Posts Tagged ‘clergy’

 

At the Start of a New Rabbinical School Semester

Posted on: January 20th, 2026 by Alden

The Spring semester at HUC is beginning for students in the Year-in-Israel program, students on the US campus, and those of us on the Virtual Pathway to the Rabbinate, marking the completion of the first full year of the Virtual Pathway. Meanwhile, students in the Israeli program are about to end their winter semester and go on break. What an adventure! Here are my fellow VP students, a photo taken at our New York Intensive last week.

At the Start of a New Rabbinical School Semester
Source of wisdom,
Sanctify the adventure of learning
The arts and crafts of rabbinic service,
A calling to serve You,
Your people,
And Your world.
Inspire our quest for Torah,
Our zest for t’fillah,
The bequest of our ancestors,
To be blessed by Your word,
So that we become
Instruments of holiness,
Directed by Your voice,
Acquired from the teachings
Of generations of rabbis,
Handed down to our teachers,
Bequeathed to us.

May it be for good
And for goodness,
May it be for blessing
And a for life of blessing.
May it be for holiness
And for healing.

Let this learning rise up to You,
An offering of our hearts and souls,
Given with the strength of
Commitment and love.

© 2026 Alden Solovy

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Photo Source: HUC on Facebook

For Clergy

Posted on: September 24th, 2017 by Alden

This is a prayer for our clergy, first posted on ReformJudaism.org as “A Rosh Hashanah Prayer for Our Clergy.” It can be used by people of any faith in praise of our religious and spiritual leaders.

For Clergy
God of sacred callings,
Bless the work of our clergy,
Who carry us through our lives,
Our joys and our sorrows,
In holy service,
Carrying our broken hearts,
Our festive moments,
And our deepest yearnings.

May their dedication serve as shining lamp of love.
May the works of their hands bring merit in heaven.
Bless them with health and long life.
Guard them from taking our traumas into themselves.
Protect them from loneliness and isolation,
Shielding them from the spiritual and emotional pain
That can come with a life of service.
May they have find peace and comfort in their own moments of need.

Blessed are You,
God of All,
Who, with love, provides the world
Dedicated leaders of faith.

© 2017 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

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: Catholic Online

On Spiritual Service

Posted on: November 14th, 2010 by tobendlight

Congratulations to Rabbi Andrea London on her installation as senior rabbi of Beth Emet: The Free Synagogue. Our worship was awesome, the study was lead by rabbi/scholars from around the world and the party was rockin’ with music from Shakshuka. It was an honor to be asked to write a prayer for this event. 

Please listen along as you read. (Click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.)

On Spiritual Service
A Prayer for Andrea London’s Installation as Senior Rabbi at Beth Emet

With profound gratitude
We give thanks for the men and women
Who dedicate themselves to spiritual service,
Offering their lives to a higher power,
A higher wisdom,
A higher calling.

In Your Divine wisdom,
Adonai our G-d,
You have blessed Beth Emet with a legacy of powerful leadership,
Boundless love and steadfast devotion from our rabbis.
Among these many gifts,
You have brought Andrea London
To lead and to serve our sacred community,
A woman of compassion, awareness and learning,
With the heart and soul of a witness on Sinai,
A teacher, a scholar and a friend.

G-d of our mothers and fathers,
You delivered Andrea, Danny, Yonah and Liora to our community
To show us lives of beauty and grace, compassion and joy.
Continue to bless Rabbi London
With insight and wit, energy and zeal, wisdom and humor,
So that her work summons holiness into our lives and the world.
Bless her home and her family with thanksgiving, gentleness and peace.
Bring her awe and wonder as she strives to enrich our lives,
And ease her burdens and sorrows in her moments of need.
Lend her Your boundless strength and Your abiding love.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d,
Who has provided wise, passionate leaders for this congregation.
Guide Rabbi London to build on this foundation in Your Holy Name,
With clarity, vision and purpose.
Let Torah shine its light upon her path.
Let justice and righteousness be her destination.

© 2010 Alden Solovy, Beth Emet-The Free Synagogue and www.tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

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