Tag Archive for "Shabbat"

Posts Tagged ‘Shabbat’

Queen and King

Posted on: September 4th, 2019 by Alden

On Friday evening we yearn for the arrival of the Sabbath Queen, recalling the mystics of Safed who walked into the fields singing to greet her. The Queen is in the field, bringing love and comfort.

In Elul, the month before the High Holidays, the King is in the field. So taught Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Chabad. The King’s place is in the palace, but in Elul the King comes to the fields to meet us. This is El Melekh Ne’eman, the Faithful Sovereign.

The Sabbath Queen is our metaphor of blessing and peace. The Faithful King is our metaphor of justice and forgiveness. Every Shabbat in Elul—beginning this Friday night—we can imagine the energy of a Faithful God, Creator of Shabbat, Sovereign of justice and mercy, coming through the fields to greet us.

Here’s a meditation for the four Shabbatot of Elul. For a fuller explanation, including pitfalls of these metaphors, see my essay on Ritualwell. The postscript is a calendar note on Rosh Chodesh Elul.

Queen and King
Come in peace,
Beloved of Israel,
Sabbath Queen,
Bringing sweet bread
And fine wine.

Come with grace,
Faithful King,
Sovereign and loyal,
Bringing hope
And mercy.

ידיד נפש Yedid Nefesh
Dearest Soul,
Meet us in the fields of our days.

אבינו מלכנו Avienu Malkeinu,
Our Father our King,
Bless us with renewal.

מקור חיים Makor Hayyim,
Source of Life,
Show us the wells of living waters.

אל מלך נאמן El Melech Ne’eman,
Loyal Sovereign,
Bring your realm of prosperity.

Let the glory of Shabbat dwell with us.
Let the hope of forgiveness enliven us.
Let the taste of rest comfort us.
Let the promise of renewal sustain us.
And we will glimpse the world to come as you bless us.
And we will become strong and humble in your Word.

The Queen is in the field.
The King is in the field.
They have come together,
To bless us,
To see us,
To sustain us
With their sacred power.

Greet them with music,
Greet them with dance,
Loving and keeping the Sabbath,
Doing the work of prayer and repentance,
With Torah and mitzvot,
With humility and passion,
And with songs of praise.

Postscript: A technical note on the calendar. Rosh Chodesh Elul occurs on the last day of the month of Av and the first day of the month of Elul. So, while last Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Elul, it was actually Av 30, and therefore not a Shabbat in Elul. That is why the Elul recitation of Psalm 27 didn’t begin until Sunday.

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Postscript: The King and Queen metaphors are anthropomorphic, partial expressions of the many expressions of the Indivisible One, therefore useful but limited. Special thanks to Rabbi Bob Carroll and Rivkah Moriah for their thoughtful comments. The description of R’ Schneur Zalman’s use of the King metaphor is adapted from Chabad.org. The translation of El Melekh Ne’eman as “Sovereign Loyal God” is from the Nehalal Siddur.

Please check out my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer,” and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” To receive my latest prayers via email, please subscribe (on the home page). You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Source: Free stock photos

Farewell, Beloved: A Havdalah Meditation

Posted on: October 30th, 2015 by Alden

This meditation for Havdalah is patterned after my Shabbat meditation, “Come Beloved.” Together, the two prayers bookend Shabbat with parallel rhythms and language, borrowing images from Kabbalat Shabbat and Havdalah. This appears in my new book This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press.

Farewell, Beloved: A Havdalah Meditation
If you listen,
Listen…
If you listen you will hear
Shabbat returning to her distant place,
Retreating slowly, quietly,
Gently opening the space
Between the chodesh and the chol,
Between the holy and the mundane,
Separating eternity from daily routine.

If you listen you will hear
The music of Shabbat rise,
Leaving behind the scent
Of cinnamon, cardamom and cloves,
A taste of sweet wine,
A braided beam of light from beyond time,
A memory and a promise.

…לַיְּהוּדִים הָיְתָה אוֹרָה וְשִׂמְחָה וְשָׂשׂוֹן וִיקָר

L’Yehudium hayta ora, v’simcha, v’sason, v’ikar…
We once had light and gladness,
Joy and honor…
May it return.

…בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵינוּ, יָבֹא אֵלֵֽינוּ

Bim’hera v’yameinu, yavo eleinu…
Come speedily, in our time,
Bringing blessings of peace,
A world of wholeness,
When beauty and wonder,
Justice and mercy,
Kindness and love
Reign on earth.

Postscript: I began writing this meditation at the 2015 National Havurah Committee Summer Institute where I was the Liturgist-in-Residence. I finished it after my first Shabbat back in Israel. Here are a few of my other Shabbat prayers and meditations: “Shabbat Sings,” “Shabbat Settles on Jerusalem” and “For the Arrival of Shabbat.” Here’s a link to an annotated list of all of my Shabbat prayers and mediations.

Please check out my Meet the Author video and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Source: Brassy Brown guest blogger Marian Moore

Blessing Myself for Shabbat

Posted on: July 1st, 2015 by Alden

This is a new take on an old custom: blessing our children on Shabbat. In this prayer, we take a moment to bless ourselves, an act of self-kindness. This idea of expanding the custom is reflected in two other prayers: “Shabbat Blessing for Children Who Have Left Home” and “Blessing for a Spouse/Partner.”

Blessing Myself for Shabbat
G-d of Old,
Thank you for the week that has passed.
Thank you for this Shabbat.
Bless those around me with
Your love and Your light.
Let Your light shine on me, as well.
Help me to live a life of kindness and service
Guided by Torah and Mitzvot.
Let me see others through Your eyes,
With compassion and understanding.
Let me see myself through Your eyes,
With forgiveness and grace.
[Heal my body and spirit.]
May Your goodness rain down upon us
From this Shabbat until the next,
And all the days of our lives.

Postscript: Other Shabbat prayers and stories include: “Come Beloved,” “For the Arrival of Shabbat,” “About Shabbat,” “Sarah Rivkah: A Challah Baking Story” and “Mendel Baruch: S’hema on Shabbat.

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Shabbat Settles on Jerusalem

Posted on: April 7th, 2015 by Alden

Here’s a short meditation on Shabbat in Jerusalem. I wrote this at a poetry workshop at Limmud UK. Here are links to more of my Shabbat prayers: “For the Arrival of Shabbat,” “Shabbat Blessing for Children Who Have Left Home,” “Blessing for a Spouse/Partner” and “Come Beloved.” Each of them appear in my new book This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press. To listen as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Shabbat Settles on Jerusalem
Shabbat settles on Jerusalem
Like a dove,
Gliding on silent wings.

Shabbat settles in my heart,
A lover with open arms,
Embracing my soul with song,
Wrapping me in quiet breathing.

And I send blessings into the world.
Light.
Bread.
Prayers of peace.

Postscript: Here are two short, short stories – also known as flash fiction – about Shabbat: “Sarah Rivkah: A Challah Baking Story” and “Mendel Baruch: S’hema on Shabbat.

Photo Source: Jerusalem – City of Gold, Deborah Tepper Papercut Art

Shabbat as a Meditation

Posted on: April 12th, 2013 by tobendlight

This meditation moves through the themes of Shabbat, reinforcing the rhythm of the day, the internal music of Shabbat. It takes us from candle lighting and welcoming the Sabbath Queen to yearning for the world to come and Havadallah. In doing so, it’s a reminder that Shabbat finds its radiance and glory in the essential mix of keva and kavanah, of our actions and our intentions.

Shabbat as a Meditation
This day of rest,
This day of wonder and awe,
Of holiness and light,
Is a chorus of the heart,
A sacred rhythm of meditations:
To invite holiness,
And welcome light.
To remember G-d’s gifts,
And welcome the Sabbath Queen.
To sanctify the home,
And honor each other.
To bless our children,
And remember creation.
To pray and sing in joy and thanksgiving,
And to remember the glory of Jerusalem.
To hear words of Torah,
And study with open hearts.
To share our bounty with others,
And rest under a canopy of peace.
To yearn for the world to come,
And to know the difference
Between holiness and the mundane.

Postscript: My Shabbat prayers include a “Shabbat Blessing for Children Who Have Left Home” and a Shabbat “Blessing for a Spouse / Partner.” Here’s a prayer “For the Arrival of Shabbat” and a question to G-d “About Shabbat,” plus two short, short stories – also known as flash fiction – about Shabbat: “Sarah Rivkah: A Challah Baking Story” and “Mendel Baruch: S’hema on Shabbat.” Sarah Rivka is one of my favorites.

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Photo Credit: Shabbat Recipes for the Jewish Home

Shabbat Blessing for Children Who Have Left Home

Posted on: November 30th, 2012 by tobendlight

One of my great joys of parenthood is putting my hands on my daughters’ heads and blessing them. As they went off to college and to see the world, those opportunities diminished. Now we are an ocean apart. And still, every Shabbat, when I light my candles, I remember them in prayer, in blessing. Optional lines appear in [brackets].

Shabbat Blessing for Children Who Have Left Home
My children,
Dear ones,
You are light before my eyes.
I miss your laugh, your smile, your hug,
Your hand in mine.

Bless you on your journey.
Bless you in your home and on your travels.
May you be surrounded with
Joy and beauty,
Adventure and wonder,
Hope and love.
Let Torah and mitzvot guide your steps.
[Bless your family.]
[Heal your body and spirit.]
Let G-d’s goodness rain down upon you
From this Shabbat until the next,
And all the days of your life.

Postscript: My other prayers for children include: “On the Birth of a Child,” “Father’s Meditation,” “Meditation for a Child’s First Torah Reading,” “For My Child’s Surgery,” “For a Critically-Ill Child,” “My Child Leaves Home,” “On the Birth of Grandchildren” and “For Bereaved Children.”

Photo Credit: The Shiksa in the Kitchen

Blessing For a Spouse / Partner

Posted on: March 9th, 2012 by tobendlight

I know a young couple who bless each other at the Shabbat table: they hold hands, look into each other’s eyes, then give and receive a blessing. This is a great addition to the Jewish custom of blessing our children. This piece appears in my book This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press. I use it for day six of counting the Omer, “Bonding in Lovingkindness.”

Blessing For a Spouse / Partner
Holiness walks with you,
My beloved.
Your face glows,
Your eyes shine,
And beauty surrounds you.
You sparkle with joy and hope.
Your countenance shimmers with the wonder of Creation.
You bless the hours and the days.

Let the glory of heaven light your path.
May you know G-d’s blessing
And G-d’s shelter,
Even as you fill our lives with strength and purpose,
With Torah and Mitzvot,
With Shabbat and holy days,
With your radiance
And with your love.

Postscript: Here are three Sabbath prayers: “For the Arrival of Shabbat,” “Welcome, Sabbath Queen” and “About Shabbat” Here are two Sabbath stories: “Sarah Rivkah: A Challah Baking Story” and “Mendel Baruch: S’hema on Shabbat.”

Please check out my Meet the Author video and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” To receive my latest prayers via email, please subscribe (on the home page). You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Credit: Caroline’s Journal

Welcome, Sabbath Queen

Posted on: March 2nd, 2012 by tobendlight

This is a Hebrew poetry “smash-up,” combining the themes of the Yiddish song כוח with the image of the Sabbath Queen from the liturgical poem לכה דודי. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Welcome, Sabbath Queen
Let go! Let go!
Release your struggle and strife.
Release your work and your toil.

Welcome, Sabbath Queen,
With gifts of joy and light.
With gifts of comfort and peace.

Let go! Let go!
Release your troubles and concerns.
Release your worries and your burdens.

Welcome, Sabbath Queen,
With gifts of gentleness and song.
With gifts of radiance and love.

Enter this holy day
This sacred time
This ancient beauty
That returns to nourish
Body and soul.

Enter this luminous wonder,
The place of Torah and t’fillah,
This moment that touches creation
With celebration and stillness.

Come,
Sing with us in sacred harmony.
Sing of majesty and wonder,
Revelation and redemption.
Sing out G-d’s wisdom and compassion.
G-d’s gift of rest.

Welcome, Sabbath Queen.
Welcome.

Postscript: Jewish poetry, liturgy, story and song are rich with the deep Jewish love for Shabbat. Here’s a prayer “For the Arrival of Shabbat” and a question to G-d “About Shabbat,” plus two short, short stories – also known as flash fiction – about Shabbat: “Sarah Rivkah: A Challah Baking Story” and “Mendel Baruch: S’hema on Shabbat.” Sarah Rivka is one of my favorites.

IPlease consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing. For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter. Please take a moment to post a link to your Facebook page, your blog or mention it in a tweet. Thanks.

Image Source: Alden Solovy

Prayers of My Heart

Posted on: December 21st, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a short and simple prayer about living with joy and tenderness, guided by G-d’s word. To listen, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Prayers of My Heart
G-d of millennia,
G-d of generations
And the great expanse,
I have but a moment,
A flicker of time to
Bless and be blessed.

These are the prayers of my heart:
Tenderness and Shabbat.
The spiritual practice of love.
To know and not to know.
To be strong in faith and open to adventure.
To laugh in the wind.
To smile in the sunshine.
To play in the rain.
To live in dignity.
To consecrate the hours.
To sanctify my days.
To live Your Torah.
To praise Your name.
Shabbat and tenderness.
The spiritual practice of love.

Postscript: Here are four related prayers: “For Devotion,” “For Humility,” “For Joy” and “For Service.” And here are more prayers about prayer: “For Prayer,” “Prayer Released,” “Whispered Prayer,” “To Pray” and “Prayer for You, Prayer for Me.”

For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter. Please consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing.

Shabbat Prayers and Stories

Posted on: July 7th, 2011 by tobendlight

In Israel, Shabbat sparkles. Here’s an annotated list of my prayers, blessings and stories with Shabbat as the central theme. My (current) favorites are “Come, Beloved” and “Shabbat Settles on Jerusalem.”

Prayers:

“For the Arrival of Shabbat” – Celebrate the gifts of Shabbat
“About Shabbat” – Did G-d create the world to create Shabbat?
“Welcome, Sabbath Queen” – Let go of your worries
“Shabbat as a Meditation” – Enter the rhythm of Shabbat
“Come, Beloved” – Listen for the arrival of the beloved
“Shabbat Settles on Jerusalem” – Shabbat arrives like a dove

Blessings:

“Blessing a Spouse/Partner for Shabbat”
“Shabbat Blessing for Children Who Have Left Home”
“Blessing Myself for Shabbat”

Stories:

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Photo credit: The Little Minyan

Posts Tagged ‘Shabbat’

Queen and King

Farewell, Beloved: A Havdalah Meditation

Blessing Myself for Shabbat

Shabbat Settles on Jerusalem

Shabbat as a Meditation

Shabbat Blessing for Children Who Have Left Home

Blessing For a Spouse / Partner

Welcome, Sabbath Queen

Prayers of My Heart

Shabbat Prayers and Stories

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