Posts Tagged ‘Jewish’

 

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

New here? Subscribe here to get my newest prayers by email.
Share the prayer! Email this to a friend.

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: HUC on Facebook

Faith Reunion

Posted on: March 8th, 2017 by Alden

This prayer is for use at Jewish/Muslim interfaith gatherings. I wrote it about an hour ago in response to a tweet from Rabbi Rachel Barenblat asking for a prayer for a Muslim/Jewish student interfaith gathering. She needed it right away. Rav Danya Ruttenberg tweeted to Rachel and added me: “Why wouldn’t you just write one? You’re so good at that.” After a few back and forth tweets, I began to write. 33 minutes later, I finished this. Rachel is sharing it with the student committee later today.

Faith Reunion
Children of Abraham,
Daughters and sons of Ishmael and Isaac,
We are family,
Cousins and kin,
Separated only by time and history.

Let this moment be a celebration.
Let this moment be a holy convocation.
Let this be a moment of blessed reunion.

Some of us proclaim: Allāhu akbar (الله أكبر).
Some of us proclaim: Adonai, Hu Ha’Elohim (יי הוא האלוהים).
All of us yearn for holiness and light.
Each of us prays for kindness and grace.
Together we will build a world of justice and peace.

One G-d,
Voice of Creation,
Whisper of Eternity,
Source and Shelter,
Let our voices resound in the heartbeat of our peoples.
Let our hopes resound in the pulse of our longings.
Bless those who are here.
Bless those who stayed away.
Bless the doubter and the cynic.
Bless the hopeful and the optimist,
That one day
All peoples embrace each other,
With Your love.

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

Postscript: This piece borrows a few lines from my prayer “For Peace in the Middle East.”

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 Source: The Mastery Foundation

“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