n'tivoteha shalom. Hashiveinu Adonai eilecha, v'nashuvah, chaddeish yameinu k'kedem.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
The Torah Service concludes with a passage that begins by referring to the Torah as Eitz Chayyim, A Tree of Life.
Every time we read the Torah, we are connecting ourselves with the generations that went before us. We are branches, twigs and leaves on the tree of the Jewish people and acknowledge that the Torah is a Tree of Life planted long ago, which nourishes and sustains us as we nurture it, so that it continues to grow and live in the midst of our lives.
It is for this reason that we also refer to the wooden rollers as Atzei Chayyim ‘Trees of Life’, and hold fast to them as we read the scroll week after week.
Let us praise the Eternal One, whose name alone is exalted.
Your majesty spans heaven and earth; You are the strength of Your people; Your praise is sung by all who love You, by the Children of Israel, a people close to You. Hal’luyah!
Happy are we!
How good is our portion!
How pleasant our lot!
How beautiful our heritage!
Behold, My Torah I give to you׃ do not forsake it. It is a tree of life to those who hold it fast, and all who cling to it find happiness. Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace.
Help us to return to You, O God; then we shall return. Renew our days as in the past.
Traditionally, the prayers Aleinu and Al Kein dramatise the particular and the universal, the separate identity of the Jewish people and humanity’s responsibility to recognise the God of All. As Liberal Jews, we do not see ourselves as set apart from others, nevertheless we do recognise our particular heritage as the Jewish people and our versions of the Aleinu reflects this awareness. Aleinu l’shabbeiach la-adon ha-kol, lateit g’dullah l’yotzeir b’reishit asher sam chelkeinu l’yacheid et sh’mo, v’goraleinu l’ham’lich malchuto.
natan-lanu torat emet v’chayyei olam nata b’tocheinu. Va-anachnu kor'im, u-mish'tachavim, u-modim lif'nei melech malchei ha-m'lachim, ha-kadosh baruch hu. She-hu noteh shamayim v'yoseid aretz, u-moshav y'karo ba-shamayim mi-ma'al, u-sh'chinat uzzo b'gov'hei m'romim. Hu Eloheinu, ein od, emet mal'keinu, efes zulato, kakatuv b'torato׃ v'yada'ta ha-yom va'hasheibota el-l'vavecha, ki Adonai hu ha-Elohim ba-shamayim mi-ma'al v'al ha-aretz mi-tachat, ein od.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
Concluding Prayers
As we come to the concluding prayers we arrive at the end of the journey which has been a dance between the individual and the communal between the particular and the universal, what it means to be a Jew and a human being with responsibilities to our people and responsibilities to our wider world.
It is our responsibility to praise the Sovereign of the universe and proclaim the greatness of the One who shapes beginnings, whose unity it is our task to make known, whose sovereignty it is our destiny to establish.
It is up to us to offer praises to the Source of all, to declare the greatness of the author of Creation, who gave us the teachings of truth and planted eternal life within us.
We bow in awe and thanksgiving before the supreme Sovereign, the Holy One, ever to be praised, who spread out the heavens and established the Earth, whose glory fills the highest heavens, whose might extends throughout all space, who alone is our God, for no other exists, who in truth is our Sovereign, for there is none else; As it is written׃ ‘Know then this day and take it to heart׃ The Eternal One is God in the heavens above and on the Earth below; there is no other.’
Al-kein n'kaveh lecha, Adonai Eloheinu lir'ot m'heirah b'tif'eret uzecha, l'ha'avir gillulim min haaretz, v'ha-elilim karot yikareitun. L'takkein olam b'malchut Shaddai, v'chol-b'nei vasar yik'r'u vish'mecha. L'haf'not eilecha kol-rishei aretz. Yakkiru v'yeidu kol-yosh'vei teiveil ki l'cha tich'ra kol-berech tishava kollashon. L'fanecha, Adonai Eloheinu, yich'r'u v'yippolu, v'lichvod shim'cha y'kar yitteinu. Vikabb'lu chullam etol malchutecha, v'tim'loch aleihem m'heirah l'olam va'ed. Ki ha-mal'chut shel'cha hi, u-l'ol'mei ad tim'loch b'chavod. Ka-katuv b'toratecha׃ Adonai yimloch l'olam va'ed.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
The Aleinu varies from denomination to denomination and prayerbook to prayerbook because of its statement of the unique separateness of the Jewish people in the classical version written by the rabbis of the second century initially for recitation on Rosh Ha-shanah.
Nevertheless, the second paragraph of the Aleinu, the Al Kein, has not been subject to change in the same way, although translations of the Hebrew vary. This is because there is unanimity concerning the hope for a future in which all the peoples and faiths of the world acknowledge the essential Oneness of the Source of Life.
And so our hope, Almighty God, is that all peoples abandon their empty worship of human bigotry, and cease the blasphemy of calling on your name to justify oppression and hatred. Speedily turn all hearts to you, and soften our human arrogance, and make the lives of all people a source of honour to Your glorious name; for your rule is meant to make all your creation a reflection of your glory.
As it is written, ‘God will reign forever in all things.’ And it is said, ‘Adonai will be ruler over all the earth; for in that day God will be one, and known to be One.’
Aleinu
Aleinu
‘Upon us’
It’s upon us Like a burden Aleinu Upon us The Jewish people ‘To praise the Lord of all’ The Lord The Commander The One Who has yoked us To His will.
Aleinu
It’s upon us ‘To ascribe greatness To the Creator of the Beginning’
Who formed the earthling Out of the blood-red dust Of the earth More of an artist than a Lord
A potter who got his hands Dirty.
So, Why us?
This particular people? Because the Eternal One Sent out a call and Abraham responded? Because Sarah championed Her only son? Because Our wilderness-wandering Ancestors
Accepted the burden? The newly-liberated slaves So reluctant to be free?
And what about us? Now Those of us who no longer Live apart Who are diffident about Our difference And eager to make Common cause
Do we accept the burden?
Elli Tikvah Sarah
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
Al Kein
Therefore we hope that once upon a time to come
You, O beautiful and terrible, will fill our eyes.
We will see we have made gods of things as dead as logs. Then, laughing at our blunder, we will chop them into kindling size, fire them and warm cold hearts around the blaze.
Cruelty will turn away from pain greed will be sated, arrogance abashed and hate will drown in tears of tenderness.
Then we will hold our breath (which comes from you) and set to mend the broken world to tend the wounded world.
We will know that whenever we have turned like a flower to the light, all the time we were turning to you.
We will hear that all the names we had for Maker, Saver, Lover, Source were one name.
All along we were calling you
Soon and forever we will know your name and remember your voice surprised by recognition as a homecoming having been long away. We will blink into the light and live happily ever and ever after, l’olam va’ed.
The task never completed
No task is ever completed, only abandoned or pressed into use. Tinkering can be a form of prayer. Twenty-six botched worlds preceded Genesis we are told in ancient commentary, and ha-Shem said not only, of this particular attempt, It is good, but muttered, if only it will hold.
Incomplete, becoming, the world was given us to fix, to complete and we’ve almost worn it out.
My house was hastily built, on the cheap. Leaks, rotting sills, the floor a relief map of Idaho.
Whenever I get some money, I stove up, repair, add on, replace. This improvisation permits me to squat here on the land that owns me. We evolve through mistakes, wrong genes, imitation gone wild.
Each night sleep unravels me into wool, then into sheep and wolf. Walls and fire pass through me. I birth stones.
Every dawn I stumble from the roaring vat of dreams and make myself up remembering and forgetting by halves.
Every Dawn, I choose to take a knife to the world’s flank or a sewing kit, rough improvisation, but a start.
Marge Piercyרחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת Concluding Prayers
Merger Poem
And then all that has divided us will merge And then compassion will be wedded to power And then softness will come to world that is harsh and unkind
And then both men and women will be gentle And then both women and men will be strong And then no person will be subject to another›s will And then all be rich and free and varied
And then the greed of some will give way to the needs of many And then all will share equally in the earth›s abundance And then all will care for the sick and the weak and the old And then all will nourish the young And then all will cherish life›s creatures
And then all will live in harmony with each other and the Earth And then everywhere will be called Eden once again.
ChicagoAnd then,...
And then, and then, both men and women will be gentle And then, and then, both women and men will be strong And then all be so very rich and free And everywhere will be like Eden once again.
Leila BernerMeditations before Kaddish
We pause to reflect on the meaning of life and death before reciting the Kaddish. This is an opportunity for personal meditation or to read one of the passages below.
We recognise that each of us is not so much a person as a world, or rather, the bearer, in her or his self, of a world – a unique, irreplaceable, populated world, linked by a myriad threads to other such worlds, and that if, when, someone dies who has been a part of our life, there is a rent in the universe, like a star vanishing, but that like a star vanishing, that world leaves ineradicable traces in us as a star does in space. So that we mourn, but we remember … and we know that there will be a living trace of that person in our consciousness always.
Sheila ShulmanWe live our life, yet hardly know its nature, from a mystery we come and to this mystery we return. The death of those close to our hearts use and humbles us. It reminds us that we all must die, like grass that grows in the morning, that grows so fresh in the morning, and in the evening fades and dies. So, we end our years like a sigh. Let us think of those who died at this time in years past. How can we accept the reality of death? By remembering the goodness of our loved ones, and by shaping our lives after their example. For the memory of the righteous is truly a blessing, and an inspiration for days. May our lives be always worthy of their memory.
Seder Ha-Tefillot - Reform Judaism Siddurרחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
There are stars whose radiance is visible on earth though they have long been extinct. There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for humanity.
Hannah SeneshWe remember with pride, all who are dear to us and have now died. They were our partners, our parents, our children, our sisters and brothers, our families, our friends, our fellow congregants, our colleagues, our peers. We lived with them, argued with them, worked with them, fought with them, journeyed with them, we shared our joys and our sorrows with them; admired, respected cherished and loved them. As we hold all our memories, the sweet and the bitter, we give thanks for the richness and diversity of their lives; the legacy of knowledge, wisdom, courage and love they bequeathed to us, and we rejoice in the remembrance of all that we shared.
Adapted from Erev Shabbat Service of the Jewish Gay and Lesbian Group
Our thoughts turn to those who departed this earth׃ our own loved ones, those whom our friends and neighbours have lost, the martyrs of our people whose graves are marked, and those of every race and nation whose lives have been a blessing to humanity. As we remember them, let us meditate on the meaning of love and loss, life and death.
From Gates of Prayer, CCAR
Kaddish
Look around us, search above us, below, behind. We stand in a great web of being joined together. Let us praise, let us love the life we are lent Passing through us in the body of Israel
And our own bodies, let’s say amein.
Time flows through us like water.
The past and the dead speak through us. We breathe out our children’s children, blessing.
Blessed is the Earth from which we grow, Blessed the life we are Lent, Blessed are the ones who teach us, Bless it are the ones we teach, blessed is the word that cannot say the glory That shines through us and remains to shine
Flowing past distant sons on the way to forever. Let’s say amein.
Blessed is light, blessed is darkness, But Blessed about all else is peace Which bears the fruits of knowledge
On strong branches, let’s say amein.
Blessed is light, blessed is darkness, but blessed above all else is peace Which bears the fruits of knowledge
On strong branches, let’s say amein.
Peace that the Bears joy into the world, Peace that enables love, peace over Israel
Everywhere, blessed and holy is peace, let’s say amein.
Marge Piercyרחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
Each of us has a name
L’khol ish yeish sheim
Each of us has a name given by God and given by our parents
Each of us has a name given by our stature and our smile and given by what we wear
Each of us has a name given by the mountains and given by our walls
Each of us has a name given by the stars and given by our neighbors
Each of us has a name given by our sins and given by our longing
Each of us has a name given by our enemies and given by our love
Each of us has a name given by our celebrations and given by our work
Each of us has a name given by the seasons and given by our blindness
Each of us has a name given by the sea and given by our death.
Zelda, translated by Marcia Lee Falk
v’yitkaddash sh’meih rabba, b’alma di-v’ra chiruteih, v’yamlich malchuteih, b’chayyeichon u-v’yomeichon u-v’chayyei di-chol beit yisra’el, ba’agala u-vizman kariv, v’imru׃ amen.
Y’hei sh’meih rabba m’varach, l’alam u-l’almei almaya.
Yitbarach v’yishtabbach v’yitpa’ar v’yitromam v’yitnassei v’yit-haddar v’yit’alleh v’yit-hallal, sh’meih d’kud'sha, b’rich hu, l’eilla minkol-birchata v’shirata tushb’chata v’nechemata, da'amiran b’alma, v’imru׃ amen.
Y’hei sh’lama rabba min sh’maya, v’chayyim aleinu v’al kol yisrael, v’imru׃ amen. Oseh shalom bimromav hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu v’al kolYisra’eil v’al kol-yosh’vei teiveil, v’imru׃ amen.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
Earlier in the service, the Chatzi-Kaddish, the HalfKaddish was recited. This version is known as the Kaddish Yatom, literally the Orphan’s Kaddish. In Liberal congregations it is usual for everyone to recite it together.
Traditionally, Kaddish Yatom is recited by mourners only and the congregation reads the responses indicated in bold in the text. The Kaddish is first recited by the mourners at the graveside, then each day during the shiva period (seven-day period of intense mourning), and the sh’loshim (the thirtyday period which includes shiva). When mourning a parent, the tradition is to recite Kaddish daily for eleven months.
Magnified and sanctified be the great name of the One by whose will the world was created. May God’s rule become effective in your lives, and in the life of the whole house of Israel. May it be so soon, and let us say׃ Amen.
May God’s great name be praised for eternity.
Blessed and praised; glorified, exalted and extolled; lauded, honoured and acclaimed be the name of the Holy One, who is ever to be praised, though far above the eulogies and songs of praise and consolation that human lips can utter; and let us say׃ Amen.
May great peace descend from heaven, and abundant life be granted, to us and all Israel; and let us say׃ Amen.
May the One who makes peace in the highest, grant peace to us, to all Israel, and to every living being, and let us say׃ Amen.
Adon olam, asher malach, b'terem kol y'tzir nivra. L'eit na'asah v'chef'tzo kol, azai melech sh'mo nik'ra. V'acharei kich'lot ha-kol, l'vado yim'loch nora. V'hu hayah, v'hu hoveh, v'hu yih'yeh b'tif'arah. V'hu echad, v'ein sheini l'ham'shil lo, l'hach'birah. B'li reishit, b'li tach'lit, v'lo ha'oz v'ha-mis'rah.
V'hu eli, v'chai go'ali, v'tzur chev'li b'eit tzarah. V'hu nissi u-manos li, m'nat kosi b'yom ekra.
B'yado af'kid ruchi b'eit ishan v'a'irah. V'im ruchi g'viyati, Adonai li v'lo ira.
Eternal God, who reigned before Your will had caused the world to be׃ already then You reigned supreme in undisputed sovereignty.
And when the universe has ceased, You will still reign in majesty; for as You were, so will You be from now until eternity. And You are One, there is none else, no equal standing at Your side, without beginning, without end, all might and rule in You reside. My living and redeeming God, my shelter on a stormy day, my banner and my refuge still, my cup of comfort when I pray.
Into Your hand I place my soul, asleep, awake, for You are near, and with my soul, my body too׃ You are my God, I shall not fear.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings ארמזד יקוספ
Songs of Praise היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
Ein keiloheinu, ein kadoneinu, ein k'malkeinu ein k'moshi'einu.
The Reading of Torah
הדימע Amidah םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
Mi cheiloheinu, mi chadoneinu, mi ch'malkeinu mi ch'moshi'einu. Nodeh leiloheinu, nodeh ladoneinu, nodeh l'malkeinu nodeh l'moshi'einu.
Baruch eloheinu, baruch adoneinu, baruch malkeinu baruch moshi'einu. Attah hu eloheinu, attah hu adoneinu, attah hu malkeinu attah hu moshi'einu.
There is none like our God, our Sovereign, our Redeemer. Who is like our God, our Sovereign, our Redeemer. We give thanks to our God, our Sovereign, our Redeemer. Praised be our God, our Sovereign, our Redeemer. You are a God, our Sovereign, our Redeemer.
Yom zeh l'yisraeil orah v'sim'chah, Shabbat m'nuchah. Tzivita pikkudim, b'ma'amad sinai. Shabbat u-mo'adim, lish'mor b'chol shanai, la'aroch l'fanai, mas'eit va'aruchah, Shabbat m'nuchah.
Yom zeh... Chem'dat ha-l'vavot l'ummah sh'vurah, linfashot nichavot n'shamah y'teirah, l'nefesh m'tzeirah yasir anachah, Shabbat m'nuchah. Yom zeh... Kiddashta beirach'ta, oto mi-kolyamim, b'sheishet kilita m'le'chet olamim, bo matz'u agumim, hash'keit u-vit'chah, Shabbat m'nuchah. Yom zeh...
This day is for Israel light and rejoicing, a Sabbath of rest. You bade us, standing assembled at Sinai, that all the years through we should keep Your behest׃ to set out a table full-laden to honour the Sabbath of rest.
Treasure of heart for the broken people, gift of new soul for the souls distressed, soother of sighs for the prisoned spirit, the Sabbath of rest. When the work of creating the world was done, You chose this day to be hallowed and blessed, that those heavy-laden find safety and stillness, the Sabbath of rest.
רחשה תוכרב Morning Blessings
ארמזד יקוספ
Songs of Praise
היתוכרבו עמש
The Sh’ma and its Blessings
הדימע Amidah
הרותה תאירק
The Reading of Torah
םויס תולפת
Concluding Prayers
V’sham’ru v’nei-Yisra’eil et-ha-shabbat, la-asot etha-shabbat l’dorotam b’rit olam. Beini u-vein b’nei Yisra’eil ot hi l’olam. Ki sheishet yamim asah Adonai et-ha-shamayim v’et-ha-aretz, u-va-yom ha-sh’vi’i shavat vayinnafash.
The people of Israel shall keep Shabbat, making Shabbat in every generation, as an everlasting covenant. Between God and the people of Israel it is a symbol for ever. For in six days, I, the Eternal One, made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day I ceased from work, and rested.
Od yavo shalom aleinu v'alkullam. Salaam; aleinu v'al kol ha-olam, Salaam, Salaam.
Peace will surely come to us, to everyone. Salaam (peace), for us and the entire world. Salaam, Salaam.
Lo alecha ha-m'la'chah ligmor v'lo attah ven-chorin libbateil. mi-mennah.
It is not upon you to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.
Y'var'cheinu Adonai v'yish'm'reinu. Ya'eir Adonai panav eileinu vichunneinu.
Yissa Adonai panav eileinu, v'yaseim lanu shalom.
the Eternal One bless us and keep us. May the Eternal One look kindly upon us and be gracious to us. May the Eternal One reach out to us in tenderness, and give us peace.
Adonai yish'mor tzeiteinu u-vo'einu, mei-attah v'ad-olam.
May the Eternal One guard our going out and our coming in, Now and forever.
B'ruchot atten ba-ir, U-v'ruchot atten ba-sadeh.
B'ruchim attem b'vo'achem, U-v'ruchim attem b'tzei't'chem.
May you be blessed in the city and in the field. May you be blessed when you come in and when you go out.
Y'hi ratzon she-tishreh Sh'chinah b'ma'aseih y'deichem.
May it be God’s will that the Divine Presence rest upon the work of your hands.