Scroll
What do you think
Is written
On the other side of the parchment?
A future not yet revealed?
A secret forgotten past?
Ancient prayers waiting to be discovered?
Maybe it’s a giant canvass,
Yearning for charcoals and oils,
Yearning for colored pencils and finger paints,
Yearning for hearts and hands,
To call forth the messages
We’re still unable to hear.
This is a prayer to be said on behalf of those family members and friends who have taken on the task of daily caregiving of another member of the family or a close friend, devoting their days and energy to the care of mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, and other dear ones.
Family Caregivers
G-d of health and healing,
Bless our family and friends
Who have taken on the sacred task
Of giving care and comfort
To their loved ones,
Committing their time, energy, and physical labor
To the well-being of dear ones
At a time of immeasurable need.
Grant them wisdom and skill,
Compassion and dedication,
Energy and endurance,
As time passes and tasks increase.
Remind them to care for themselves,
And to nourish their own bodies and souls,
So easily forgotten in this time of need.
Source and Shelter,
Rock of life,
Bless all who dedicate themselves
To the care of others,
And bring lasting health and healing
To all in need.
This Rosh HaShanah — as the specter of another socially-distant holiday looms — let’s renew our dreams of peace, a pervasive peace encompassing wholeness, health, renewal, vitality, and resilience. To share that prayer on Erev Rosh HaShanah 5782, Rebecca Schwartz, cantorial soloist at Congregation Kol Ami, Elkins Park, PA, created a new musical setting for my short blessing “Pervasive Peace.” Watch her singing the blessing on this video, or click the triangle in the bar below for audio only. Follow along with the lyrics, below. The sheet music is available on oysongs here. Combining this music with “Wildly Unimaginable Blessings,” text also below, creates a beautiful sung and spoken two-prayer liturgy for the New Year. To read more about the thinking behind “Pervasive Peace,” read this article in RavBlog.
Pervasive Peace May it be Your will, G-d of our fathers and mothers, That the year ahead brings a pervasive and complete peace On all the inhabitants of the earth, Beyond all the dreams of humanity.
Y’hi ratzon mil’fanecha, Elohei avoteinu v’imoteinu, Shehashanah haba-ah tavi shalom muchlat v’shaleim Al kol yosh’vei teiveil, Mei-ever l’chol chalomot ha-enoshut.
Wildly Unimaginable Blessings Let us dream Wildly unimaginable blessings… Blessings so unexpected, Blessings so beyond our hopes for this world, Blessings so unbelievable in this era, That their very existence Uplifts our vision of creation, Our relationships to each other, And our yearning for life itself.
Let us dream Wildly unimaginable blessings… A complete healing of mind, body, and spirit, A complete healing for all, The end of suffering and strife, The end of plague and disease, When kindness flows from the river of love, When goodness flows from the river of grace, Awakened in the spirit of all beings, When G-d’s light, Radiating holiness, Is seen by everyone.
Let us pray — With all our hearts — For wildly unimaginable blessings, So that G-d will hear the call To open the gates of the Garden, Seeing that we haven’t waited, That we’ve already begun to repair the world, In testimony to our faith in life, Our faith in each other, And our faith in the Holy One, Blessed be G-d’s Name.
New here? Subscribe here to get my newest prayers by email. Share the prayer! Email this to a friend.
Postscript: Thanks to Rav Aytan Kadden for his help with the Hebrew. The sheet music is available on oysongs here. Find more of Rebecca’s music at www.rebeccasongs.com.
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.
A simple meditation about why G-d called your soul to earth, and what it says about the choices you make.
Summoned to the World Something you do Will resonate Throughout eternity. That is why you are here. To touch time With your soul. To create ripples In the flow of our days.
You were summoned to the world By G-d’s will. Holiness aspires The work of your hands. The divine requires The prayers of your heart.
Create beauty. Spread love. Embody kindness. Do justice. Pursue peace. Always knowing that The moment of your life Summoned by eternity, The moment of your life Without which the universe Could not stand, Is a secret In heaven and on earth.
A short meditation inspired by Rav Abraham Isaac Ha-Cohen Kook‘s idea of the constant prayer of the soul, that our souls have a deep longing to be in constant prayer and that we can cultivate that yearning.
The Language of Your Soul
The language of your soul,
That fountain of blessings inside you,
Pouring forth in a river of love,
From you to G-d,
And G-d to you,
Sustaining life and creation itself,
Always seeking to sing goodness,
And beauty,
And truth,
Can only be summoned
From the secret chambers
Of your heart.
One You Love Is a bridge To the moment of creation, The moment When G-d’s heart Could no longer be contained, When light exploded In a big bang, Creating billions and Billions of stars, Millions and Millions of galaxies, Planets, moons, Solar systems without number, And one, Only one, You.
Yes, You are The impossible Yet here-you-are Miracle of love. The impossible Yet here-you-are Miracle of life. The impossible Yet here-you-are Miracle of G-d’s Loving hand And outstretched arm, Created in the same instant that Holiness, mercy, beauty, goodness, Righteousness and grace, Began to expand Throughout the universe.
This is a two-prayer liturgy to end 2020 and start 2021, combining my Rosh Hashanah 5780 prayer “Pervasive Peace” with my Rosh Hashanah 5781 prayer “Wildly Unimaginable Blessings.” They’re big, audacious prayers that we’ve earned after a year of global pandemic.
Wildly Unimaginable Blessings Let us dream Wildly unimaginable blessings… Blessings so unexpected, Blessings so beyond our hopes for this world, Blessings so unbelievable in this era, That their very existence Uplifts our vision of creation, Our relationships to each other, And our yearning for life itself.
Let us dream Wildly unimaginable blessings… A complete healing of mind, body, and spirit, A complete healing for all, The end of suffering and strife, The end of plague and disease, When kindness flows from the river of love, When goodness flows from the river of grace, Awakened in the spirit of all beings, When G-d’s light, Radiating holiness, Is seen by everyone.
Let us pray — With all our hearts — For wildly unimaginable blessings, So that G-d will hear the call To open the gates of the Garden, Seeing that we haven’t waited, That we’ve already begun to repair the world, In testimony to our faith in life, Our faith in each other, And our faith in the Holy One, Blessed be G-d’s Name.
Pervasive Peace May it be Your will, G-d of our fathers and mothers, That the year ahead brings a pervasive and complete peace On all the inhabitants of the earth, Beyond all the dreams of humanity.
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.
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)
Here’s a prayer for Father’s Day, celebrating Dad’s passion for family and his role as a source of wisdom, inspiration and love. The photo is me and my father Jack z”l in Key West, where I became a father for the first time. Happy Father’s day to dads and children everywhere.
A Prayer for Dad
For our father,
A song of dignity and honor.
Guardian of mitzvot,
Keeper of truths,
Hand of protection and peace,
We are blessed with your humor and compassion,
Your zest for life
And your zeal for family.
You remind us to open our lives to G-d’s majesty and mystery
G-d’s justice and mercy.
You remind us to seek radiance and splendor,
Awe for creation and compassion for each other,
And choose joy over grief,
Laughter over tears.
G-d of fatherly patience and strength,
Bless our family with love
And our father with vision, endurance and hope.
May his devotion inspire us to righteousness and charity,
Guided by Torah.
Bless our lives with abundance
And our days with vigor,
So that we bring majesty and mystery to our lives
And into the world.
Blessed are You, G-d of our fathers,
Who provides just and righteous men
In every generation.
Postscript: I wrote this prayer more than a decade ago as “For the Patriarch,” and it appears in my book Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing with that title. Our times, sensitivity, and the meanings associated with the term “the patriarchy” call out for the title change, as well as two changes in the text. Thanks to Hila Ratzabi and Adva Chattler of Ritualwell for suggesting the revisions.
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 onFacebookandTwitter.
I made sweet and sour meatballs today for the first time. And chicken soup. The kitchen smells lovely, like our family Seders of long ago. Underneath, a familiar shock, brought back by this odd intersection between Passover and modern plague. The jolt to the system of the sudden end of Ami’s z”l shiva — after only two days — to make Seder. That feeling of doing the Seder anyway, because that’s what we do, and dammit how could it ever, ever, ever be the same. So this is post-trauma, I suppose. Or just plain trauma. I dunno. It doesn’t matter. We’re all in this moment of doing the best we can with the world we’ve been given. I made chicken soup and sweet and sour meatballs for the first time today. But here’s the recipe for a life (the text follows a video recitation):
Recipe for a Life
1 cup gratitude
2 tablespoons humility
½ teaspoon pride
5 cloves love, 2 crushed
4 seeds forgiveness
2 tall stalks strength
1 tablespoon surrender
2 sprigs awe
3 sprigs wonder
½ cup hard knocks, melted
1 cup fresh squeezed joy
½ cup pounded sorrow
1 cup wisdom, sifted
1 gleaming ray of light
Two cubes compassion
Dash of fleeting time
Pinch of coarse suffering
Zest of music
Zest of prayer
Combine ingredients
Stir with abandon
Invite friends
Sing
“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
A prayer/poem for divine inspiration.
