This is prayer for our unseen grief,
A prayer for the dreams we lost.
A prayer to find meaning in the unknown,
For recognition that this too matters.
A prayer to name that not all is replaceable,
No matter how hard we try.
A prayer for grace, for ourselves,
And those trying to understand.
This is a prayer for the unsolvable
For the unknowable, for the unfair.
This is a prayer to make our invisibility known.
To make our grief feel deserving today.
Lives that we hoped would be.
Remembered quietly, privately.
Source of life, help us find peace.
Help us embrace one another in uncertainty.
Open hearts to our healing, together.
Give us strength to share our troubles,
And bear witness to the hardest parts.
Let our losses be meaningful.
Let our stories be meaningful.
Let our love be meaningful.
And may each memory be a blessing.
Listen Up, Y'all by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat
"Listen up, y'all," says Shekhinah
who looks today like a teacher
in corduroy dress and sedate boots.
"Let the smartphone rest a bit,
or learn how to hear My voice
coming through its speaker.
Let your love for Me well up
like unexpected tears. Everyone serves
something: give your life to Me.
Let the channel of your heart open
and My abundance will pour through.
But if you prefer profit, if you pretend --
if you're not real with Me
your life will feel hollow
and your heart be embittered.
I won't punish you; I won't need to.
Your hollowness will be punishment enough,
and the world will suffer for it.
So let My words twine around your arm,
and shine like a headlamp
between your eyes to light your way.
Teach them to everyone you meet.
Write them at the end of your emails
and on your business cards.
Then you'll remember how to live
with the flow of all that is holy --
you'll have heaven right here on earth."
Find more High Holiday liturgy from Bayit at: https://yourbayit.org/holy-at-home/
The Yamim Noraim (Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur) are here. We’re tasked with reflecting on our lives and practicing teshuvah (returning). Through teshuvah we examine our actions over the past year, seek forgiveness from ourselves, others, and the Divine and dedicate ourselves to do better next year. These sacred days provide an opportunity to ask ourselves the hardest questions and explore all the nooks and crannies of our thoughts, words, and actions over the past year. What’s beautiful about this process is we’re given the awesome opportunity to meet ourselves exactly where we are and practice being accountable. Teshuvah is about living a reflective life and taking responsibility for how we treat ourselves and interact with our family, friends, loved ones, colleagues, and even strangers.
Practice Instructions: Let’s invite our full selves to this practice. Right now in the present, look back over your past year’s journey, while visioning out the potential in the year to come. Before working with the three simple steps below close your eyes for a moment and take a few deep breaths. Bring your awareness to this moment in time, check in with your breath and your body. Feel the seat beneath you. Now return to your breath. Notice how you fill with breath and then how this same breath is released back to the world. As thoughts arise, notice if and where they reside in your body. Notice where you feel tension, and observe your reactions and responses. Use the questions below to guide your teshuvah practice. Spend time with each question and invite yourself to write your most honest answers. This is your practice, your life, and your opportunity to bring your entire self to the process. Whenever your mind inevitably wanders or wavers (which is what minds do), bring yourself back to this work and this paper in your hands. See the holiness in the task at hand, your role in creating the life you want to live and the capacity that you hold at every moment. With every breath, you can use the practice of teshuvah to return, reflect, forgive, and move forward.
1. Reflect
Over the past year, did I fully live my values? Did I treat other people how I would want to be treated? What do I most regret? What am I most proud of?
2. Seek Forgiveness
From whom must I ask forgiveness? To whom must I offer my forgiveness (regardless of outcome)?
3. Letting Go & Moving Forward
How can I release myself from any residue of the past year? What do I want to practice, seek, or commit myself to this year?
May we all be blessed with a sweet & meaningful New Year.
This is the time of year when we would ordinarily be together. When we would reflect on what has been and celebrate the sweetness of what is to come.
But this year, the Hebrew word “Hineni” takes on a new meaning.
It’s not just a call for our prayers to be heard. This year we say “Here I am” as a commitment.
We commit to being present for ourselves, for our loved ones, and for our greater community—even if we can't be present in person. There has never been a more important time to do so.
For more ways to reflect, reconnect, and renew over this year’s High Holidays, visit: https://reflect.reformjudaism.org/
Each activity can be completed alone or with family and friends.
Shanah Tovah!
And G!d says: “And if you have lost this year; if you have known grief newly, if you suffer the ache of old mourning come back, and back, and back, then we have made a place for you to mourn. Here, in the middle of the day, inside these walls: a container. We will hold your grief for you, so that you may continue the work. It will be there when you leave, yes, but for now, set your grief in Yizkor, and do not neglect it; but the service moves forward, and so will you.”
From Dane Kuttler's The G!d Wrestlers, The Social Justice Warrior's Guide to the High Holy Days, Sept. 2015
This is prayer for our unseen grief,
A prayer for the dreams we lost.
A prayer to find meaning in the unknown,
For recognition that this too matters.
A prayer to name that not all is replaceable,
No matter how hard we try.
A prayer for grace, for ourselves,
And those trying to understand.
This is a prayer for the unsolvable
For the unknowable, for the unfair.
This is a prayer to make our invisibility known.
To make our grief feel deserving today.
Lives that we hoped would be.
Remembered quietly, privately.
Source of life, help us find peace.
Help us embrace one another in uncertainty.
Open hearts to our healing, together.
Give us strength to share our troubles,
And bear witness to the hardest parts.
Let our losses be meaningful.
Let our stories be meaningful.
Let our love be meaningful.
And may each memory be a blessing.
Listen Up, Y'all by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat
"Listen up, y'all," says Shekhinah
who looks today like a teacher
in corduroy dress and sedate boots.
"Let the smartphone rest a bit,
or learn how to hear My voice
coming through its speaker.
Let your love for Me well up
like unexpected tears. Everyone serves
something: give your life to Me.
Let the channel of your heart open
and My abundance will pour through.
But if you prefer profit, if you pretend --
if you're not real with Me
your life will feel hollow
and your heart be embittered.
I won't punish you; I won't need to.
Your hollowness will be punishment enough,
and the world will suffer for it.
So let My words twine around your arm,
and shine like a headlamp
between your eyes to light your way.
Teach them to everyone you meet.
Write them at the end of your emails
and on your business cards.
Then you'll remember how to live
with the flow of all that is holy --
you'll have heaven right here on earth."
Find more High Holiday liturgy from Bayit at: https://yourbayit.org/holy-at-home/
The Yamim Noraim (Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur) are here. We’re tasked with reflecting on our lives and practicing teshuvah (returning). Through teshuvah we examine our actions over the past year, seek forgiveness from ourselves, others, and the Divine and dedicate ourselves to do better next year. These sacred days provide an opportunity to ask ourselves the hardest questions and explore all the nooks and crannies of our thoughts, words, and actions over the past year. What’s beautiful about this process is we’re given the awesome opportunity to meet ourselves exactly where we are and practice being accountable. Teshuvah is about living a reflective life and taking responsibility for how we treat ourselves and interact with our family, friends, loved ones, colleagues, and even strangers.
Practice Instructions: Let’s invite our full selves to this practice. Right now in the present, look back over your past year’s journey, while visioning out the potential in the year to come. Before working with the three simple steps below close your eyes for a moment and take a few deep breaths. Bring your awareness to this moment in time, check in with your breath and your body. Feel the seat beneath you. Now return to your breath. Notice how you fill with breath and then how this same breath is released back to the world. As thoughts arise, notice if and where they reside in your body. Notice where you feel tension, and observe your reactions and responses. Use the questions below to guide your teshuvah practice. Spend time with each question and invite yourself to write your most honest answers. This is your practice, your life, and your opportunity to bring your entire self to the process. Whenever your mind inevitably wanders or wavers (which is what minds do), bring yourself back to this work and this paper in your hands. See the holiness in the task at hand, your role in creating the life you want to live and the capacity that you hold at every moment. With every breath, you can use the practice of teshuvah to return, reflect, forgive, and move forward.
1. Reflect
Over the past year, did I fully live my values? Did I treat other people how I would want to be treated? What do I most regret? What am I most proud of?
2. Seek Forgiveness
From whom must I ask forgiveness? To whom must I offer my forgiveness (regardless of outcome)?
3. Letting Go & Moving Forward
How can I release myself from any residue of the past year? What do I want to practice, seek, or commit myself to this year?
May we all be blessed with a sweet & meaningful New Year.
This is the time of year when we would ordinarily be together. When we would reflect on what has been and celebrate the sweetness of what is to come.
But this year, the Hebrew word “Hineni” takes on a new meaning.
It’s not just a call for our prayers to be heard. This year we say “Here I am” as a commitment.
We commit to being present for ourselves, for our loved ones, and for our greater community—even if we can't be present in person. There has never been a more important time to do so.
For more ways to reflect, reconnect, and renew over this year’s High Holidays, visit: https://reflect.reformjudaism.org/
Each activity can be completed alone or with family and friends.
Shanah Tovah!
And G!d says: “And if you have lost this year; if you have known grief newly, if you suffer the ache of old mourning come back, and back, and back, then we have made a place for you to mourn. Here, in the middle of the day, inside these walls: a container. We will hold your grief for you, so that you may continue the work. It will be there when you leave, yes, but for now, set your grief in Yizkor, and do not neglect it; but the service moves forward, and so will you.”
From Dane Kuttler's The G!d Wrestlers, The Social Justice Warrior's Guide to the High Holy Days, Sept. 2015
showing
1-6
of
14
Page
1
of
3
