Tag Archive for "faith" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘faith’

Witnessing: A Meditation

Posted on: June 27th, 2010 by tobendlight

Can I really understand someone else’s journey? Can you? Are the simple facts of a death, an illness, a fire, a school shooting, enough to know another person’s heart? To witness is to bless. In our darkest hours, no gift is more important. This meditation is a reminder of the healing power of the witness. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Witnessing: A Meditation
Have you seen the teen who cuts himself with a blade?
Or the youth who sticks herself with needles?
Have you seen a father force back tears while he buries his son?
Or a mother weeping with her daughter, wailing after an assault?
Do you hear the voices of the hungry, the lost, the shocked and confused
Afraid that they may never return from the darkness?

Brother, do not say: “I’ve been there.”
Sister, do not say: “I know that feeling.”
Rather, say: “I see you. I hear you. I honor you.”

Weep with me, not for me.
Pray with me, not about me.
Walk with me, don’t lead me.
This moment is not yours to repair,
Not yours to sooth,
Not yours to ease with the false balm of words.

Have you watched your daughter kiss her mother goodbye on the deathbed?
Have you seen your home consumed in fire?
If you have, bless you.
If you haven’t, bless you.

Have you stood with your sisters and brothers,
Not needing to understand,
Not needing to change the moment,
Witnessing in silence?
If you have, bless you.
If you haven’t, this blessing awaits you.

G-d of holiness and healing,
Teach us to be present as loving witnesses
On this amazing, glorious and dangerous journey.
Help us to stay awake to love and loss,
To be present for those in need.
Help me to see, to hear and to remember –
And so to bless –
The lonely and the lost,
The bereaved and bereft,
With compassion and love.
To stand with them,
As they have stood with me,
In the darkness,
Until I could, once again, face the light.

Postscript: Here is a link to a prayer with a similar theme, “The Cut that Heals.” Regarding losses, here’s a prayer “For Bereaved Children” and a “Meditation on the Burial of a Child.”

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 credit: Hosparus

On the Birth of a Child

Posted on: June 25th, 2010 by tobendlight

Here’s a prayer to be said “On the Birth of a Child.” A quick note about the format. Word choices are identified with a slash (“/”). A version of his prayer appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

On the Birth of a Child
Precious child,
Wonder of creation,
You are proof of Divine love,
Witness to our Maker’s Glory,
Witness to the blessed partnership
Between humanity and G-d.
What makes me/us worthy of you?
What makes me/us able to gently guide you on your sacred path,
Your own journey to wisdom, charity, righteousness and Torah?

Father of the universe,
Mother of creation,
Be my guide and teacher,
As I/we parent this new life,
This precious gift.
Give me humility, compassion and wisdom
To teach Torah and Mitzvot
Through my actions and my life,
So that we become each other’s blessings.

Gracious G-d, be my/our partner in raising this child,
For this gift is not mine.
It is ours to nurture, to grow,
And to give back to the world for tikun olam.

Postscript: For prayers about family, click here. See also: “On the Birth of Grandchildren.”

Mendel Baruch: S’hema on Shabbat

Posted on: June 17th, 2010 by tobendlight

I peeked. Yes, once I peeked open my eyes during the S’hema. The tradition is to focus one’s mind uniquely on this prayer. To do so, many people cover their eyes. So do I. This once, I peeked. I needed to see. What I thought I saw — could it have been real? — led to this short, short, 108 word story.

To listen while you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Mendel Baruch
One Shabbat morning, Mendel Baruch recited a perfect S’hema. His mind clear, his heart pure, his very soul declaring the unity of G-d. The entire congregation called out to heaven in love with heaven’s own words.
“S’hema Yisrael…” The chant rising from the men and women…
“The Eternal our G-d…” Almost visible, like smoke forming the script of Torah…
“The Eternal is One.” Like calligraphy drawn with song rising to praise the Holy Name.
When the words touched both heaven and earth, the angels joined the prayer. In that moment, the space between here and beyond was filled with Torah. And nothing, nothing existed but G-d’s holy word.

Please use these prayers. See “Share The Prayer!” in the right hand column.

For notices of new prayers posted here, please subscribe. To read four to six mini-prayers each week, as well as notices of new prayers posted to the site, please join the To Bend Light fan page on Facebook.

A Moment of Blessing

Posted on: June 13th, 2010 by tobendlight

Right here, right now, at this very moment, blessings abound. This prayer is about seeing the blessings in our lives.

A Moment of Blessing
Every breath and every blink,
Every moment and every heartbeat:
Each one, a blessing.
This is a moment of blessing.
Blessings given. Blessings received.

Every trail and every vista,
Every journey and every homecoming:
Each one, an adventure.
This is a moment of adventure.
Adventures alone. Adventures together.

Every sunrise and every sunset,
Every crash of thunder and every roar of the sea:
Each one, a moment of majesty.
This is a moment of majesty.
Majesty from heaven. Majesty on earth.

Every birth and every death,
Every love and every loss:
Each one, a mystery.
This is a moment of mystery.
Mysteries hidden. Mysteries revealed.

Blessed are you, Adonai our G-d,
G-d of blessings, G-d of adventures,
G-d of majesty and G-d of mystery,
You fill our days with Your glory
And our lives with precious gifts.
Praised are You, Source of love.

Postscript: I use this prayer for the 15th day of the Omer, Lovingkindness in Compassion. See also, “Garden of Blessings” and “This Moment.”

Please check out my ELItalk “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 Credit: My Jewish Detroit

Chava bat Chana

Posted on: June 10th, 2010 by tobendlight

I like to belt it out in song. The Kahal Shabbat service at Beth Emet: The Free Synagogue bursts with energy and joy. It’s perfect for me. Then, one Shabbat, it struck me that I could also pray by listening. This story is the result of that lovely Sabbath in which I let my song be sung — and my prayers prayed — by this wonderful community, by listening to the prayer. I still belt it out most of the time. Once in awhile, I pray with my ears instead. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Chava bat Chana
Chava bat Chana doesn’t pray like you or me. We sing. We chant. We lift our voices to G-d Most High, but Chava doesn’t utter a single word. She sits in the back of the synagogue, her arms resting gently in her lap. She takes a deep breath, then another. Her eyes close, her pulse slows, her mind empties until everything that makes her Chava bat Chana is still and quiet and ready. She listens to the one voice woven of the many. Yitzchack, who’s just buried his wife. Deborah, who’s ready to give birth. Chaim, who’s destined to become a rabbi. And Miriam, who lost a leg to illness. And Chava hears it all. Grief and joy. Pride and fear. The one voice woven of the many. And tears, tears well up from heaven into Chava’s heart.
Chava bat Chana doesn’t pray like you or me. She prays the secret prayer of our mothers, and their mothers and their mothers before them.

Israel: A Meditation

Posted on: June 7th, 2010 by tobendlight

The nation of Israel lives! This is my anthem to Israel, to the land, to our history and to our people. This meditation appears in my “Haggadah Companion: Meditations and Readings.” עם ישראל חי

Israel: A Meditation
Israel,
You are my people.
You are my heart and you are my hope.
We waited together at the mountain
When G-d revealed the Holy Word.
We wandered together through the desert
On the path to sacred soil.
We watched the sea part.
We heard the heavens roar.
We stood at the doorway to freedom,
At the border of a Promised Land.

Israel,
You are my destiny.
You are my joy and you are my truth.
We were victorious at Jericho,
Unyielding at Masada.
We defied empires
For Torah.
We defied kings
For justice and freedom.
We’ve traveled the earth,
Wandered the millennia,
Refugees of the ages,
Homeless and hopeful,
Waiting to return
To native ground.

Israel,
You are my brother in history,
My sister in fortune,
The mother of my courage,
The father of my heart,
The child of my longing,
And the light of generations.
To you I pledge my right arm
And my voice in song.
To you I pledge my soul.
To you I pledge my spirit.

Israel,
You are my nation.
You are my inheritance.
You are my home.

Postscript: Click here for more prayers and meditations about Israel.

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

Photo Credit: Alden Solovy

Dov Mendel Becomes a Prayer

Posted on: June 3rd, 2010 by tobendlight

Is it possible to become a prayer? Dov Mendel did. To listen along as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Dov Mendel
One Shabbat morning, Dov Mendel’s prayer was answered. It wasn’t much of a prayer. It was more of a question, a question that came to him as he stood in silent devotion. “Do my prayers rise to heaven? Can my tired voice be heard on high?” A question from an old man to the Ancient of Days.

In that instant, in the instant between breaths and blinks and heartbeats, Dov Mendel felt his soul become a prayer. It rose gently out of his body. He could see prayers fill the synagogue as they began the journey toward heaven. The prayers were wind and light, song and tear, humility and compassion, and Dov Mendel could see them all. The prayers lifted each other, rising through the roof of the shul.

As he rose with the prayers into the sunshine, Dov Mendel could see from his body and soul at the same time as if he were in two places at once. He saw the treetops and villages and all the prayers rising with him. Dov Mendel, his soul a prayer, rose through the blue sky gaining strength from the other prayers, becoming a great roar of praise for the Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth. Dov Mendel was a trumpet, the prayers a symphony, as if the Shechinah herself lent her voice to the song. And in the instant between breaths and blinks and heartbeats, Dov Mendel was back in his synagogue and back in his body, as if nothing had happened.

Postscript: Click the link to read more short, short stories of holiness and love of G-d.

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.

Life as a Ceremony

Posted on: June 1st, 2010 by tobendlight

This prayer is about living a life of wonder, reverence and awe. To live life as a cermony takes commitment and focus, a unique spiritual endurance. The prayer comes from a series of prayers that i) begin by summoning introspection as the doorway to ii) the vision of life as a glorious gift driving toward iii) a commitment to service to others and to G-d. The series includes: “Life as a Symphony,” “Life as a Garden” and “Life as a Banquet.” All of these prayers appear in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. To listen as you read, click on the triangle in the bar below. The entire text follows.

Life as a Ceremony
G-d of the past,
Source of the present,
Creator of the future,
Divine light of compassion and hope,
My time is fleeting.
My days are numbered.
The course of my life unknown.
Where I am and where I’ll be a mystery.

Heavenly hand of justice and mercy,
Keeper of secret truths,
You who give purpose and meaning to all things,
Grant me the grace and vision to live my life as a ceremony,
As a river of sacred moments that command my care,
That I honor with love and respect.
Give me the wisdom to see the spark,
The splendor and the spirit around me
And to choose the path of enthusiasm, energy, gentleness and peace.

You who know all things,
Guide me with Your wisdom,
Teach me Your laws,
Show me Your ways,
So that I live a life of joy and holiness,
Treating everyone and everything with dignity and honor,
In service to Your creation.

Blessed are You, G-d of all,
Source of life and love, abundance and peace.

Postscript: I use this prayer for the 13th day of the Omer. This series also includes: “Life as a Symphony,” “Life as a Garden” and “Life as a Banquet.” All of these prayers will appear in my forthcoming book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Photo Credit: I See Japan…From L.A.

For Sharing Divine Gifts

Posted on: May 30th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is the third in a series of prayers that call on us to transform suffering into beauty. The two others are: “Regarding Old Wounds” and “For Healing the Spirit.” They each: i) begin with a prophetic tone calling for self refection; ii) move to personal affirmation; iii) offer the core prayer and iv) close with a “chatimah” or “seal” to reinforce the theme, the classic ending of a Jewish prayer. This prayer appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

For Sharing Divine Gifts
Daughter of man,
Son of woman,
People of divine light:
What do you do with your gifts?
How do you use your radiance
And your might?
Your intellect and your passion?
Do you leave them buried within,
Untouched and unused?
Do you pursue justice and healing,
Charity and consolation?
Men of honor and purpose,
Women of integrity and strength:
Cast off your idle ways.
Banish your selfish pursuits.
Exile your vain hopes.
There is joy in every kindness,
Blessing and salvation in every gift of the heart.

Come you children of G-d,
You witnesses of wonder and awe,
There are miracles inside you,
Holy gifts of communion and grace
That yearn to burst forth in celebration of G-d’s holy name.
Answer the call to Divine service.
Then, your lives will become a blessing,
A well a love,
A source of splendor,
Abundant in joy and courage.

Blessed are You, Source of miraculous gifts,
You rejoice in deeds of the heart.

Postscript: Although all three of the prayers in this series can be said at any time of the year, they have particular relevance during the Hebrew month of Elul. I’ve also selected this prayer for use during week seven of Counting the Omer.

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 credit: About.com Go Hawaii

Sarah Rivkah: A Challah Baking Story

Posted on: May 27th, 2010 by tobendlight

This is a sweet little story about the joy of baking challah and the ways we honor, love and add beauty to Shabbat. Much like the story Yaakov Shraga, it captures a moment in which one person experiences holiness in daily life. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The story follows.

Sarah Rivkah
Of all the things Sarah Rivkah does to praise her Maker’s Name, baking challah for Shabbat is her favorite. On Friday mornings she gets up early, washes her hands in cold water, and thanks
G-d for granting her another day. She stokes the stove and wonders if, like her, the Sabbath Queen gets up early to prepare for Shabbat. Somehow, Sarah’s largest bowl is already in her hands, as if someone handed it to her. The flour and sugar and salt are already on the table, the eggs beaten, the yeast bubbling.

Sarah Rivkah kneads the dough, counting as she pushes the warm ball against the floured kitchen table. One, two three… It almost seems to knead itself, as if she had an extra pair of hands. Thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven… She hears a voice, like a whisper, counting with her. Fifty-nine, sixty, sixty-one… A warm wind, subtle as a breath, blows past her neck. And Sarah Rivkah, sensing the joy of Shabbat, begins to hum, “Shalom aleichem malachei ha-shalom. Bring peace to us, ye angels of peace.” Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine…

When the dough is ready, she puts it in a bowl in a warm spot near the oven to rise. She wipes the table and washes the dirty utensils. The dough has risen beyond the recipe, beyond her expectations. She divides the ball in half, and the halves in half. And from each of the lumps she makes three long strips of dough. In hardly a blink, there are four perfectly braided challot back in the warm spot to rise again. She glides through the kitchen on wings. Something has removed her weight, removed her burdens. Sarah Rivkah’s table is set, the warm, sweet smell of baking bread filling her home. She takes two challot from her oven—she doesn’t remember putting them in—and she replaces them with two more. When the last two are golden brown, Sarah takes them from the oven. She knows that they are done, but she taps them each once just to hear their hollow sound. And Sarah Rivkah, tired and happy, sits down in a wooden chair to smell the scent a little longer, to gaze at her candle sticks and kiddush cups, and to wonder, once more, if the Sabbath Queen gets up early to prepare for Shabbat.

Postscript: Click the link to read more short, short stories of holiness and love of G-d.

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: WikiMedia Commons

Posts Tagged ‘faith’

Witnessing: A Meditation

On the Birth of a Child

Mendel Baruch: S’hema on Shabbat

A Moment of Blessing

Chava bat Chana

Israel: A Meditation

Dov Mendel Becomes a Prayer

Life as a Ceremony

For Sharing Divine Gifts

Sarah Rivkah: A Challah Baking Story

“Alden has become one of Reform Judaism’s master poet-liturgists…" - Religion News Service, Dec. 23, 2020

“Mesmerizing, spiritual, provocative, and thoughtful, Alden was everything you would want in a guest scholar and teacher.” – Rabbi Denise L. Eger, Congregation Kol Ami, Los Angeles, and Past President, CCAR

**"Alden Solovy has become one of the most revered liturgists of the last decade…" - Jewish Post & Opinion, March 29, 2023**

“Alden left everyone feeling inspired.” – Cantor Jeri Robins, Shabbat Chair, NewCAJE6

Your contribution helps support the creation of new prayers available to all on this site.