Shabbat Service Guide Supplement

KABBALAT SHABBAT TRANSLITERATIONS

L'CHU N'RAN'NA (Psalm 95) p.15

L'chu n'ra-n'na La-do-nai, Na-ri-a l'tsur yishei-nu.

N'ka-d'ma fa-nav b'to-dah, Biz-mi-rot na-ri-a lo.

Ki eil ga-dol A-do-nai, u-me-lech ga-dol al kawl E-lo-him.

A-sher b'ya-do mech-k'rei^a-rets, v'to-a-fot harim lo.

A-sher lo ha-yam v'hu a-sa-hu, v'ya-be-shet yadav ya-tsa-ru.

Bo-u nish-ta-cha-veh v'nich-ra-a, Niv-r'cha lifnei A-do-nai o-sei-nu.

Ki hu E-lo-hei-nu, va-a-nach-nu am mar-i-to v'tson ya-do.

Ha-yom im b'ko-lo tish-ma-u: Al tak-shu l'vav-chem kim-ri-va, k'yom ma-sa ba-mid-bar.

A-sher nis-u-ni a-vo-tei-chem, B'cha-nu-ni gam ra-u faw-aw-li.

Ar-ba-im sha-na a-kut b'dor, va-o-mar am to-ei lei-vav heim, v'heim lo ya-d'u d'ra-chai.

A-sher nish-ba'-ti v'a-pi, im y'vo-un el m'nucha-ti.

SHIRU L’ADONAI (Psalm 96) p.16

Shi-ru L’a-do-nai shir cha-dash, Shi-ru L’a-donai kawl^ha-a-rets.

Shi-ru L’a-do-nai ba-r'chu sh'mo, Ba-s'ru miyom l'yom y'shu-a-to.

Sa-p'ru va-go-yim k'vo-do, b'chawl^ha-a-mim nif-l'o-tav.

Ki ga-dol A-do-nai um-hu-lal m'od, No-ra hu al kawl^E-lo-him.

Ki kawl^e-lo-hei ha-a-mim e-li-lim, Va-do-nai sha-ma-yim a-sa.

Hod v'ha-dar l'fa-nav, Oz v'tif-e-ret b'mik-dasho.

Ha-vu La-do-nai mish-p'chot a-mim, Ha-vu Lado-nai ka-vod va-oz.

Ha-vu La-do-nai k'vod sh'mo, S'u min-cha u-vou l'chats-ro-tav.

Hish-ta-cha-vu la-do-nai b'had-rat kodesh, Chi-lu mi-pa-nav kawl^ha-a-rets. Im-ru va-go-yim A-do-nai ma-lach, Af ti-kon tei-veil bal ti-mot, ya-din a-mim b'mei-sha-rim.

Yis-m'chu ha-sha-ma-yim v'ta-geil ha-a-rets, Yir-am ha-yam um-lo-o.

Ya-a-loz sa-dai v'chawl^a-sher bo, Az y'ra-n'nu kawl^a-tsei ya-ar;

Lif-nei A-do-nai ki va, Ki va lish-pot ha-a-rets; Yish-pot tei-veil b'tse-dek, v'a-mim be-e-mu-nato.

A-DO-NAI MA-LACH (Ps 97) p.17

A-do-nai ma-lach, ta-geil ha-a-rets, yism'chu i-yim ra-bim.

A-nan va-a-ra-fel s'vi-vav, tse-dek u-mishpat m'chon kis-o.

Eish l'fa-nav tei-leich, ut-la-heit sa-viv tsarav.

Hei-i-ru v'ra-kav tei-veil, ra-a-ta va-tacheil ha-a-rets.

Ha-rim ka-do-nag na-ma-su mi-lif-nei Ado-nai, mi-lif-nei a-don kawl^ha-a-rets.

Hi-gi-du ha-sha-ma-yim tsid-ko, v'ra-u chawl^ha-a-mim k'vo-do.

Yei-vo-shu kawl^o-v'dei fe-sel, ha-mit-ha-

l'lim ba-e-li-lim, hish-ta-cha-vu lo kawl^e-lo-him.

Sha-m'a va-tis-mach Tsi-on, va-ta-geil-na b'not Y'hu-dah, l'ma-an mish-pa-te-cha A-do-nai.

Ki a-tah A-do-nai el-yon al kawl^ha-a-rets, m'od na-a-lei-ta, al kawl^e-lo-him.

O-ha-vei A-do-nai, sin-u ra, sho-meir nafshot cha-si-dav, Mi-yad r'sha-im ya-tsi-leim.

Or za-ru-a la-tsa-dik, ul-yish-rei leiv simcha.

Sim-chu tsa-di-kim Ba-do-nai, v'ho-du l'zeicher kawd-sho.

MIZMOR SHIRU LADONAI (Ps 98) p.18

Miz-mor, Shi-ru La-do-nai Shir Cha-dash, ki nif-la-ot a-sa, Ho-shi-a lo y'mi-no uz-ro-a kawd-sho.

Ho-di-a A-do-nai y'shu-a-to, l'ei-nei ha-goyim gi-la tsid-ka-to.

Za-char chas-do ve-e-mu-na-to l'veit Yisra-eil, ra-u chawl^af-sei a-rets eit y'shu-at E-lohei-nu.

Ha-ri-u La-do-nai kawl^ha-a-rets, Pits-chu v'ra-n'nu v'za-mei-ru.

Zam'ru La-do-nai b'chi-nor, b'chi-nor v'kol zim-ra. Ba-cha-tso-ts'rot v'kol sho-far ha-

ri-u lif-nei ha-me-lech A-do-nai. Yir-am ha-yam um-lo-o, tei-veil v'yo-sh'vei va.

N'ha-rot yim-cha-u^chaf, ya-chad ha-rim y'ra-nei-nu. Lif-nei A-do-nai ki va lish-pot ha-a-rets yish-pot tei-veil b'tse-dek, v'a-mim b'mei-sha-rim.

ADONAI MALACH YIRG’ZU (Ps 99) p.19

A-do-nai ma-lach yir-g'zu a-mim, yo-sheiv k'ru-vim, ta-nut ha-a-rets.

A-do-nai b'tsi-on ga-dol, v'ram hu al kawl^ha-a-mim.

Yo-du shim-cha ga-dol v'no-ra, ka-dosh hu. V'oz me-lech mish-pat a-heiv, a-ta ko-nanta mei-sha-rim, Mish-pat uts-da-ka b'Ya-a-kov a-ta a-si-ta.

Ro-m'mu A-do-nai E-lo-hei-nu, v'hish-tacha-vu la-ha-dom rag-lav: "Ka-dosh hu!"

Mo-she v'A-ha-ron b'cho-ha-nav u-Sh-mueil b'ko-r'ei sh'mo,Ko-rim el A-do-nai v'hu ya-a-neim.

B'a-mud a-nan y'da-beir a-lei-hem, sham'ru ei-do-tav v'chok na-tan la-mo.A-donai E-lo-hei-nu a-ta a-ni-tam, eil no-sei hayi-ta la-hem, V'no-keim al a-li-lo-tam.

Ro-m'mu A-do-nai E-lo-hei-nu, v'hish-tacha-vu l'har kawd-sho, Ki ka-dosh A-do-nai E-lo-hei-nu.

Achat Sha'alti me'eit Adonai, otah avakeish; shivti b'veit Adonai kol y'mei chayai, lachazot b'noam Adonai ulvakeir b'heichalo.

One thing do I ask of God, for this do I yearn: to dwell in the house of God all the days of my life, to see the goodness of God and to visit His sanctuary

HAVU LADONAI: (Psalm 29) p.20

Miz-mor l'Da-vid:

Ha-vu La-do-nai b'nei ei-lim

Ha-vu La-do-nai ka-vod va-oz

Ha-vu La-do-nai k'vod sh'mo hish-ta-cha-vu La-do-nai b'had-rat kodesh.

Kol A-do-nai al ha-ma-yim eil ha-ka-vod, hir-im

A-do-nai al ma-yim ra-bim.

Kol A-do-nai ba-ko-ach

Kol A-do-nai be-ha-dar

Kol A-do-nai sho-veir a-ra-zim

Vay'sha-beir A-do-nai et^ar-zei ha-l'vanon.

Brich Rachamana

Va-yar-ki-deim k'mo ei-gel l'va-non v'sir-yon k'mo ven^r'ei-mim.

Kol A-do-nai cho-tseiv la-ha-vot eish.

Kol A-do-nai ya-chil mid-bar

Ya-chil A-do-nai mid-bar Ka-desh.

Kol A-do-nai y'cho-leil a-ya-lot

va-ye-che-sof y'a-rot

uv-hei-cha-lo

ku-lo o-meir ka-vod.

A-do-nai la-ma-bul ya-shav

va-yei-shev A-do-nai me-lech l'olam.

A-do-nai oz l'a-mo yi-tein

A-do-nai y'va-reich et a-mo va-sha-lom.

d’hai pita."

You are the Source of Life, of all there is and Your blessing flows through me.

The Babylonian Talmud (Brakhot 40b) describes how a shepherd named Benjamin coined the phrase after making a sandwich. It also describes the sages' conversation about that form of the blessing and whether it "counts."

Intriguingly, although the Talmud records one opinion which says that anyone who alters the traditional formula of blessings has not fulfilled his obligation to bless the food, it devotes much more space to the opinion that one may make the blessing after food in any form: even if it's said without explicit mention of God's name, and even if it's said in secular language rather than the holy tongue. The one-liner is often referred to as the minimum one may recite if one is strapped for time. (The example the Talmud gives is, what if one were being pursued by robbers on the highway and didn't have time to pray the whole grace after meals?) I'm guessing that experience is a relative rarity for most of us in the modern world, but we can extrapolate.)

Source: Velveteen Rabbi blog

Ki Hinay

Kakhomer

– As Clay in the Hand of the Potter

Ki hine kakhomer b'yad hayotser Birtsoto ma'arikh, uvirtsoto mekatser

Ken anchnu b'yadkha, khesed notser Labrit habet v'al tefen layetser

As clay in the hands of the potter, who thickens or thins it, so are we in Your hand, Guardian of love. Recall Your covenant; do not heed the accuser.

- "Blessed be the Master of this bread."

"Brich rachamana malka d’alma marai

Ma Gadlu

Ma-Gadlu Ma’asecha Yah, m’od amku mach’sh’votecha

“How great is Your work, God, how profound are Your thoughts!”

On Shabbat we step outside of the ordinary stream of time; we leave behind the structures of Duality in order to drink from the extraordinary river of Delight that flows directly from the Source. We set aside our struggles and worries in order to simply appreciate and celebrate Life. Shabbat consciousness requires us to embrace a profound paradox. On the one hand we see the amazing beauty of God’s Creation, and in that same vision we encounter the unfathomable suffering and mystery of our world. On Shabbat we let go of our struggle to understand, explain, make excuses or figure it out. We embrace and accept it all and celebrate existence itself.

MIZMOR SHIR (Psalm 92) p.23

Mizmor shir l’Yom ha-Shabbat

Tov l’ho-dot l’Adonai,

u-l’za-meir l’shim-cha El-yon.

L’ha-gid ba-bo-ker chas-de-cha

V’e-mu-nat-cha ba-lei-lot.

A-lei a-sor va-a-lei na-vel

a-lei hi-ga-yon b’chi-nor.

Ki si-mach-ta-ni Adonai b’fa-o-le-cha,

B’ma-a-sei ya-de-cha a-ra-nein.

Mah gad-lu ma-a-se-cha Adonai

M’od am-ku mach-sh’vo-te-cha.

Ish ba-ar lo yei-da,

u-ch’sil lo ya-vin et zot.

B’fro-ach r’sha-im kmo ei-sev,

Va-ya-tzi tzu kol po-alei a-ven.

L’hi-sham-dam, a-dei ad

V’a-tah ma-rom l’o-lam Adonai.

Ki hi-nei oi-ve-cha Adonai, Ki hi-nei oi-ve-cha yo-vei-du.

Yit-par-du kol po-a-lei a-ven

Va-ta-rem ki-r’eim kar-ni, Ba-lo-ti b’she-men ra-a-nan.

V’ta-beit ei-ni b’shu-rai.

Ba-ka-mim a-lai m’rei-im, Tish-ma-nah oz-nai.

Tza-dik ka-ta-mar yif-rach, K’e-rez ba-L’va-non yis-geh.

Sh’tu-lim b’veit Adonai, B’chatz-rot E-lo-hei-nu yaf-ri-chu.

Od y’nu-vim b’sei-vah, D’shei-nim v’ra-a-na-nim yi-h’yu.

L’ha-gid ki ya-shar A-do-nai, Tzu-ri v’lo av-la-ta bo.

Do not think that the words as you say them go up to God. It is not the words themselves that ascend; it is rather the burning desire of your heart that rises like smoke toward heaven. If your prayer consists only of words and letters and does not contain your heart’s desire –how can it rise up to God? Or Ha-Meir

Ozi V’Zimrat Ya

Ozi v'Zimrat Yah Vayahi li lishuah

My Strength, balanced with the Song of God will be my salvation (Ps 118:14 & Ex 15:2 ) In this practice I find and express my strength, my will, my effort and desire when I chant "Ozi". When I chant "v'zimrat Yah," I open and surrender to the God-song and let it be sung through me. Then in the last phrase, "Vayahi li lishuah," I balance those two aspects of my practice. – Rabbi

Shefa Gold

Shlomo Carlebach’s Krakower niggun begins with a vision, one that Reb Shlomo had as he sat in the pews of Krakow synagogue, of the Jews of the city boarding the trains, their belongings and loved ones snatched from them. The darkness of the ovens – suddenly gave way in his vision to a bright light. And the victims: instead of being limp corpses, they were dancing in joy.

(Psalm

93)

A-do-nai ma-lach gei-ut la-veish, La-veish A-do-nai oz hit-a-zar,

Af ti-kon tei-veil bal ti-mot.

Na-chon kis-a-cha mei-az, mei-o-lam a-ta.

Na-s'u n'ha-rot, A-do-nai, Na-s'u n'ha-rot ko-lam, Yis-u n'ha-rot dawch-yam.

Mi-ko-lot ma-yim ra-bim, A-di-rim mish-b'rei yam, Adir ba-ma-rom A-do-nai.

Ei-do-te-cha ne-em-nu m'od, L'vei-t'cha na-a-va ko-desh, Adonai, l'orech ya-mim

Barkhu: The Breath of All Life

The breath of all life will bless, the body will exclaim: Were our mouths filled with song as the sea and our tongues lapping joy like the waves and our lips singing praises broad as the sky and our eyes like the sun and the moon and our arms open wide as the eagle’s wings and our feet leaping light as the deer’s, It would not be enough to tell the wonder.

Marcia Falk

Do not laugh at one who moves his body, even violently during prayer. If a person is drowning in a river he makes all kinds of motions to try to save himself; This is not a time for others to laugh. Likkutim Yekarim 15a (trans. Art Green and Barry Holtz)

TODA

Chorus:

Toda al kol ma shebarata, Toda al ma sheli natata.

Al or einayim, Chaver oh shnayim, Al ma sheyesh li ba'olam.

Al shir kolei'ach

Velev solei'ach

Shebizchutam ani kayam.

Toda al kol ma shebarata, Toda al ma sheli natata.

Al tzchok shel yeled

Ushmei hat'chelet

Al adama - uvayit cham.

Pina lashevet

Isha ohevet

Shebizchutam ani kayam.

Toda al kol ma shebarata, Toda al ma sheli natata.

Al yom shel osher, T'mimut veyosher, Al yom atzuv shene'elam.

Tshu'ot - alpayim, V'chapayim, Shebizchutam ani kayam.

Ke'ayal ta'arog al afikei mayim ken nafshi

ta'arog eleicha Elohim

As the deer longs for brooks of water, so my soul longs for You, O God.

Tzamah nafshi lEl-him le'El chai matai avo

ve'era'eh penei Elohim

My soul thirsts for G-d, for the living God: When shall I come and appear before God?

Haitah lo dimati lechem yomam valailah

be'emor elai kol hayom ayeh Eloheicha

They were for me - my tears - sustenance day and night, when foes say to me all day long, "Where is your God?"

Chorus: Thanks for all that You've created, Thanks for what You've given me. For our eyesight, A friend or two, For what I have in the world. For the song which flows, And a forgiving heartBecause of all this - I exist.

Thanks for all that You've created, Thanks for what You've given me. For a child's laughter, And the blue sky, For the earth - and a warm home. A corner to sit in, A loving woman, Because of all this - I exist.

Thanks for all that You've created, Thanks for what You've given me. For a day of happiness, Innocence and honesty, For the sad day - which passed and disappeared. Two thousand cheers, and hands clapping. Because of all this - I exist.

Psalm 42

Eleh ezkrah ve'eshpecha alai nafshi ki e'evor basach edadem ad beit El-him bekol rinah

vetodah hamon chogeg

These do I recall and pour out for my plight my soul: how I passed with the throng, proceeding with them up to the Temple of God with song of joy and thanksgiving, [with] a multitude that celebrates.

Mah tishtochachi nafshi vatehemi alai hochili

lElohim ki od odenu yeshu'ot panav

Why are you downcast, my soul, and [why are you] disturbed on my account? Hope to God! For yet shall I thank him for the salvations of HIs countenance.

Eli, Eli by Hannah Senesh Eli, Eli

Shelo yigamer le'olam: Hachol vehayam

Rishrush shel hamayim

Berak hashamayim

Tefilat ha'adam

My God, My God

May these things never end: The sand and the sea

The rustle of the water

The lightning in the sky

Man's prayer.

Refa Tziri (Heal My Pain)

Refa Tziri El ne’eman / ki ata rofeh uman

At roshi shur chalshi / veten koach lenafshi

Petach sha’ar harachamim / ram shochen bameromim

Al avdach sim chassdach / en merachem biladach

El chai retzeh tefilati / vechusha le’ezrati

Bimhera deror kera / le’am ben hagevira

Heal my pain Oh Loyal God / for You are a skilled healer

You lead me, You see my weakness / and grant strength to my soul

Open the gate of mercy / high dweller of the heavens

Upon Your servant bestow Your grace / there would be no mercy if not for You

Oh Living God desire my prayer / and hasten to my aid

And speedily call for the redemption / of the nation born to the Lady [Sara]

Modeh Ani

Modeh Ani L’fanecha Melech Chai V’kayam

Shehechezarta Bi Nishmati B'chemla Raba Emunatecha

I offer thanks to You, living and eternal Sovereign, for You have mercifully restored my soul within me; Your faithfulness is great. And every night, a human’s spirit [neshama] strips itself of this garb [the body] and ascends … and then the spirit returns … and adorns its garments … [Zohar,Bereisheet 95] The neshamah (soul) fills the body, and when a human sleeps it ascends and draws life for him from above [Bereisheet Rabah, 14:11]

Morning Has Broken

Morning has broken, like the first morning

Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird

Praise for the singing, praise for the morning

Praise for the springing fresh from the word

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven

Like the first dewfall, on the first grass

Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden

Sprung in completeness where his feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning

Born of the one light, Eden saw play

Praise with elation, praise every morning

God's recreation of the new day

Lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon, as sung by Cat Stevens

Da lekha, shekol ro'eih ve ro'eih yeish lo nigun meyuchad mishelo.

Da lekha, shekol eisev va'eisev yeish lo shirah meyuchedet mishelo. Umishirat ha'asavim na'aseh nigun shel ro'eih.

Kamah yafeh, kama yafeh vena'eih kesheshom'im hashirah shelahem. Tov me'od lehitpaleil beineihem uvesimchah la'avod et Hasheim.

Umishirat ha'asavim mitmalei haleiv, umishtokeik.

Ukhshehaleiv, min hashirah mitmalei umishtokeik el erets yisra'eil.

Or gadol azay nimshakh veholeikh mikdushatah shel ha'arets alav.

Umishirat ha'asavim, na'aseh nigun shel haleiv.

Do know that each and every shepherd has his own tune.

Do know that each and every grass has its own poem. And from the poem of the grasses a tune of a sheppard is made How beautiful, how beautiful and pleasant to hear their poem. It's very good to pray among them and to serve the Lord in joy And from the poem of the grasses the heart is filled and yearns

And when the poem causes the heart to fill and to yearn to the Land of Israel a great light is drawn and goes from the Land's holiness upon it. And from the poem of the grasses a tune of the heart is made.

At the shores of the Red Sea, Moses prayed long, and the Holy One said to him: “My children are in trouble, the sea before them and the enemy behind them, and you stand here indulging in prayer!?” - Mekhilta

SHIRAT HA’ASAVIM (Song of Grasses)

Music by Naomi Shemer, based on Nachman of Bratzlav

BO’I (Come) – Idan Raichel

Boee, tni li yad venelech

Al tishali oti le-an

Al tishali oti al osher

Ulai gam hu yavo

K shehu yavo

Yered aleinu kmo geshem

Boee, nitchabek venelech

Al tishali oti matai

Al tishali oti al bayit

Al tevakshi mimeni zman

Zman lo mechakeh, lo otser, lo nishar

Come, give me your hand and we will go

Don't ask me where

Don't ask me about happiness

Maybe it will come too

When it will come

it'll fall upon us like rain.

Come, let us embrace and go

Don't ask me when

Don't ask me about home

Don't ask me for time

Time does not wait, nor stop or remain.

Ani V’Ata (You and I) – Arik Einstein

Ani ve'ata neshaneh et ha'olam

ani ve'ata az yavo'u kvar kulam

Amru et zeh kodem lefanai

lo meshaneh, ani ve'ata neshaneh et ha'olam.

Ani ve'ata nenaseh mehahatchalah

yiheyl lanu ra ein davar zeh lo nora.

Amru et zeh kodem lefanai

zeh lo meshaneh, ani ve'ata neshaneh et ha'olam

El Eliyahu El Eliyahu / [Bizchut] Eliyahu

HaNavi haveh na

Bo yirtom richbo / Na bashevi ki bo

Lo shachav libo / Gam lo ra’ah shenah

Rav machli bir’ot / Kach’shi u’msanot

yafot u’vriot / Bassar vatirena

Hashkeh tzur mei rosh / Tzar einav yiltosh

yom einai likdosh / Yisrael tish’ena

You and I we'll change the world you and I by then all will follow Others have said it before me but doesn't matter you and I we'll change the world.

You and I we'll try from the beginning it will be tough for us, no matter, it's not too bad!

Others have said it before me but it doesn't matter you and I we'll change the world.

El Eliyahu

Matai tar’eh ot / Yesha el kor’ot

Lacha u’lecha nos’ot / Kolan vativkena [vatarona]

Hamalach hago’el / Lifnei dal sho’el

Ana haEl El / Avraham hakreh na

God of Elijah He will lead his chariot / restless in captivity/ His heart did not rest / nor envision sleep

Non como muestro Dio, non como muestro señor, non como muestro rey, non como muestro salvador.

En K’Elohenu (Ladino)

bendicho muestro rey, bendicho muestro salvador. Tu sos muestro Dio, tu sos muestro señor, tu sos muestro rey, tu sos muestro salvador.

Quien como muestro Dio, quien como muestro señor, quien como muestro rey, quien como muestro salvador.

En k’Elohenu en k’Adonenu En keMalkenu en keMoshi’enu Mi k’Elohenu mi k’Adonenu Mi keMalkenu mi keMoshi’enu

Loaremos a muestro Dio, loaremos a muestro señor, loaremos a muestro rey, loaremos a muestro salvador.

Nodeh l’Elohenu nodeh l’Adonenu Nodeh

l’Malkenu nodeh leMoshi’enu

Baruch Elohenu baruch Adonenu Baruch

Malkenu baruch Moshi’enu

Atah hu Elohenu atah hu Adonenu Atah hu Malkenu atah hu Moshi’enu

Bendicho muestro Dio, bendicho muestro señor,

Agadelcha (I will praise You)

Agadelcha Elohei kol neshama / veodecha berov pachad ve’ema

Beomdi toch kehalcha tzur leromem / lecha echra ve’echof rosh vekomah

Reki’ei rom halo nata bemivta / veha’aretz yesadah al belimah

Hayuchal ish hakor et sod yotzro / u’mi hu zeh bechol kedma veyama

Meromam hu alei kol peh velashon / asher hifli ve’asa kol bechochma

Veyitgadal begoy kadosh ve’elyon / veyitkadash shemeh raba be’alma

I will praise You, God of all souls and I will thank You with great fear and awe. As I stand among Your worshipers, Lord, and exalt You

La’ner Velivsamim

Laner velivsamim

Nafshi meyachela

Im titnu li kos

Yayin lehavdalah

Solu drachim li

Pnu lin'vucha

Pitchu sh'arim li

Kol malachei malah

Im titnu li kos

Yayin lehavdalah

Einai ani esah

El al b'lev kosef

Mamtzi drachai li

Bayom uvalaila

Im titnu li kos

Yayin lehavdalah

(for the candle and the spices)

My soul longs for a candle and spices if only you'd pour me a cup of wine for havdala All angels up above pave paths for me clear the path for the confused open the gates for me

If you give me a cup of wine for havdala I shall raise my eyes to and fro with a worthy heart who provides my life paths for me by day and night

if you give me a cup of wine for havdala

Adon Haselichot (Master of Forgiveness)

Adon haselichot

bochen levavot

goleh amukot

dover tzedakot

Chatanu lefaneicha rachem aleinu.

Hadur benifla'ot

vatik benechamot

zocher b'rit amo

choker kelayot

Chatanu lefaneicha

rachem aleinu.

Male zakiyut

nora tehino

tzone'ach avonot oneh be'etzavot

Chatanu lefaneicha rachem aleinu.

Master of Forgiving examiner of hearts the revealer of depths speaker of justice

We have sinned before You, have mercy upon us Glorious in wonders great in consolations

Ma Navu Alei (How Pleasant)

Ma navu alei heharim raglei / mevaser

shalom bevinyan irech

Kol tzofaich yis’u kol rina / hitna’ari mitoch

megina

Ayin be’ayin tir’i shechina / veshavu

banayich legvulech

Lishvuyim dror beshir u’mizmor / el beit har

hamor yehi shvilech

Solu solu et hamsila / pitzchu renana

u’tehila

Yavo mevasser bilshono mila / kumi uri ki ba

orech

Tze’i mibavel kiryat ovdei bel / kinor vanevel

az yehi shirech

Sos yasissu kol avelei zion / lavo lachasot

betzel ha’elion

Bano evneh lach neveh apirion / achin kiseh

ledavid malkech

Se’ee enayich u’re’ee vanayich / ba’u elayich

la’or be’orech

Tachat choshech assim lach ora / az

metzion tetzeh hatora

Hineh gadol hu ayom venora / beyom simi

keter leroshech

Ad matai kalla yaffa u’me’ulla / lezar be’ulla

kedal vahelech

Uri uri adat yisrael achish / eshlach yinon

ve’goel

Vegam akim lach chomat ariel / zachor

ezkor chessed ne’urech

How pleasant atop the mountains are the footsteps of the messenger / bearing tidings of peace in your city

The voices of your watchmen will rise up in joy / shake off your sorrow

Your eyes shall behold the Shechina / and your sons shall return to your borders Freedom to the captives in song and melody / to the Temple may your path lead Pave the pathway / break forth in delight and glory

Amar Adonay leYaakov

Amar Adonay leYaakov / Al tira avdi Yaakov

Bachar Adonay beYaakov / Al tira avdi

Yaakov Ga’al Adonay et Yaakov / Al tira

avdi Yaakov Darach kochav mi Yaakov / Al

tira avdi Yaakov Haba’im yashresh Yaakov /

Al tira avdi Yaakov Veyerd miYaakov / Al

tira avdi Yaakov Zechor eleh leYaakov / Al

tira avdi Yaakov Chedvat yeshuot Yaakov /

Al tira avdi Yaakov Tovu ohalecha Yaakov /

Al tira avdi Yaakov Yoru mishpatecha

leYaakov / Al tira avdi Yaakov

Ki lo nachash beYaakov / Al tira avdi Yaakov

Lo hibit aven beYaakov / Al tira avdi Yaakov

Mi mana afar Yaakov / Al tira avdi Yaakov

Nishba Adonay leYaakov / Al tira avdi

Yaakov Slach na le’avon Yaakov / Al tira

avdi Yaakov Ata hashev shevut Yaakov / Al

tira avdi Yaakov Padah Adonay el Yaakov /

Al tira avdi Yaakov Tzaveh yeshuot Yaakov /

Al tira avdi Yaakov Kol kol Yaakov / Al tira

avdi Yaakov Roni ve’simchi le Yaakov / Al

tira avdi Yaakov Shav Adonay et shvut

Yaakov / Al tira avdi Yaakov Titen emet

leYaakov / Al tira avdi Yaakov

God said to Yaakov / Fear not, My servant Yaakov

God chose Yaakov / Fear not, My servant Yaakov

A star will emerge from / Yaakov Fear not, My servant Yaakov In Days to come Yaakov will strike roots / Fear not, My servant Yaakov A ruler will arise from Yaakov / Fear not, My servant Yaakov

MEDITATION: Letting go of the week

We pause for a few moments…

To let go of the week that has passed…

Breathing in…and breathing out… (repeat)

Like every other week, it has been a week of striving..

We each had an agenda of what we wanted to do…

We each had great hopes for the week…

But we didn’t accomplish all our objectives. Although much remains undone, on Shabbat we pause

Breathing in…and breathing out…(repeat)

As Shabbat approaches…

Imagine your agenda drifting to the back of your mind

Let all your strivings float away for a day…

Breathing in…take in the fresh air of Shabbat…

Breathing out…let go of you strivings…

Breathing in…and breathing out…(repeat)

Like every other week, it has been a week of struggle…

At times it seemed that everything was going wrong…

At times it seemed that we went from crises to crisis.

Although much is yet unsettled, on Shabbat we pause…

Breathing in…and breathing out…(repeat)

As Shabbat approaches…

Feel your concerns drift to the back of your mind,

Let your struggles float away for a day…

Breathing in…take in the fresh air of Shabbat…

Breathing out…let go of your struggles…

Breathing in…and breathing out…(repeat)

We let go of the week…as we welcome Shabbat…

We let go of the week…as we welcome Shabbat. Siddur Eit Retzon

KAVVANAH FOR CANDLE LIGHTING

The Soul and the Candle

The soul is like a flame surrounded by multiple subtle fields. In a candle, the flame warms the wax which changes state from solid to oil. The Petila (Hebrew word for "wick"), draws the oil to the point of combustion, union, conflagration, passionate transultation.

Davvenen or Tefilla (Hebrew word for prayer made with the same letters as the word for "wick") also serves as a wick to draw you in. Once your frozen life-energies are warmed and liquified by a flame of loving warmth, our prayers serve as a channel to draw you towards the threshold of your vulnerability. Passing through this threshold, you combust, unite, conflagrate, and passionately transmute, resulting in your mind emptying and becoming consciously, experientially, ONE with that with which you are already, mysteriously, united. Rabbi David Wolfe-Blank, Meta-Siddur

BLESSED BE THESE HANDS

Blessed by the works of your hands, O Holy One.

Blessed by these hands that have touched life. Blessed by these hands that have nurtured creativity.

Blessed by these hands that have held pain. Blessed by these hands that have embraced with passion.

Blessed by these hands that have tended gardens.

Blessed by these hands that have closed in anger.

Blessed be these hands that have planted new seeds.

Blessed by these hands that have harvested ripe fields.

Blessed by these hands that have cleaned, washed, mopped and scrubbed. Blesses by these hands that have become knotty with age.

Blessed be these hands that are wrinkled and scarred from doing justice.

Blessed be these hands that have reached out and been received.

Blessed be these hands that hold the promise of the future.

Blessed be the works of Your hands, O Holy One. Diann Nell

ONENESS

O one and only God, You have made each of us unique And formed us to be united in one family of life. Be with us, Eternal One, as we seek to unite our lives

With Your power and Your love.

We proclaim now Your oneness and our own hope for unity.

We acclaim Your creative power in the universe and in ourselves. The law that binds world to world and heart to heart.

KAVVANAH, Ma’ariv Aravim & Ahavat Olam

Praised are You, our God, Who arranges the seasons and the stars, Who restores day and night, And who has brought on the evening twilight. When we meditate on this universe Which You create a new day after day, We are filled with wonder and awe.

We see ourselves as tiny specks in a vast universe,

And we are filled with fear.

Sabbath Prayer

God, help us now to make this new Shabbat. After noise, we seek quiet; After crowds of indifferent strangers, We seek to touch those we love; After concentration on work and responsibility, We seek freedom to meditate, to listen to our inward selves.

We open our eyes to the hidden beauties

And the infinite possibilities in the world You are creating; We break open the gates of the reservoirs Of goodness and kindness in ourselves and in others We reach toward one holy moment of Shabbat.

You seem too busy to be concerned with our lives,

And we feel alone.

We see the difference

Between ourselves as we are and as we might be,

Between ourselves as we are and as we would like to be,

And we feel inadequate and powerless.

But You, God, You understand what we feel You know how our souls can be released from their bonds, and so,

Through Your great love for Your people, You have given us a precious gift, the Torah. When we study Your Torah

And observe its commandments, We find that, small though we are,

We are more important in Your plan Than the mightiest star; And we find that, far away though You seem, In reality You are no farther away Than our own hearts;

And we find that, powerless though we feel, With You we gain strength. We will therefore study Your Torah And grasp the way of life that it offers us At every possible opportunity. We will always rejoice

Over the words of Your Torah And the fulfillment of Your commandments… …for they are our very lives, And they add a new dimension to our days; So we will tirelessly try to understand And live by them.

Through them we always have access to Your love.

Blessed are You, Adonai, Loving Your people Israel. Siddur Eit

Ratzon

YOU REMEMBER US

Eternally, with love, You remember us, Adonai. Hatred is a human, graven thing. But You are love; before You all hatreds die. We have doubted our power to love, surrendering

To idols, tyrants, bigots, but You have taught The laws of justice; You have taught us, hallowing The rising up of morning, to recall the mitzvoth

Of love, which are our life and the length of our days, And to lie down recalling them at night. You sustain the living with kindness, and You raise The fallen; Source of all creation, let Your love never depart from us; we praise The oneness of god in ages past and yet To come, the love that has saved us, and does not forget.

CONNECTION

In the beginning God rebelled against solitary existence With Creation of stunning variety Which, ancient words say, Was Divine reflection. We are meant to be different. We are meant for connection. Love me, says God, And love each other.

Remember: oneness does not mean same. So listen, Israel, To what you know best: In the beginning, there is God; At the end, there is God; And in between, there is us –With God

And that first breath Joins us forever.

HASHKIVENU REFLECTIONS

Hashkeveinu pertains to retiring for the night and the need for divine protection. It stems from Babylonia, the center of Jewish life during the Talmudic period, when the nights were especially frightening. Criminals roamed and violence was prevalent. The prayer remains relevant today, when danger may come from halfway around the world or from around the corner. Although Hashkeveinu is recited every day of the week, its concluding words are changed on Shabbat to emphasize sukkat sh’lomecha, “the shelter of Your peace.” This reminds us that Jews in Babylonia did not work in the unprotected fields on Shabbat, but spent the day in the relative safety of their own homes and neighborhoods. Sukkat sh’lomecha has developed a spiritual significance as well, referring to the peace and rest that is characteristic of Shabbat. In addition, the

words v’al kol ha’olam, “and over the entire world,” have been added in order to universalize prayers for peace.

NIGHTFALL

Let there be love and understanding among us; let peace and friendship be our shelter from life’s storms. Eternal God, help us to walk with good companions, to live with hope in our hearts and eternity in our thoughts, that we may lie down in peace and rise up to find our hearts waiting to do Your will. Blessed it the Eternal One, Guardian of Israel, whose love gives light to all the world.

REVELATION AND THE INWARD JOURNEY

The human-divine encounter is more like the breaking down of a wall than like the building of a bridge. It is a discovery that there is no chasm, rather than a claim that the gap can be traversed. Finally, it is the realization that the wall itself was illusory, and the sense of separation lay only in our own unreadiness to know the deeper truth. …Every human journey contains within it something of Moses’ trek up that mountainside; every human attempt at making meaning, at understanding the purpose of human existence, at rejecting cynicism in quest of truth, has something of Sinai within it. Whenever we assert - by deed as well as by word - that life is not absurd, that accident and emptiness are not our only lot, we are climbing up God’s mountain. Believe as we may that it is we who are making for life’s meaning, we who are retrieving human dignity from the abyss of chaos, the religious mind sees such activity as response rather than as human creativity alone. We give meaning all its forms, but the need to do so is an act of responding to the Divine image cast into our deepest human selves. We

perform the act of naming, calling the Divine by the names chosen by our tradition. But that need to name exists in us because we are called upon to do so by the One within.

Arthur Green

SINAI AND COMMUNITY

Somewhere in the course of living in community, we come to see that the journey is not an isolated one anymore. As we build our own individual families in a communal context, or as we share in the broader “family” of community itself, we find that we have come home from the long wandering that so characterizes our contemporary society, home to our ancestors (whether biological or adopted), home to the Jewish people. Ultimately, we begin to see this process of odyssey and return as something more than individual, as belonging to the history of Jews in our day, so many of whom are seeking ways to reclaim our tradition. The decision to find our way as Jews, rather than to turn to the many other life paths that stretch before us in this age of seemingly limitless choices, turns out to be our response to a Jewish voice that speaks from deep within us. Our homecoming is also a return to Sinai.

Arthur Green

WE SEE NOTHING

The world is full of wonders and miracles, But we take our little hands and we cover our eyes and see nothing.

Baal Shem Tov

OUR TASK

God is hiding in the world. Our task is to let the Divine emerge from our deeds.

Abraham Joshua Heschel

BLESSING OF REST

May we lie down this night in peace and rise up to life renewed. May night spread over us the shelter of peace, of quiet and calm, the blessing of rest. There will come a time when morning will bring no word of war or famine or anguish; there will come a day of happiness, of contentment, of peace. Praised by the Source of joy within us, for the night and its rest, for the promise of peace.

PROXIMITY TO THE SACRED

THE TORAH

The Torah is eternal, but its explanation is to be made by the spiritual leaders of Judaism…in accordance with the age. Baal Shem Tov

MEDITATION ON THE BARCHU

A flame in the sky flaunts the remains of a tired sun. Darkness encroaches marking a long day’s end. Yet I know that this final moment is a beginning.

The farewell call on a noisy world of care and travail,

To enter a sphere of hope and prayer and peace. I will suspend my soul in God’s eternity, I am about to cross Your holy bridge in time.

V’Taher Libenu Siddur

THE BEGINNING AND END OF TORAH

MEDITATION ON THE AMIDA

A bond unseen holds me

To my congregation.

Their voices one with mine

Have sung Your praises

In prayer and in psalm.

Now comes the time

When I speak to You alone.

The bond is momentarily broken.

I have been one of many…

Now I seek You alone.

Now I alone try to address You.

Shall I sing or shout?

Shall I be silent?

Hush

Heschel

Life passes on in proximity to the sacred, and it is this proximity that endows existence with ultimate significance. In our relation to the immediate we touch upon the most distant. Even the satisfaction of physical needs can be a sacred act. Perhaps the essential message of Judaism is that in doing the finite we may perceive the infinite. Abraham Joshua

Rabbi Simlai taught: Torah begins with an act of lovingkindness and ends with an act of lovingkindness. It begins with an act of lovingkindness, for it is written: “And the Eternal God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skin. and clothed them:” and it ends with an act of lovingkindness for it is written, ”And God buried him in the valley.” Talmud, Sota 14a

SEEDED IN SINAI

From the seeds engendered in me

With the shattering of Tablets

At the foot of Sinai

Comes my flowering.

Who can tell

Will my heart speak in silence? V’Taher Libenu

Where seed from these blossoms, Dried by nurturing sun and blown

By winds alive with memory

Will find its place. Shulamis Yelin

KAVVANAH FOR MI CHAMOCHA: WHAT THE EXODUS TAUGHT

So pharaonic oppression, deliverance, Sinai, and Canaan are still with us, powerful memories shaping our perceptions of the political world. The “door of hope” is still open; things are not what they might be - even when what they might be isn’t totally different from what they are…We still believe, or many of us do, what the Exodus first taught, or what it has commonly been taken to teach, about the meaning and possibility of politics and about its proper form:

- First, that wherever you live, it is probably Egypt

- Second, that there is a better place, a world more attractive, a promised land;

- And third, that “the way to the land is through the wilderness.” There is no way to get from here to there except by joining together and marching.

Michael Walzer

THE REDEMPTIVE TASK

Our commitment to the redeeming deed applies, in the first place, to life within the human community. We take it as our task to enhance each person’s potential for realizing the Divine image, remembering that each of us bears a portrait unique and vital to the wholeness of Y-H-W-H. But how clear can that portrait be when its bearer is suffering from hunger? Or from political oppression? Or from domestic bondage? Or when the person is hurting self and others, due to a compulsion from which it seems impossible to break free? If we are going to enhance the Divine image in this world, we must work to maximize human freedom, always remembering that it was only after we came out of bondage that we were able to look toward God’s mountain. That

commitment to freedom also includes helping people to create the sorts of lives and social structures to allow that freedom a lasting and secure home. Our Judaism lives in those two essential moments when we discover God. We celebrate (and guard) our freedom, knowing YH-W-H at the Sea, and we build a community that lives in God’s presence, knowing Y-H-W-H at the mountain. Our role is to share these twin values with others to help other parts of the human family, each in the way of its own traditions, to achieve both freedom and responsible community.

CLAPPING AND DANCING

Dear God, stir my heart with the spirit of joy. Imbue my arms and my legs with that spirit; for my arms are encumbered and my legs have become heavy with my wrongdoings. Fill me, my God, with the cleansing spirit of holy joy. Enliven all my limbs. Help me raise my hands and clap. Help me lift my feet and dance, dance, dance.

Nachman of Bratzlav

THE MESSIAH

Rabbi Joshua came upon the prophet Elijah as he was standing at the entrance of Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai’s cave. He asked him: “When is the Messiah coming?”

Elijah replied: “Go and ask him yourself.”

“Where shall I find him?”

“Before the gates of Rome.”

“By what sign shall I know him?”

“He is sitting among poor people covered with wounds. The others unbind all their wounds at once, and then bind them up again. But he unbinds one wound at a time, and then binds it up again straightaway. He tells himself: ‘Perhaps I shall be needed (to appear as the Messiah) - and I must not take time and be late!’”

So Rabbi Joshua went and found him and said: “Peace be with you, my master and teacher!”

He answered him: “Peace be with you, son of Levi.”

Then he asked him: “When are you coming, master?”

He answered him: “Today!”

Thereupon Rabbi Joshua returned to Elijah and said to him: “He has deceived me, he has indeed deceived me! He told me, ‘Today I am coming!’ but he has not come.”

Elijah said to him: “This is what he told you, ‘Today - if you would only hear his voice’”

(Psalm 95:7).Tal. Sanhedrin 98a

WHEN THE MESSIAH COMES

Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai used to say: “If you are about to plant a tree when they say to you: ‘Behold the Messiah!’ - go and plant your tree, and afterwards go out to greet him.”

Avot De-Rabbi Natan

The Very Last Day

The Messiah will come only when he is no longer necessary; he will come only on the day after his arrival; he will come, not on the last day, but on the very last. Franz Kafka

CONNECTIONS

Connections are made slowly, sometimes they grow underground.

You cannot tell always by looking at what is happening.

More than half a tree is spread out in the soil under your feet.

Penetrate quietly as the earthworm that blows no trumpet.

Fight persistently as the creeper that brings down the tree.

Spread like the squash plant that overruns the garden.

Gnaw in the dark and use the sun to make sugar.

Weave real connections, create real nodes, build real houses.

Live a life you can endure; make love that is loving.

Keep tangling and interweaving and taking more in,

A thicket and bramble wilderness to the outside but to us

Interconnected with rabbit runs and burrows and lairs.

Live as if you liked yourself, and it may happen: Reach out, keep reaching out, keep bringing in. This is how we are going to live for a long time: not always,

For every gardener knows that after the digging, after the planting, after the long season of tending and growth, the harvest comes.

Marge Piercy

THE NEW MOON

If God were the sun, then Israel might be the moon, Her face reflecting God’s eternal light. Yes, Israel is like the moon, the moon

Who waxes and wanes, Grows old, and then renews herself, Yet never leaves the skies.

Faithfully, she reappears to walk the night, Glimmering, silver, in the darkened sky, Faithfully, she spreads her pale and ghostly light

On every room and tree and blade of grass

Until the whole world turns to silver,

Transformed from darkness to shimmering beauty. Yes, Israel, be like the moon, Renew your faith each generation. Even when the earth casts its shadow of darkness, faithfully reflect the light of God

To the Bird (excerpts) – H.N. Bialik

Greetings! Peace to you, returning Lovely bird, unto my window

From a warmer clime!

How my soul for songs was yearning When my dwelling you deserted In the wintertime.

…Do you bring me friendly greetings

From my brothers there in Zion, Brothers far yet near?

O the happy! O the blessed! Do they guess what heavy sorrows I must suffer here?

Do my brothers know and could they picture How many rise against me, How their hatred swells?

Singing, singing O my birdling, Sing of the wonders of the land where Spring forever dwells

First a Spark

First a spark then candle glow. I watched you at sunset time eyes sparkling in Shabbat light. Circling above the flames, my hands pulled the warmth of Shabbat peace inside. Praying for a good week and for blessing. Take time – the light beckon for dreams and wonder, for the candles grow smaller, the children taller, even as we pray.

Pour over the whole world the moonlight beauty of holiness. Ruth Brin

Pine – by Leah Goldberg

Here I will never hear the cuckoo's call. Here trees will never wear the shtreimel of snow. Yet here in the pine's shade I can hear all My childhood, brought to life from long ago.

The needles chiming: Once upon a time "Home" was my word for distant snow, not sand,

And the brook-fettering ice- a greenish rime Of my song's language in a foreign land.

Perhaps the voyaging birds alone who find Their own route hanging between the sky and earth, Know how I pine between two lands of birth.

In you I was transplanted, O my pine. In you I branched into myself and grew Where disparate landscapes split one root in two.

Hold this sunset moment and let it go into morning light. Another generation’s candlesticks receive the next generation’s lights. And somewhere in the middle we stand, holding hands with yesterday and tomorrow linking echoes of ancient melodies with the breath of our children. Finding God and hope in their embrace, renewing days of creation. In ordinary time – remember –First a spark and then candle glow. Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

YARDAH HASHABBAT

Yarda Hashabat el bikat Ginosar

Venichoach atik beshuleha

Veya’amdu misaviv hararim shoshbinim

Laset adarta hazohevet

Ta’alena yonim mikineret hayam

Kabel et rucha halohevet

Nashka hashabat lerosho shel habrosh

La’ezov shebasela nashka

Veyehi hadardar lesharvit shelmalchut

Al ramot demama meronenet

Yimshoch az hator bekolo hamatok

Chemdat kisufin me’adenet.

Hertita shabat bechina haganuz

Einei chalonot mikol ever

Vetetzena banot el ha'erev, zamer

Zmirot be’erga metzaltzelet

Vehayta ha’edna bebikat Ginosar

Lenishmat ivriyut ne’etzelet

Shabbat descends on Ginosar Valley

An ancient fragrance at the edges

The mountains stand around like best friends

To carry her golden overcoat

Doves arise from the Kinneret Sea

To receive her ardent spirit

Shabbat kisses the top of the cypress

Kisses the moss on the rock

The thorn becomes a royal scepter

On the hills the silence is chanting

The turtle dove is making a sweet sound

Delightful pleasing longing.

Shabbat trembles in her modest grace

Eyes of windows from all over

Young girls come out in the evening

To sing songs with a resounding yearning

The tenderness in Ginosar Valley became

A noble Hebrew soul.

Jerusalem Ecology

The air above Jerusalem is filled with prayers and dreams

Like the air above cities with heavy industry. Hard to breathe.

From time to time a new shipment of history arrives And the buildings and towers are packing material, later discarded and piled up.

Sometimes candles arrive instead of people, Then it's quiet. And sometimes people instead of candles

Then a commotion.

And in closed gardens, among jasmine bushes; Filled with fragrance, foreign consulates, Like bad brides, jilted, Waiting for their time.

She's always arriving, always sailing. And the gates and the docks

and the policemen and the flags and the high masts of churches and mosques

and the chimneys of synagogues and the boats of praise and the waves of mountains.

The voice of the ram's horn is heard: still another sailed.

Day of Atonement sailors in white uniforms

Climb among the ladders and ropes of tested prayers.

And the trade and the gates and the gold domes: Jerusalem is the Venice of God.

Yehuda Amichai

They come here to visit the mourners. They squat at the holocaust memorial They put on grave faces at the Wailing Wall, And they laugh behind heavy curtains in their hotels.

They have pictures taken

Together with our famous dead

At Rachel's Tomb and at Herzl's Tomb And on the top of Ammunition Hill. They weep over our sweet boys, And lust over our tough girls, And hang up their underwear

To dry quickly in cool blue bathrooms.

Tourists

Once I sat on the steps at the gate of David's Tower, I placed my two heavy baskets at my side. A group of tourists was standing around their guide and I became their target marker. "You see that man with the baskets? Just right of his head, there's an arch from the Roman period. Just right of his head." But he’s moving, he’s moving!' I said to myself: redemption will come only if their guide tells them: You see that arch over there from the Roman period? It’s not important: but next to it, left and down a bit, there sits a man who’s bought fruit and vegetables for his family.

Yehuda Amichai

The Diameter of the Bomb

The diameter of the bomb was thirty centimeters and the diameter of its effective range about seven meters. And in it four dead and eleven wounded. And around them in a greater circle of pain and time are scattered two hospitals and one cemetery. But the young woman who was

buried where she came from over a hundred kilometers away enlarges the circle greatly. And the lone man who weeps over her death in a far corner of a distant country includes the whole world in the circle. And I won't speak at all about the crying of orphans that reaches to the seat of God and from there onward, making the circle without end and without God.

Yehuda Amichai

Jerusalem: Earthly or Heavenly?

July, 1967… I have discovered a new land. Israel is not the same as before… Jerusalem is everywhere, she hovers over the whole country. There is a new radiance, a new awe… My astonishment is mixed with anxiety. Am I worthy? Am I able to appreciate the marvel?… In Jerusalem past is present, and heaven is almost here. For an instant, I am near to Hillel,

who is close by. All of our history is within reach. Jerusalem is a witness, an echo of eternity… Jerusalem was stopped in the middle of her speech. She is a voice interrupted. Let Jerusalem speak again to our people, to all people… This is a city never indifferent to the sky. The evenings often feel like Kol Nidre nights… The Sabbath finds it hard to go away

Abraham Joshua Heschel (July, 1967)

trans. by Stephen Mitchell

RECOGNIZING LIFE’S MIRACLES

Open my eyes, O God, to the marvels that surround me. Show me the wonder of each breath I take, of my every thought, word and movement. Let me experience the miracles of the world I witnessever mindful and always appreciative of all that You have made.

The Summer Day

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I meanthe one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away. I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Hal’lu: Praise

(R.Nahman of Bratzlav)

Praise the world- praise its fullness and its longing, its beauty and its grief. Praise stone and fire, lilac and river, and the solitary bird at the window. Praise the moment when the whole bursts through pain And the moment when the whole bursts forth in joy. Praise the dying beauty with all your breath and, praising, see the beauty of the world is your own.

Marcia Falk

Before the World Intruded

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

Mary Oliver

Return me to those infant years, before I woke from sleep, when ideas were oceans crashing, my dreams blank shores of sand. Transport me fast to who I was when breath was fresh as sight, my new parts unfragmented shielded faith from unkind light. Draw for me a figure whole, so different from who I am. Show me now this picture: who I was when I began.

Michele Rosenthal

MEDITATIONS FOR ELUL

God, help me through the days of Elul to prepare myself for the New Year with its promise of new life for my body and my soul.

Help me face questions I wish to avoid!

Help me accept truths that do not comfort!

I wish to journey to the light, but the path to it is hidden by all the promises I never kept, by the goodness I deserted.

May the words from the past show me the way of return.

I begin the road of repentance. Meet me, God, as I journey on it.

TESHUVAH AS ENDING SELF-EXILE

There are three types of exile and they are of increasing severity. The first is when Jews are in exile among other nations. The second is when Jews are in exile among other Jews. The third and most severe is when a Jew is alien to him/herself, for then s/he is both captor and captive, in exile within him/herself. Rabbi Sholom ben Elazar Rokeah of Belz

THE WAYS OF LIFE

A man had been wandering about in a forest for several days, not knowing which was the right way out. Suddenly he saw a man approaching him. His heart was filled with joy. “Now I shall certainly find out which is the right way,” he thought to himself. When they neared one another, he asked the man, “Brother, I do not know the way out either. For I too have been wandering about here for many, many days. But this I can tell you: do not take the way I have been taking, for that will lead you astray. And now let us look for a new way out together.” Our master added: “So it is with us. One thing I can tell you: the way we have been following this far we ought follow no further, for that way leads one astray. But now let us look for a new way.”

Before a Wedding

Watch over us, God. Quiet our fears. Be with us on this day and on all the days to follow. Protect us, God, from all harm. Fill our home with Your light. Fill our hearts with Your love. Remind us never to take each other for granted. Guide us, God, to create a life together filled with respect, loyalty, kindness and laughter. Bless us, God, with health and happiness and peace. Amen.

Talking to God, by Rabbi Naomi Levy

A prayer for the strength to realize our dreams

You have blessed me with many gifts, God, but I know it is my task to realize them. May I never underestimate my potential, may 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. Amen. Rabbi Naomi Levy

The last word has not been spoken, the last sentence has not been written, the final verdict is not in. It is never too late to change my mind, my direction, to say no to the past and yes to the future,

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE

to offer remorse, to ask and give forgiveness. It is never too late to start over again, to feel again to love again to hope again… Rabbi Harold Schulweis

READING FOR MOTHER’S DAY

Hearing the approaching step of his mother, Rabbi Joseph would say: “I must stand up, for the Glory of God enters.”

God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers.

According to Jewish law, the life of the mother is paramount, even taking precedence over the life of her unborn child.

One Rabbi said, “Honor your mother at heart, in speech and by action.”

A loving mother is God’s deputy on earth.

A mother understands what her child does not say.

A Yiddish proverb states, “There is no bad mother and no good death.”

One mother achieves more than a hundred teachers.

In 1844 the German Jewish poet Heinrich Heine wrote the following, describing how his mother received him after an absence of 13 years:

“My boy! It’s all of 13 years! Let me look at you, are you fatter or thinner? Thirteen years: You must be hungry for sure! Now, what would you like for dinner?

Rabbi Tarfon used to help his mother get into bed by bending down and allowing her to use his back as a step ladder.

Nowadays, most children prefer to tell their mothers to get off their backs.

“You cannot imagine the respect I felt for my mother,” wrote a Jew who lived in a European Shtetl a century ago. “There is a Jewish expression for it: Derech Eretz. It does not mean fear. If it were fear, then the respect would be asked of the child, and my parents never asked for anything.

So here’s to the woman who never asks for anything. Here’s to mother, the bearer of life.

And here’s to Anna Jarvis, who in 1907 campaigned for a national day to honor Mothers. It is said that she was at odds with her mother at the time. Ah, the power of maternal guilt… Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

Healing Prayer for Victims/Survivors of Abuse

May God Who blessed our patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David and Solomon, and our matriarchs, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah; Who hears our cries that are caused by our oppressors and Who knows our sorrows, bless, protect, strengthen and heal our brothers and sisters, fellow Jews, men and women, boys and girls, holy and pure souls, who are abused, tormented and violated in body and soul by parents or teachers, husbands or wives, neighbors, friends or strangers. May God protect them from the treacherous deeds and violent acts of their abusers, and from the perverseness of their tongues. May the Holy One guard those who cry out and save them from every distress and misfortune, from every trouble and illness. We join as a community to acknowledge and proclaim that a vile deed has been done in Israel which thing ought not to be done. May our God Who is close to the broken hearted and Who saves those whose spirits are crushed, save them and redeem them from their pursuers. May God make known to them the ways of peace and lead them in paths of justice. May there be peace in their homes and tranquility in their families. May they dwell in security, and may none make them afraid. And may the verse be fulfilled for them, "You shall forget your misery, and remember it like waters that pass away... And you shall be secure, because there is hope; you shall look around you, and you shall take your rest in safety" (Job 11:16, 18). May the Merciful One who answers the broken hearted, answer us. May the Merciful One who answers the humble of spirit, answer us. Now, swiftly and soon, and let us say, Amen Rabbi Mark Dratch

A prayer for aging with dignity Rabbi

Naomi Levy

I don’t want to grow old God. I don’t want any part of it. But since I have no power to stop the clock, my prayer is this: Let me age with grace. Show me the way, God. Be with me. Grant health to my body and clarity to my mind. Give me strength. Help me to overcome my vanity. Teach me to combat self-pity. Don’t allow me to become set in my ways. Shield me from isolation and from loneliness. May the love of my family and friends be my reward for all the struggles of my youth. Let all the blessings of age emanate from me. Let wisdom flow from my mouth, let compassion flow from my heart, let acts of kindness flow from my arms, let faith flow from my soul, let joy shine forth from my eyes. Amen.

A prayer for the strength to reach out for help

I don’t want to be a burden, God. I certainly don’t want pity. But I can no longer do it all alone. Help me, God. Teach me not to be afraid to rely upon others. Show me how to accept kindness, how to ask for help. Teach me, God, that my children still love me even though they’re grown. I still have so much to offer, God. Help me find the ways to transmit my wisdom, to share my love, to realize my talents, to offer my reassurance and support. Most of all, I place my trust in You, God; I place my body and soul in Your hands, and pray that You will be with me. Amen. Rabbi Naomi Levy

A Song of Endings and Beginnings

Let us sing of our completions, smooth, round, Silvered voices to praise Your Name. Every season holds starts and stops, Years of trees and spirits and souls, Days ripe with harmony and turning, Circled, cycled, to order our lives.

Inside each completion, We hear Your creation; Inside our creations, We resound with Your voice. Let us mold a new shape for our completions, Fluid and longing, subtle limbs That lead us onward to praise Your name. Every season casts away its jagged edges, Rubs away the torn moments

To rejoice in the realignment

Of old ways made straight. Inside each refitting, We renew again Your creation, Pulling it taut against us, A firm bound shield of Your affection.

Let us sing of our completions. Your hand hovers, blesses, Bids us move to new beginnings. Your hand moves us forward, Toward unimagined completions. D Perlman

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Thank You, God of Eternity, for the great wonder of Your creation, for the earth, the stars, the sun and the moon, and the beauty of Your universe, with which in Your great kindness You have blessed me.

Thank You for granting me life, in all its richness, for its brilliant moments of joy which allow me to soar as the birds, and even for its anguish and pain, which somehow seem to precipitate inner growth and change. For all these things, God, I am grateful.

But thank You, especially, God, in Your abundant love, for having chosen to make me a human being,

blessed, among all the fruits of Your creation, with a mind to reason and seek truth and justice; with a soul which can feel pain, ecstasy, and compassion, and has the freedom to choose life and goodness over cruelty and destruction; and with a heart which can love and care, and reach out to touch the hearts of my brothers and sisters, as together we walk through the years of our lives.

Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, from All Breathing Life

To Return the Words to their Source

The purpose of all prayer is to uplift the words, To return them to their Source above. The world was created

By the downward flow of letters

The task of humanity is to form these letters into words

And take them back to God.

If you come to know this dual process, Your prayer may be joined

To the constant flow of Creation –Word to word, voice to voice, Breath to breath, thought to thought.

The words fly upward before the One. As God turns to look at the ascending word, Life flows through all the worlds And prayer receives its answer. All this happens in an instant And all this happens continually; Time has no meaning in the sight of God. The Divine spring is ever-flowing; One who is ready can make himself into a channel

To receive the waters from above.

Likkutim Yekarim 10a (trans. Arthur Green)

We are Grateful

We are grateful

Each morning

For the fresh promise of a new day

A day of new experience

Of warmth and friendship

Of new tasks undertaken, new fruits planted, Of efforts brought to fruition of bountiful harvests reaped. We are grateful

Each day

For the creative and nurturing capacities we have been granted. For the compassion to sense those in fear,

in hunger and in pain. for the opportunity to share some of our bounty with those less fortunate. We are grateful Each evening

For the rest that comes after the day’s tasks are done. for the satisfaction of enjoying the fruits of our labors. And for the opportunity to share this completeness with our neighbors. V’Taher

Libenu

CHANT FOR THE UNIVERSE: AN INTERFAITH ANTHEM

Rejoicing in the richness of our differences

Together we preserve as priceless treasures, as gifts to one another, the arts, the songs and traditions of all our nations, peoples, and religions.

Let the creatures of this earth give thanks! Surrounded by song, enchanted by dance. Blessed by our stories, lifted up by our temples, ancient poems of great wisdom: the sun always rises.

With many hands and a single heart.

Together we reach out to the cold, to the hungry, the neglected, the hopeless.

When I see you cold, may I give you warmth. When I see you hungry, may I give you food. When I see you alone, may I give you friendship. Together we labor to preserve the earth, our living home, and all the delicate intermingling channels of life; the air and the soil and the water all are our single sphere of life.

Let rivers flow, orchards yield fruit, hills and mountains grace this earth. Let rains fall, pure, to give growth to earth’s gifts. May air be clean again, transporting sun and the light of the

stars: And the round, cool moon appear above a universe at peace.

Each one of us stands alone, with differing power and strength.

We speak a thousand tongues, we honor the truth; we sing a million songs, the echo is one. Give me your books, teach me to hear. Give me your mind, a new galaxy swirls.

Together we teach one doctrine of compassion and love.

Prophet, sage, hero, saint, Bodhisattva, avatar, teach one blessing for all the earth, a thousand gold flames for everyone alive!

Many the paths we have taken, many the paths which point out the way.

Our way together is the pathway of peace. A wide, wide world, journeys as broad. A mountain to the sun. Hands clasped, hearts entwined: Peace within, a highway at our feet. Spirit affirms, the breath of life praises, the teachings live: Our way together is a pathway of peace.

The Global Village

If the world were a village of 1,000 people, it would include:

584 Asians

124 Africans

95 East and West Europeans. 84 Latin Americans

52 North Americans

6 Australians and New Zealanders

The people of the village have considerable difficulty in communicating:

165 people speak Mandarin

86 English

83 Hindi/Urdu . 64 Spanish

58 Russian. 37 Arabic

That list accounts for the mother tongues of only half the villagers. The other half speak (in descending order of frequency) Bengali, Portuguese, Indonesian, Japanese, German, French and 200 other languages. In this village of 1,000 there are:

329 Christians (among them 187 Catholics, 84 Protestants,

31 Orthodox) 178 Moslems

167 "non-religious'

132 Hindus

60 Buddhists .

Hanukah linda sta aki

Ocho kandelas para mi,

Hanukah linda sta aki,

Ocho kandelas para mi.

Una kandelika

Dos kandelikas

Tres kandelikas

Kuatro kandelikas

Sintyu kandelikas

seysh kandelikas

siete kandelikas

ocho kandelas para mi.

45 atheists

3 Jews

8 all other religions

One third (330) of the 1,000 people in the world village are children and only 60 are over the age of 65. Half the children are immunized against preventable infectious diseases such as measles and polio. Just under half of the married women in the village have access to and use modern contraceptives. This year 28 babies will be born. Ten people will die, 3 of them for lack of food, 1 from cancer, 2 of the deaths are of babies born within the year. One person of the 1,000 is infected with the HIV virus; that person most likely has not yet developed a full- blown case of AIDS.

With the 28 births and 10 deaths, the population of the village next year will be 1,018. In this 1,000person community, 200 people receive 75 percent of the income; another 200 receive only 2 percent of the income. Only 70 people of the 1,000 own an automobile (although some of the 70 own more than one automobile).

About one-third have access to clean, safe drinking water. In the village of 1/000 people, there are: 5 soldiers 7 teachers; 1 doctor 3 refugees driven from home by war or drought. Donella H. Meadows

Ocho Kandelikas (Ladino)

plazer.

Muchas fiestas vo fazer, con alegrias i plazer. Los pastelikas vo kumer, con almendrikas i la miel.

Los pastelikas vo kumer, con almendrikas i la miel.

Muchas fiestas vo fazer, con alegrias i

The seed, planted in the dark, waiting in the dark of the year, the seed drawn to the light, the seed planted in the dark earth by our own hands, to be drawn from the earth by the light,

Beautiful Chanukah is here, eight candles for me. One candle, two candles, three candles, four candles, five candles, six candles, seven candles, eight candles for me. Many parties will be held, with joy and with pleasure. One candle... I will cook pastelikas (a Sephardic delicacy) with almonds and honey. One candle...

Kislev Meditation

which will return. Do the planted and the planter wait in despair in the dark for the return of the season of light? What if, we think, the light did not return if we waited in the dark

and, at last, despaired of light. We could almost forget, in our winter’s darkness, that light will come again. We light the lights in the dark of the year to recall that all is in readiness, that we wait

only for the warmth of light, that even in the absence of light, the work of creation is made ready

Ellen Dannin

This and next page - Rabbi David Wolfe-Blank, Meta-Siddur

Read chart from bottom to top – the top one, the most advanced, is what our community strives to be.

Chorus: Hallelu Yah Hallelu Yah

Hallelu Et Shem Adonai

Hallelu Adir Adirim Baruch umehullal

Adonai

Hallelu Gadol Gedolim Dagul umehullal

Adonai

Hallelu Hadur Hadurim Vatik umehullal

Adonai

Hallelu Zakai Zakaim Chanun umehullal

Adonai

Hallelu Tahor Tehorim Yachid umehullal

Adonai

Hallelu Kabir Kabirim La’ad umehullal

Adonai

Hallelu Yah

Hallelu Melech Melachim Nora umehullal Adonai

Hallelu Somech Somechim Ozer umehullal Adonai

Hallelu Podeh Peduyim Tzadik umehullal

Adonai

Hallelu Kadosh Kedoshim Rachum umehullal Adonai

Hallelu Shomer Shomerim Tomech

umehullal Adonai

Hallelu Adir Adirim Baruch umehullal Adonai

Kabbalat Shabbat: Praying Our Stories

As we focus on the prayers of the Kabbalat Shabbat service, in particular the six psalms (representing the six work days of the week) that lead us to the Lecha Dodi prayer, try to integrate their diverse and vibrant messages into your own personal experiences. Their cries of faith, doubt, love and hope will echo in our own. I have written a number of personal interpretations of the prayers – see pages 49-54 of this guide. It’s very easy to write a personal commentary on a prayer, to “become” the prayer and allow the prayer to become part of you. The rabbinic sages and later spiritual masters would meditate on verses for days, sometimes for weeks, to extract the true meaning of the text. The meditative formula found below is yours to practice or adjust in any way that makes the most sense to you. Try to spend a short time with it until you become more accustomed to the effects it produces, or find your own way to encounter our prayers.

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

1) Select any one verse, or even a single word, that seems particularly relevant to you.

2) Read it over carefully two or three times to extract its purpose.

3) Ask questions of it. Why does that verse strike a chord to you? What does it remind you of?

4) Play a “word association” game with it. For example, in Psalm 29, when you imagine a wind so powerful that it can “smash a forest,” what do you immediately think of?

5) Relax your body to the best of your ability, take a long deep breath and let it out slowly.

6) Focus your attention on the selected question or theme, and fit it into your life story.

7) Stay with that question in mind until the words simply dissolve into the silence.

8) Listen carefully to the silence for a while, opening yourself up completely for the prayer to speak to you in new ways, echoing from the distant reaches of your memory.

9) Try to discern new meanings that may have arisen.

10) After Shabbat, write down your reflections