Generations 

God of Jenny & Jacob, God of Goldie & Samuel, God of Esther & Ben, God of Frank, God of Forgotten Names…. Let me be the ripening fruit from the seeds they sowed through Ukraine and Poland and Germany and Danzig and Hungary across the Atlantic Ocean to Perth Amboy, New Jersey and then Atlanta, Georgia, to Lowell, Massachusetts to Natchez and Hattiesburg, Mississippi. From Ireland to San Francisco. Their myriad paths of yearning, seeking and synchronicity. Let the wound be known. Let me feel what they couldn’t feel. The loves unopened. Let me speak what they weren’t allowed to speak. Those who lit the spark of my becoming. 

Blessed are you, O Lord Our God, Creator of infinitely unfolding forms of darkness, light and wonder, of first and last breath, of joy and grief, who sanctifies generations now and forever. 

Let us say, Amen. 

–– Adam Shemper

Remember us for Life

"Remember us for life; write us in the Book of Life, for your sake, God.":

I have found there are many ways to honor the life we are given, many kinds of living to choose.

My closest and sharpest challenge, when chemicals were close to killing me, was before every chemo round when the cancer staff asked me to rate the ongoing quality of my life. Who ever asks that?

I began with the basic question: do I want to go on? My yes became a quest - seeking, choosing sources, finding answers, creating paths beyond the customary.

Never knowing how much linear time is left for me brings a sense of urgency, also infusing my living time in sometimes wonderful and surprising ways.

May we know and delight in the inner quality of our choices for living, in embracing with our breath, our living body heart mind, all the elements with which we have been blessed and imbued. May it be so.

–– Robin Birdfeather

Gevurot

As a child I learned that the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur was a time to ask forgiveness from those I had wronged; it was a time when You decided whether or not my name would be inscribed in the Book of Life; whether I would live out another year.

I understand today that the peace and contentment I had experienced is because the ones I love have been healthy. And alive.  

On this Rosh Hashanah I ask not only that my name be inscribed  in the Book of Life but also the names of those I love and cherish.

–– Cody Cammbell

Prayer to the Guardian Angels

Holy messengers of light
with your kind thoughts
and shimmering wings,
I know you are close to us,
even when we can't see you.

We ask that you reveal yourselves.
in quiet whispers of the heart.
And in our deepest meditations,
awaken us to the holiness
in the world
and the miracle of every moment.

Fill our dreams with your healing light.
Fill our hearts with your wisdom
Fill our lives with blessings
and the music of the world.

So that we can work in the world
quietly and gently
as Earth Angels.

Amen

–– Diane Frank

Kedushat The holiness
Hayom of the Day

For me there is a doorway for connecting to the life of the spirit. It is this one word, Hayom, which means to me this very day. Hayom captures the essence of my spiritual practice, and also its challenge. I can intend in my thoughts to remember that this day is kadosh, holy, but the impediments are always there—all the various forms of recalling the past and imagining the future. And in an instant, the connection to this very day is lost. But, ah, when I can return—and in any moment one can always return—what happiness! So I ask God, please God, let me live in your house, which is the same as this very day.

–– Gesher Calmenson

R’tzeh

Of all the names for god I’ve encountered in my life, Shechinah, yours stuck. I first heard of you from my beloved mentor Maxine who joined a Torah Study Group in the last six months of her life. The Feminine Face of god, how could I turn away? Those other visions of god have led me repeatedly to judge myself harshly but you, for me, offer solace and compassion. Often your name is the last word in my heart as I fall asleep, especially if I am troubled. May you stay close and accept my prayers.

–– Jane Lawhon

Gratitude

Buzzing bees and fluttering hummingbirds hover over tall garden flowers viewed through the windows of our living room, where I am stretched out in a hospital bed with multiple broken bones, in pain but also Awed by beauty, good fortune and the generosity of people streaming through our doors daily with food and friendship.

Thank you, beauty, love & kindness, easing suffering, and promoting joy and healing...May you often visit us all!

–– John Maas

Birkat HaShalom
— Blessing for Peace

These hands are my offering.
Hands that have nourished,
Hands that have wounded.
Hands that have birthed,
And hands that have midwived death.
They’re all I have. 

I turn to You, a shock of light
And shield my face with flesh and bone
But my hands are crystal and sky
Endlessly refracting
You.

I raise them as chalice.
To catch a sip of blessing
As it drips through unworthy fingers. 

You whose name is Peace
Find me as I dream.
When I wake, sprinkle peace like rain
Brush it through my hair
Infuse it in my tea.
Drop peace upon my love’s lips
And in my every breath. 

These hands are my offering,
Praise and blessing,
But my fate is yours alone.
Remember me each day,
Inscribe me anew,
Bless me with peace.

–– Cyndi Norwitz