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Archive for the ‘Hopes’ Category

Terumah 5775: Tabernacle

Posted on: February 18th, 2015 by Alden

In Terumah, this week’s Torah portion, we get the instructions for creating the Sanctuary, the portable structure that accompanied the Israelites as they wandered, including the inner chamber where G-d’s presence would dwell. This meditation begins with a common metaphor, each of us building a tabernacle is his or her heart. It then takes that idea a step further, claiming that we, in fact, are the raw materials for the dwelling place of G-d’s glory.

Tabernacle
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.
G-d’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 G-d’s Holy Name.

Postscript: My other prayers seeking G-d and about the heart as a sanctuary to G-d include: “Let Us Meet,” “Seeking G-d” and “Let Holiness.”

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Photo Source: Jewish Gems – Anita Silvert

Mishpatim 5775: The Statutes of Heaven

Posted on: February 11th, 2015 by Alden

There are 53 mitzvot in this week’s Torah reading, Mishpatim. This new meditation recognizes the breadth of these commandments while making several direct references to the parasha. One is the word ‘ordinance,’ referring to the parasha’s name and opening line. Another comes at close of the first stanza, a reference to Exodus 24:7: “We will do and obey.” The third stanza alludes to Exodus 22:28: “Thou shall not delay to offer the fullness of thy harvest…”

The Statutes of Heaven
This will be a law,
An ordinance of heaven,
A statute for all time
That I will obey.
Love.
Love so that my hands
Yearn to heal.
Love so that my eyes
Yearn for holiness and beauty.
Love so that sacred words of Torah
Are forever on my lips.
I will do and I will listen.

And if I forget
To love this life I’ve been given,
If I forget to love the G-d of my people,
The homeless and the stranger,
The widow and the orphan,
The statutes of heaven will remind me
Against a callous heart,
Against neglect and deceit,
Against contempt and vain pursuit.

These are the first fruits of my heart.
Kindness and charity.
Thanksgiving and mourning.
Joy and sorrow.
Repentance and prayer.
Honor, wisdom and grace.
I will not withhold them
From my G-d,
Neither the fullness of my being,
Nor the richness my celebration.

The statutes of heaven are my guide.
They resound from Sinai into my life.
This will be a law,
An ordinance of heaven,
A statute for all time:
Love through service,
Love through Torah and mitzvot,
Love through a life of holiness.

Postscript: The unifying idea of love in this meditation comes from other parts of Torah, including parashat Vayikra, Leviticus 19:18, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Here are two more prayers about serving G-d with an open heart: “Let Your Heart Stir” and “Let Us Meet.”

Photo Source: Jewish Gems, Mishpatim: Crossing a Line

Yitro: G-d’s Voice

Posted on: February 3rd, 2015 by Alden

Together, standing at the foot of Mount Sinai, the Jewish people witness the moment when G-d descends to the mountaintop to enter into a covenant with Israel. This Shavuot meditation, based on Parashat Yitro (Ex. 19:16-19) asks us to imagine that moment, the very moment when G-d’s glory touches the earth. It appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press.

G-d’s Voice
What if G-d’s voice was so near
That your bones rattled
As thunder echoed inside your chest?

What if G-d’s voice was so near
You could feel the wind hit your face
As your feet seemed to slip on shaking ground?

What if awe and wonder surrounded you,
So close that your knees buckled,
As a pillar of fire from heaven descends to earth?

What if holiness packed all empty space with light
As your lungs filled with the one divine breath
Together with every other living being?

What if G-d’s voice is as near
As your willingness to remember
The moment we stood together on Sinai,
Amid the smoke and the lightning,
Hearing the great blast of the shofar?

What if that moment
Is now?

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Postscript: If you like this prayer, you might also enjoy: “To Hear Your Voice,” “I Saw G-d” and “In Plain Sight.”

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: Celebration Church

Soul Shine

Posted on: February 1st, 2015 by Alden

This meditation is about allowing our souls to fill our hearts, to fill our minds and to fill our bodies with the radiance of heaven, so that we can bring that light into the world as tikun olam, the act of repairing the world. The meditation recognizes the majesty within each of us, declaring that that glory must be shared. This piece appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

Soul Shine
Let your soul shine
In your chest.
Let your heart sparkle
In your eyes.
Let joy
Fill your limbs with radiance.
Let love
Fill your hands with splendor.
You are the instrument
Of G-d’s music,
The tool
Of repairing the earth.
You are the voice
Of wonder and awe,
The song
Of hope and tomorrow.

This gift,
This majesty within,
Is not yours to keep.
It is not yours to hold.
It is not yours to hide.

Let your soul shine
Luminous, elegant,
Brave and true,
A beacon of praise,
A lantern of song,
A summons for holiness
To enter our lives
And this world.

Let your soul shine.
Set it free.
Set it free to fill the space
Between the here
And the unknown
With abundance
And with blessings.

Postscript: If you enjoyed this meditation, you might also like: “Fresh Delights,” “Come Walk,” “Let Me” and “This is the Place.” And for musical accompaniment, here’s a link to the Allman Brothers Band singing “Soulshine.”

Photo Source: tomboyArt on Esty

Let Tranquility Reign

Posted on: January 18th, 2015 by Alden

This is a prayer for peace, yearning for the day when all peoples will live together in harmony. It’s my first attempt to emulate paytanim of old – the liturgical song writers – by weaving lines of Psalms into a prayer. It includes the closing couplets of Psalms 120, 121 and 122, in both Hebrew and English. Special thanks to papercut artist Deborah Tepper for allowing me to illustrate this with “Pathway of Protection,” which is based on the closing line of Psalm 121. This prayer appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings.

Let Tranquility Reign
Some days,
Ancient One,
Some days the prayers
Of Your people
Are so close
We can hold them in our hands,
Feel them with our eyes,
Taste them with our breath.
They surround our hearts
To become our yearning.
They surround our song,
To become our grieving.
They surround our souls,
To become our pleading.

“My soul has dwelled too long
Among those who hate peace.
I am for peace, but when I speak of it
They are for war.”
:רַבַּת שָׁכְנָה-לָּהּ נַפְשִׁי, עִם שׂוֹנֵא שָׁלוֹם
:אֲנִי-שָׁלוֹם וְכִי אֲדַבֵּר, הֵמָּה לַמִּלְחָמָה

When will peace come,
Source of Peace,
When will sorrow be vanquished?
When will tranquility reign?

“Adonai will guard you from all harm;
G-d will guard your soul.
Adonai will guard your going and coming;
Now and evermore.”
:יְהוָה יִשְׁמָרְךָ מִכָּל-רָע, יִשְׁמֹר אֶת-נַפְשֶׁךָ
:יְהוָה יִשְׁמָר-צֵאתְךָ וּבוֹאֶךָ, מֵעַתָּה וְעַד-עוֹלָם

For You are our Hope.
Our Comfort.
Our Blessing.
Let those who cherish life
Bless this day and every day.

“For the sake of my comrades and companions,
I shall say: ‘Peace be within you.’
For the sake of the House of Adonai our God
I will seek your good.”
:לְמַעַן אַחַי וְרֵעָי, אֲדַבְּרָה-נָּא שָׁלוֹם בָּךְ
:לְמַעַן בֵּית-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, אֲבַקְשָׁה טוֹב לָךְ

Let these prayers ascend
To the lofty heights,
So that the nations,
And peoples of the earth,
Will rejoice in holiness,
Will rejoice in splendor,
And will rejoice, together, in righteousness.

Postscript: Psalms 120-122 are the first three of 15 Songs of Ascent. Along with the Barchi Nafshi, Psalm 104, these Psalms are traditionally said each Shabbat afternoon from the Shabbat after Simchat Torah until (but not including) Shabbat HaGadol, the Shabbat before Pesach. The translation from the Psalm 122 couplet is from Siddur Sim Shalom, which uses “comrades and companions” in lieu of the more literal “brothers and friends.”

My other prayers for peace include: “When Peace Comes: A Meditation,” “Children of Gazas, Children of Israel,” and “For Peace in the Middle East.”

Thanks again to papercut artist Deborah Tepper for allowing me to illustrate this with “Pathway of Protection.” She explained that it was commissioned by the Jewish Federation in Kalamazoo, MI, to honor a Righteous Gentile in their community. The women was a teenager during the Holocaust. Her family hid and protected two Jewish children. It was “the family’s love of humanity and belief in God that guided them to protect the going and coming of the Jewish children, while they were in hiding from the Nazis,” Deborah wrote. “The family remained tranquil and loving through their ordeal.” Deborah previously allowed me to use “The Joy of Shabbat – Lecha Dodia” to illustrate “Come Beloved.”

Photo Source: Deborah Tepper, papercut image used with permission

Tending Gardens

Posted on: January 6th, 2015 by Alden

Some gardens are tended by our hands. Others are tended by G-d’s will. This is a meditation on both the willingness to act in order to create beauty, as well as the power of refraining from action in order observe the beauty that arises from this amazing planet. This piece appears in This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer from CCAR Press.

Tending Gardens
Wildflowers bloom,
A field of colors,
A meadow on a hillside,
Wild and free,
Tended by sun and rain,
Gently painted by the will of the earth.

Another place of delight,
My garden blooms,
A blueprint from my heart,
Guided by my hand
Tended with love and affection
Planted according to my design.

G-d of splendor,
Grant me the willingness to plant gardens
And the wisdom to leave other gardens
To Your loving hand.
Teach me the beauty of doing
And glory not doing.
Grant me the power to act
And the strength to refrain.
Let my will to create,
And my willingness to accept,
Find balance and harmony
In my heart and in my hands,
So that my doing,
And my not doing,
Serve Your will
And Your world.

Postscript: Other prayers that use the “garden” metaphor include: “Life as a Garden” and “Garden of Blessings.”

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Photo Source: Alden Solovy

Vayeshev 5775: For Humility

Posted on: December 11th, 2014 by Alden

This week’s Torah reading shows the maturing of Joseph: from a boy who tattles on his brothers, flaunting his dreams and his special coat, to a man who knows that his gifts come from G-d. He learns humility. This is meditation about living a life of humility and service. It appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below.

For Humility
G-d, give me a quiet heart,
A peaceful heart,
A humble heart.
Teach me to be gentle with myself,
So that I may be gentle with others.
Teach me to be patient with myself,
So that I may be patient with others.
Teach me kindness and gratitude,
Joy and humor,
Strength and forgiveness,
Trust and faith,
Openness, willingness and surrender.

To Praise, not to be praised.
To Bless, not to be blessed.
To Glorify, not to be glorified.
To Extol, not to be extolled.
To Sanctify, not to be sanctified.

So that all will go well with your People Israel.

Postscript: Although I’ve selected this prayer for Vayeshev 5775, it can be said at any time and has particular relevance during the Counting of the Omer and the Hebrew month of Elul. This prayer first appeared on this site on August 4, 2010.

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Photo Credit: Courage for Life

Vayetze 5775: Messengers among Us

Posted on: November 27th, 2014 by Alden

Is it possible to recognize an angel, a messenger of G-d? How would I know? Angels appear at the beginning and the end of this week’s Torah portion, Vayetze, first in Jacob’s dream of a stairway from heaven to earth, then as Jacob and Laban part ways. This meditation asks if we are capable of seeing angels and greeting them with curiosity and wonder whether or not they conform to any expected vision. It includes a not-so-subtle question to those who assail the dedication and joy of women who take on the mitzvah of t’fillin: what if they are also messengers of G-d?

Messengers among Us
What if angels appeared at your door?
Would you recognize them?
Invite them in?
Feed them or wash their feet?
Would you listen to their wisdom
Or laugh at their words?

What if G-d’s messengers
Shaved their beards,
Took off their kippot,
Or wore the clothing of beggars?
Could you see them?
Can you see holiness in the unexpected?
What if angels appeared at your door?

What if G-d’s messengers
Were women in talitot and t’fillin
Singing freely, full voiced, Shema Yisroel,
Chanting the Torah of our people?
Could you hear them?
Can you hear holiness in joyous song?
What if angels appeared at your door?

G-d of ancient vision,
G-d of modern voice,
Open the eyes of our people
To see holiness and love in one another,
To receive the messengers among us
With joy and gratitude.

Postscript: This prayer reflects my support for women’s prayer at the Kotel. It’s a thank you for the inspiration to begin to explore my own commitment to the mitzvah of t’fillin, which I wrote about in the Times of Israel. The photo is from the Women of the Wall Facebook page. Here’s a link to my Vayetze 5773 selection, “A Moment of Love.” Here’s a related prayer called “Messengers,” which I posted for Vayeira 5773.

Please 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. If you like this prayer, please post a link to Facebook, your blog or mention it in a tweet.

Photo Source: Women of the Wall Facebook Page/Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5775

Toldot 5775: Bless Me

Posted on: November 20th, 2014 by Alden

In this week’s Torah portion, Jacob receives Isaac’s blessing, usurping his brother Esau with subterfuge. Afterward, Esau says: “Bless me, even me also, O my father.” Then Esau weeps. (Gen. 27:38) This is a prayer for the blessings of our parents. It includes an optional stanza in [brackets] for those who, like me, also yearn for the blessings of our children.

Bless Me
Bless me,
Dear father,
With wisdom and wonder,
So that I enter my life
With poise and with pride.

Bless me,
Dear mother,
With insight and industry,
So that I enter my years
With confidence and competence.

[Bless me,
Dear children,
With laughter and joy
So that I enter my days
With kindness and grace.]

For your blessings are without match,
Your consecration without equal,
A rejoicing of your heart,
Resounding with love,
Echoing from generations past,
Echoing from the hopes and dreams of our ancestors.

Bless me,
And I will be blessed.
Bless me,
And I will bless others
With my heart and my faith,
My hope and my love.

Let blessings from you,
Pass through me,
To heal the world.

Bless me,
And let us all be blessed.

Postscript: Here are more blessings for people in our lives: “Blessing for a Spouse / Partner” and “Shabbat Blessing for Children Who Have Left Home.” Here are related prayers called “Receiving Blessings,” “Umbrella of Blessings” and “Garden of Blessings.”

Please 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. If you like this prayer, please post a link to Facebook, your blog or mention it in a tweet.

Photo Source: Jerusalem Pottery

Chayei Sarah 5775: Who Walks So Near

Posted on: November 12th, 2014 by Alden

This is a prayer of gratitude for love, inspired by this week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah, which includes the meeting and the union of Isaac and Rebekah. “And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted for his mother.” (Gen. 24:67) This is a love that heals. Here’s a link to “Gather Me,” posted for Chayei Sarah 5773.

Who Walks So Near
G-d of mystery,
Who is this
Approaching my life
With radiance,
With beauty,
With joy and thanksgiving?

G-d of majesty,
Who is this
Who walks so near
To my yearning hand,
My tired eyes,
My beating heart?

Creator of redemption,
I give thanks for this woman/man,
This gift,
Whom You’ve directed
With Your secret ways
To enter my life.

Let us build a tent of compassion and love.
Let us build a tent of kindness and service.
Let us build a tent of radiance and hope.
Let the generations gather in the shelter of our lives.
Let celebration resound throughout our days.
Let our lives become a blessing
To each other, our families and our people.

Blessed are You,
Soul of the universe,
Source of blessings
Source of love.

Postscript: Here, again, is a link to “Gather Me,” posted for Chayei Sarah 5773. My other prayers about love include: “Let Love,” “The Cut That Heals,” “To Seek Your Love” and “A Heart of Love.”

Photo Source: Public domain images from “The Story of the Bible” by Charles Foster (Illustrations by F.B. Schell and others)

Archive for the ‘Hopes’ Category

Terumah 5775: Tabernacle

Mishpatim 5775: The Statutes of Heaven

Yitro: G-d’s Voice

Soul Shine

Let Tranquility Reign

Tending Gardens

Vayeshev 5775: For Humility

Vayetze 5775: Messengers among Us

Toldot 5775: Bless Me

Chayei Sarah 5775: Who Walks So Near

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