Posts Tagged ‘Call of the Shofar’

 

Assembly

Posted on: September 3rd, 2020 by Alden

This prayer is the result of spending nearly two months studying the High Holidays machzor in preparation for teaching my “Mysteries of the Machzor” series. I’ve added references to the texts quoted from Leviticus, Numbers, and Jeremiah. I didn’t select the obvious source text for the second stanza, Exodus 19:6, because the verse from Leviticus adds another layer of meaning.

Assembly
When the children of Israel
Assemble before You
In holy convocation,
We assert the covenant,
The promises You made
To our ancestors.
We claim the right
To forgiveness.
.וַיֹּאמֶר ה’, סָלַחְתִּי כִּדְבָרֶךָ
Vayomer Adonai, selachti kidvarecha.
And Adonai said, ‘I forgive, as you have asked.’ (Num. 14:20)

When the children of Israel
Assemble before each other
In holy convocation,
We assert our kinship,
The solidarity we have
With our heritage.
We claim the responsibility
To be a nation of priests.
.וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם, קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ
V’amarta aleihem, kedoshim tihyu.
Say to them, you shall be holy. (Lev. 19:2)

When God’s love
And God’s mercy
Join our holy convocation,
In breaths,
In whispers
And in blasts of the shofar,
Holiness and forgiveness,
Repentance and love,
Become One.

:’כִּי כֹה אָמַר ה
.וִהְיִיתֶם לִי לְעָם, וְאָנֹכִי אֶהְיֶה לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים
Ki koh amar Adonnai:
V’hayitem li l’am, v’Anochi Ehyeh lechem laylohim.
For Adonai says:
And you shall be My people, and I will be your God. (Jer. 30:12,22)

© 2020 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com.

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Awake You Slumberers!

Posted on: September 22nd, 2012 by tobendlight

“Awake, ye sleepers from your slumber, and rouse you from you from your lethargy. Scrutinize your deeds and return in repentance.” – רמב”ם

Are you awake? Are you listening? Are you fully present in this moment? Are you fully present in your life? Are you fully present in G-d’s world? When you hear the call of the Shofar on Yom Kippur, when the great Tekiah sounds, will you be ready to rise up and live a life in service to G-d’s holy word?

Here are links to five meditations about waking up to some of G-d’s gifts – truth, joy, holiness, love and Torah – posted now in anticipation of Yom Kippur. They follow the same rhythm and structure: an introduction of three short stanzas; the assertion that G-d’s gifts are present in the universe; a call to reengage with purpose (“Awake you slumberers!”); a reminder of what we may have forgotten; and a call to action.

Here is a taste of “Let Joy:”

“…joy is in the dawn and the dusk,
The silence and the great expanse,
The flow of light from G-d’s grace,
Divine wonder and awe,
Calling out to you dear sisters and brothers:
‘Awake you slumberers!
Awake you who sleepwalk through…”

Are you ready to “Let Truth,” “Let Joy,” “Let Holiness,” “Let Love” and “Let Torah” guide your life? Each of these meditations is aimed at helping us back to G-d’s gifts. And each of these links also includes audio of the meditation.

© 2012 Alden Solovy and www.tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

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My Mitzrayim

Posted on: June 10th, 2012 by tobendlight

I am fresh off of a Call of the Shofar Seasons of Transformation workshop. One of the men told a story about the mitzrayim that we carry inside ourselves, the mitzrayim I carry in me. Mitzrayim, Egypt, the place of my physical bondage, is also the place of my spiritual bondage. This prayer, written two years ago, echoes that theme.

Today I repost this prayer in honor and tribute to the men and women who’ve taken the brave step of facing their personal mitzrayim in Call of the Shofar, the participants of this past weekend in Israel, the staff men and Shofar leadership. To listen while you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

Egypt Inside
This I confess to myself:
I have taken Egypt with me.
I’ve kept myself a slave to grief and loss,
Fear and anger and shame.
I have set myself up as task master,
Driving my own work beyond the limits
Of reasonable time and common sense.
I’ve seen miracles from heaven,
Signs and wonders in my own life,
And still wait for the heavens to speak.

G-d of redemption,
With Your love and guiding hand leaving Egypt is easy.
Leaving Egypt behind is a struggle.
In Your wisdom You have given me this choice:
To live in a tyranny of my own making,
Or to set my heart free to love You,
To love Your people,
And to love myself.

G-d of Freedom, help me to leave Egypt behind,
To hear Your voice,
To accept Your guidance,
And to see the miracles in each new day.

Blessed are You, G-d of wonder,
You set Your people on the road to redemption.

© 2010 Alden Solovy and www.tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: I also thank my brothers in The Mankind Project who encouraged me to participate in Call of the Shofar. Click here to read my prayers for and about men. Here’s what I wrote when I first posted this prayer on March 29, 2010: “Leaving Egypt is the quintessential Jewish metaphor for the road to freedom. Leaving is only the beginning of that road. Leaving Egypt behind, leaving slavery behind, is much more difficult.”

If you like this prayer, post a link to your Facebook page, your blog or as part of a tweet. And don’t forget to click “like” on this page. Thanks. Please subscribe. For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!”

My Work Remains

Posted on: April 20th, 2010 by tobendlight

This prayer is profoundly intimate. And it is one of my favorite prayers written for myself and for other men. It came out of my work at the January 2010 New Warrior Training Adventure of the ManKind Project. It is dedicated to all who participated: the new men, the staff, the leaders and everyone who made the weekend possible. To listen while you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

 

My Work Remains
I am not done with me.
I am beautiful.
A work of art.
A Divine gift.

My joy is this:
The canvass is not complete,
So many colors and shades,
Tones and hues,
So much bright light and
Deep shadow,
Have not yet risen to the surface.
Now, the paintbrush is mine,
As it always was,
The secret I kept from myself.

How many more
Wonderful secrets
Are inside of me?
Waiting. Ready.
Praying for me to
Paint and paint and paint,
With broad amazing strokes
And fine fancy details.

I am not done with me.
I am beautiful.
Glorious and holy,
Joyous and powerful,
Willing and able.

Brothers of this earth!
Walk with me.
Take my hand,
Feel this power,
Share this prayer.
For you too are beautiful.
A work of art.
A man.

My work remains.

© 2010 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: This piece could become more inclusive by swapping the words ‘brother’ and ‘man’ with ‘sister’ and ‘woman.’ That’s not the intent of this prayer. The intent is to develop, as part of my prayer writing mission, a body of prayers for and about men. Check out these prayers for men: “For the Lost” and “My Heart Knows What It Needs,” as well as a list of other prayers for and about men.

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.

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