Posts Tagged ‘Jewish education’

 

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

Two Prayers by Teens

Posted on: August 4th, 2015 by Alden

Writing with InkHere are two prayers written at two different sessions of my teen writing workshop. We used the same process, but the conversations about prayer were much different. So were the results. Yesterday at NewCAJE6, I led an intensive teacher training called “Pray in Our Own Words: Generating Excitement for Prayer,” which included teaching the technique I use with teens to write a common prayer.

For a Better World
Acknowledge us, O God,
So we may know wisdom, strength, justice and kindness;
So we will witness the miracle of life, love and peace;
So that the doors of understanding open for us and for our children.
As we learn to fulfill our duties to you Adonai,
Rekindle the light of mitzvot
And protect us all.

‘Wowl-ing’ to God
God is the original superhero.
You are awesome, the deliverer of truth and faith.
You give us creativity, which is the opportunity to make all that is good and evil.
We thank, praise and sanctify your knowledge, light and change, forever.
Thank you for giving us all choices.
Thank you for the unique universe.
Help us long for the life, ability, soul, body and love
That makes our destiny beautiful and, most of all, ours.
Sanctity humus, the moon, the sun, and light.
Praise beauty, awe and wide double rainbows.
All love trees.
Let us ‘Wowl’ at the moon and rejoice in Your Awesomeness.

© 2015 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: If you’re interested in learning more about my workshops for adults and teens, please drop me an email at alden@tobendlight.com. ‘Wowl’ is a word the teens coined by combining the words ‘wow’ – as in ‘praise G-d’ – and ‘howl, as in howling at the moon. It means: ‘howling with spiritual intent to celebrate the beauty G-d put in this world.’

Tweetable! Here’a suggested tweet. Please tweet it (with link): Two awesome prayers written by teens at @tobendlight workshops:

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.

Photo Source: Living a Life of Writing

“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