As God blessed our ancestors on their journeys, so may you be blessed as you embark on the journey of your retirement. May you find rest and challenge, quiet and adventure. May you be sustained by the achievements of your work life and inspired by the possibilities of what lies ahead. May you allow yourself to experience silence and rest, and may you open yourself to the new music that may emerge from that silence.

Magnified and Sanctified are You,

Creator of oceanic depths,

Of skies festooned with stars,

Of fruit-bearing trees, 

And of birds that soar above the earth. 

May You establish Your Reign in our lifetime

And during our days, and within the life of all the world,

Speedily and soon, Amen. 

May the presence of the Steward of Creation,

You of more names than there are grains of sand

Across beaches and deserts,

Be blessed for all eternity. 

The One who makes Peace in the furthest reaches of Creation will bring Peace to us and to all living beings. And let us say: amen. 

Oseh shalom bimromav, hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu 

v’al kol-yisrael, v’al kol yoshvei tevel, v’imru: amen.

Translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Ribono Shel Olam, Ruler of the Universe, I hereby forgive whoever has hurt me, and whoever has done me any wrong; whether it was deliberately or by accident, whether it was done by word or by deed, in this incarnation or in previous ones. 

May no one be punished on my account. 

May it be Your will, O Lord my God, and God of my parents, that I sin no more, that I do not revert to my old ways, that I do not anger You any more by my actions.

May I not do that which is evil in Your sight. 

Wipe away the sins that I have committed, with Your great compassion, but not through sickness or suffering.

May these words of my mouth, and the prayers that are in my heart, be acceptable before You, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

May we all be blessed with happiness, holiness, healing, serenity, and peace. 

-by Rabbi Isaac Luria and shared by Our Jewish Recovery 

Amidah literally means standing, and we rise to give thanks for having reached the end of another day. This can be a moment for silent meditation to reflect on moments where you stood up, for yourself or your beliefs. Or, a time to simply breathe and be with yourself.

Amidah by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat of Bayit 

The wash of dawn across the sky

reveals your signature.

Cicadas drone your praise

through the honey-slow afternoon.

The angular windmills on the ridge

recite your name with every turn.

And I, who can barely focus on breath

without drifting into story:

what can I say to you,

author of wisteria and sorrel,

you who shaped these soft hills

with glaciers' slow passage?

You fashioned me as a gong:

your presence reverberates.

Help me to open my lips

that I may sing your praise.

YHVH s’fatai tiftach ufi yagid t’hilatecha.

Eternal God, open my lips that my mouth may declare Your praise.

In Jewish tradition, the cycle of the moon has been compared to the Jewish people, as it waxes and wanes but is ever-present and continuing. Additionally, the Jewish calendar is modeled on the phases of the moon, with each month beginning on a new moon. So too, our sense of healing may wax and wane from week-to-week or month-to-month.

Choose an evening when the moon is clearly visible in the sky. Feel free to intentionally select a night with a moon phase that aligns with how you’re feeling (for example, waning crescent if you’re feeling tired and depleted, waxing gibbous if you’re noticing growing strength in your body, mind, or spirit). No matter which phase the moon is in when you do this practice, take a moment to breathe deeply and approach the moon with a mindset of curiosity. What might the moon teach you tonight? 

Notice how you feel when you look at the moon. If you haven’t intentionally selected your moon phase, notice what phase the moon is in tonight. Do you know if it’s waxing or waning? You may wish to look up this information later if you’re not sure. If it feels good to do so, you can put one hand over your heart and the other on your belly to ground yourself. 

Take another breath, and when you’re ready, say the following out loud or in your heart: 

Shekhinah, Divine presence, may I remember tonight and always that, much like the moon, the work of healing is ever-shifting and changing. 

Thank yourself for being here tonight. You can keep looking at the moon for as long as it feels supportive to do so. 

Notice if anything has shifted for you during this practice, and know that it’s also ok if you feel no different or if nothing seems to have changed. While this can be a frustrating experience, it may be helpful to recognize that healing is a nonlinear process of ebbs and flows. What you put effort into will reap rewards, but it might not always be right away.

By Trisha Arlin

Baruch Atah Adonai

Brucha At Shechinah

Blessed One-ness, Blessed Connection, 

Kadosh Baruch Hu:

We pray for all who are in pain

And all who cause pain.

We pray for those of us

Who are so angry

That we have lost compassion for the suffering

Of anyone who is not a member of our group.

And we pray for those of us

Who cannot see the suffering

Behind the loss of that compassion.

We pray for the strength

To resist the urge to inhumanity

That we feel in times of fear and mourning.

We pray for the courage

To resist the calls to inhumanity

That others may make upon us in times of crisis.

Baruch Atah Adonai

Brucha At Shechinah

Blessed One-ness, Blessed Connection,

Kadosh Baruch Hu:

May we find relief from our hurts and fears

And may we not, in our pain,

Lose our empathy

For the hurts and fears of others.

We pray for all who are in pain

And all who cause pain.

Amen

-by Trisha Arlin