Tag Archive for "Rosh Hashana" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘Rosh Hashana’

Prayers for Elul

Posted on: September 7th, 2011 by tobendlight

Here’s a list of prayers for the month of Elul divided into categories: breaking free, living in holiness, time and confession. Here are additional links to prayers for Rosh Hashana, another one of prayers for Yom Kippur and one more for Sukkot. Here’s a link to yizkor and memorial prayers.

Breaking Free

Three meditations that ask why we stay chained to our sorrows, then challenge us to see life as a sacred journey:

For Healing the Spirit – Why do we waste our days in grief and despair?
For Sharing Divine Gifts – To live compassion, use your gifts in service to others.
Forgiveness Inside – To find a deep sense of forgiveness.
Regarding Old Wounds – Take your most crushing losses and turn them into a deep well of strength and love.

Living in Holiness

These prayers examine the art of living a life of holiness, focusing on attributes (grace, humility) and practices (listening for G-d’s voice, doing G-d’s will):

Is This the Fast? – An introspection based on Isaiah 58:6-7.
For Grace – A meditation about living a life of grace by offering grace to others.
For Humility – For living a life of humility in service to G-d, ourselves and others.
To Do Your Will – To ask for the guidance to do G-d’s will in humility and love.
To Hear Your Voice – G-d’s voice is available to all who choose to listen.
The Path of Righteousness – The path is paved with questions.
For Compassion – About seeing ourselves in everyone.
On Making a Mistake – To elevate a mistake into an act of love.
To Ask – On asking for G-d’s guidance and support to live a life of righteousness.

Time

Prayers about the holiness of time in general and about the sanctity of this period in the Jewish calendar:

Rhythms – A meditation on the contrasting rhythms of life.
The Season of Healing – This is a season of healing our souls and our lives.
The Season of Return – This is a season of return to G-d, repentance and t’shuva.
History – A celebration of the gifts of history and memory.

Confession

Here are meditations on confession (vidui). Although they were written for use on Yom Kippur, they are appropriate as Elul meditations to prepare for vidui:

Meditation Before the Yom Kippur Vidui – To prepare the heart and the mind for a thorough and honest confession.
Meditation After the Yom Kippur Vidui – On living differently as a result of an honest and heartfelt confession.
The Greatest Sin – Carelessly allowing the conditions for sin to take root.

Click here for the full list of prayers for the Yamim Noraim. Here’s a list of prayers for Rosh Hashana, another one of prayers for Yom Kippur and one more for Sukkot. Here’s a link to yizkor and memorial prayers.

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Photo Source: ou.org

For Compassion

Posted on: September 5th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a prayer about finding compassion for each other in service to G-d. To listen, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

For Compassion
The man in the gutter,
The woman on the street,
They are my sister and my brother.

The frail and the meek,
The lonely and the lost,
They are my father and my mother.

The soldier with his weapon,
The youth in her wheelchair,
They are my son and my daughter.

The widow and the orphan,
The confused and the lost,
They are my cousins and friends.

G-d of justice,
Only You know why one man is born for silk
And another man is born for sand.
Only You know why one woman is born for castles,
And another is born for cardboard.

G-d of mercy,
Grant me the wisdom and compassion
To see all men and women
As my family and kin.
Help me to use the gifts of my life
As blessings to share.
Grant me compassion for those in need:
The suffering, the hungry,
Those in pain,
Those in fear.
Lead me to a path
Of love and healing
In service to Your Holy name.

Postscript: This prayer can also be used during Elul and during the Counting of the Omer. For a related but harder-edged prayer, see “Witnessing: A Meditation.” Here’s a link to prayers for the Days of Awe, the Yamim Noraim, listed by topic. Here’s a link to an annotated list of memorial and yizkor prayers.

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Photo credit: Reiki Training Program’s Blog

Yom Kippur Meditation II

Posted on: August 31st, 2011 by tobendlight

Here’s a meditation to be recited after the Yom Kippur confessional prayer. It can also be used during the Hebrew month of Elul as preparation for the High Holy Days, the Yamim Noraim. It is the companion piece to “Meditation Before the Yom Kippur Vidui.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Meditation After the Yom Kippur Vidui
For the sins I’ve committed against myself,
And for the sins I’ve committed against others,
I offer a new heart.

For the sins I’ve committed against my family,
And for the sins I’ve committed against my friends,
I offer new understanding.

For the sins I’ve committed against children,
And for the sins I’ve committed against adults,
I offer new restraint.

For the sins I’ve committed against men,
And for the sins I’ve committed against women,
I offer new vision.

For the sins I’ve committed against neighbors,
And for the sins I’ve committed against strangers,
I offer new insight.

For the sins I’ve committed against the powerful,
And for the sins I’ve committed against the weak,
I offer new wisdom.

For the sins I’ve committed against nations,
And for the sins I’ve committed against peoples,
I offer a new voice.

G-d of generations,
Source of forgiveness and grace,
For the sins that I remember,
And for the sins that I’ve forgotten,
I offer myself, in humble service,
To You, Your Word and Your Holy Name.

Postscript: Click here for the full list of prayers for the Yamim Noraim. Here’s a focused list of prayers for Elul, another one of prayers for Rosh Hashana, a list of prayers for Yom Kippur and one more for Sukkot. And here’s a link to yizkor and memorial prayers.

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Photo Source: Va-yehi Or

Yom Kippur Meditation I

Posted on: August 30th, 2011 by tobendlight

Confession – vidui – is not a major theme of Jewish daily prayer, but it becomes central on Yom Kippur when a communal confession is traditionally recited five times. Here’s a new meditation to prepare for a thorough and honest self-assessment. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Meditation Before the Yom Kippur Vidui
G-d of Old,
Judge and Sovereign,
Healer and Guide:

Today I recount my deeds,
The sins I’ve committed,
The blessings I’ve bestowed.

Today I recall my year,
The challenges I’ve faced,
The decisions I’ve made.

Today I reach into my heart,
The moments of anger,
The moments of love.

By Your command
G-d of Mercy,
I lay bare the secrets within me,
Light and darkness,
My gentle hand and my clenched fist,
My strength and conceit,
Anger and fear.

By Your command
G-d of Wisdom,
I open myself to see truth,
Beauty and degradation,
The holy and the profane,
The victorious and the guilty.

By Your command
G-d of Salvation,
I reclaim all that I am
And all that I’ve done,
My pride and my shame,
Returning to You
So that I may redeem my days
With awe and righteousness.

Photo Source: The Eden Center

The Path of Righteousness

Posted on: August 19th, 2010 by tobendlight

On Yom Kippur the questions of who we are and what we might become collide, as do the questions of what we’ve done with our lives and how much time we have left. The path of righteousness is paved with questions. This prayer echoes the Un’tanneh Tokef, an amazing and powerful prayer recited on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. To listen while you read, click the triangle in the bar below. The text follows. This appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press.

The Path of Righteousness
G-d of what was and what will be,
Of what might have been and might still be.
G-d of past and future,
Of memories and beginnings.
G-d of the finite and the infinite,
Of moments and possibilities.
What is my life?
And what of my death?
What of my choices?
And what of my future?
What of this distance?
And what of the endless sky?
What of the darkness?
And what of the light?

G-d of the seen and unseen,
Of the known and unknowable.
Teach me patience and understanding
As the mysteries of my life unfold.
Teach me to live gently, love generously,
And to walk with strength and confidence.
Teach me to give and to receive,
Sharing Your blessings in joy and sorrow.
Teach me to see others through Your eyes,
As children of G-d.
And teach me to see myself and my life as You do,
With love.

Blessed are You, Adonai,
Source of life,
Guardian and Shelter,
You set Your people on the path of righteousness,
Holiness and charity,
Kindness and grace,
To return to You in service.
Blessed is Your Holy Name.

Postscript: Here’s a link to prayers and stories for the Yamim Noraim, the High Holy Days, listed by topic.

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: Photo by Martin Kozák, Wikimedia Commons

For the New Year

Posted on: August 8th, 2010 by tobendlight

Elwha-River-log-Scott-Church-copy This New Year prayer opens by comparing both the gift of life and the flow of time to the movement of a river. It ends with gratitude and the longing for peace. Appropriate for Rosh Hashana and the secular new year, it appears with other New Year’s eve prayers in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day.

For the New Year
G-d of time and space,
Hand of rhythm and grace,
You’ve granted me moments and breaths,
Life like a river,
Rapids and flats,
Deep narrow canyons
And bright open skies,
Thundering, churning waters
And calm gentle flows.
A life of beauty and wonder
Beyond my understanding,
Beyond my wildest dreams.
And yet,
And still, Heavenly Redeemer,
You also give me choices,
To live in grief or joy,
Fear or awe,
Tears or laughter.
To lift my life in glory and radiance,
A shining light of kindness and love.

Postscript: Here’s a meditation called “Another Year: An Introspection.”

Photo credit: Scott Church / National Park Service

The Season of Healing

Posted on: July 21st, 2010 by tobendlight

The Days of Awe are a time for introspection and self-assessment in anticipation of repentance, forgiveness, thanksgiving and rejoicing. This rhythm binds who we are now to who we will become. It frees us from everything that holds us back. It is a season of healing. This piece appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press.

The Season of Healing
This is the season of healing:
Of healing our hearts and minds,
Of healing the moments we share with each other
And the moments we share with ourselves.

This is the season of memory:
Of remembering our parents and grandparents,
The love of generations,
The holiness of our ancestors.

This is the season of stillness,
The season of silence and quiet:
Of deep breaths,
Of open eyes,
Of compassion and consolation.

This is the season of healing:
The season of grief turning to wonder,
Of loss turning toward hope,
The season that binds this year to the next,
The season that frees this year from the next,
The season that heralds the redemption of spirit
And our return to God’s Holy Word.

Postscript: This piece appears in This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press. Here’s a link to other prayers for the Yamim Noraim, the High Holy Days.

Photo Source: TzfatKabbalah.org

Regarding Old Wounds

Posted on: April 18th, 2010 by tobendlight

This prayer is about the spiritual path, recognizing that it requires a sense of purpose and joy, of love and humility. Why? Because healing can be painful. Much like surgery, it’s often necessary for me to receive my wounds in order to grow. Then I have a profound choice, to live wounded or to let these wounds heal and live from a place of wonder and awe. I use this prayer in week four of Counting the Omer, chesed b’netzach.

Regarding Old Wounds
Daughter of man,
Son of woman,
Children of compassion and sacred secrets:
Your wounds are deep,
Your losses crushing,
Knife on flesh,
Hammer on bone,
Burning your heart and searing your eyes.
Why do you invite them back
To chastise your days
And torture your nights?
Why do you love these old wounds,
Holding them so dear?

Son of celebration,
Daughter of ecstasy:
Cast off your doubts,
Banish your fears,
Exile the pain of time beyond your reach.
There is beauty in your past,
Wonder in your future,
And holiness in each new moment of life.

Come you children of G-d,
You witnesses of suffering and grace,
Lift your heads from your hands,
Raise your voices in song,
Lift your lives in service,
And rekindle the light of compassion and love.
Then, your lives will become a blessing,
A well of hope,
A river of consolation,
A fountain of peace.

Blessed are You, G-d of forgiveness,
You renew our lives with purpose.

Postscript: This piece was part of a collaboration with Lin Batsheva Kahn of the Tikvah Company of Artists and Desiree Miller of the Chicago Civic Orchestra called “Three Prayers,” using my words, original choreography and dance by Lin and original cello music by Desiree. “Three Prayers” premiered in Jerusalem in June 2014 as part of an evening of dance and poetry by Miriam Engel’s Angela Dance Company. This prayer appears in my book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Photo Credit: Neshama נשמה Nicole Raisin Stern