Shacharit For Humanistic Jews

Transcription

1 Shacharit For Humanistic Jews

2 Opening Blessings Benediction May the entrance to this now sacred space be wide enough to receive all who hunger for love, all who are lonely for friendship. May it welcome all who have cares to unburden, thanks to express, hopes to nurture. May the door of this synagogue be narrow enough to shut out pettiness and pride, envy and enmity. May its threshold be no stumbling block to young or straying feet. May it be too high to admit complacency, selfishness, and harshness. May this synagogue be, for all who enter, the doorway to a richer and more meaningful life. Mah Tovu How good the dwellings where we gather serene and vibrant as the gardens, the rivers, the aloes and the cedar trees. Mishkan T filah How good to sit together in peace. (After Numbers 24:5-6; Psalm 133:1) Marcia Falk Morning Blessing We give thanks for the intricate network of veins, arteries, and vital organs which make our bodies function. May we always be grateful for our health and strength and call to mind the holiness of the body.

3 Song Mi Ha-ish Mi ha-ish hechafeitz chayim, Oheiv yamim lirot tov? N tzor l shoncha meira, Us fatecha midabeir mirmah; Sur meira vaaseih tov, Bakeish shalom v rodfeihu. Who is the one who is eager for life, who desires years of good fortune? Guard your tongue from evil, your lips from deceitful speech. Shun evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:13-15 The Breath of All Life The breath of all life will bless, the body will exclaim: Were our mouths filled with song as the sea and our tongues lapping joy like the waves and our lips singing praises broad as the sky and our eyes like the sun and the moon and our arms open wide as the eagle s wings and our feet leaping light as the deer s, it would not be enough to tell the wonder. Shema and Its Blessings Marcia Falk Bar chu Blessed are those who seek the truth! Blessed are those who seek peace and unity! Blessed are those who seek unity, peace, and truth!

4 Creation The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us -- there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries. The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself. Knowledge We bless the universe, the source of life. Carl Sagan Faith, intuition, and common sense are part of everybody s search for truth. But for us, for humanists, they are not of equal value. Trust in old authority is convenient at times. But it is dangerous as a lifetime habit. Reason is our most trusted guide. It is not afraid of the facts. It does not run away from unpleasant reality. It loves to change its mind in the face of new evidence. It puts emotion in the right place, keeping us away from convenient answers. Reason is our path to truth. Shema Blessed is the mind which searches for truth. Hear, O Israel, please hear, O tribes, dispersed and estranged. Sherwin Wine Let the tale of Abraham inspire us to transcend today s idols and lies. Let us heed diverse voices and visions, seeking understanding and unity. O children of Abraham, O inheritors of this world, please hear one another, please hearken to each living being. The Earth, our world, is One. All peoples, all beings, are One V'ahavta Let us encounter all the world with appreciative and insightful love, deep and healing love, liberating and joyful love. Let us rejoice in love and in the fertility it brings to the human experience. Love expands our abilities to explore and express ourselves.

5 Love deepens our feelings of connectedness and individuality. Love helps us reach across the boundaries of ego, class, creed, ethnicity, & nation. Love heightens our senses of meaning, beauty, and wonder. Let us love all the world with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might. And these words will be upon our heart always. Let us learn them by heart with our children, and let us speak them often, as we sit in our homes and walk along the way, as we lie down and rise up. Let us attach them as a sign to guide our minds and our hands. Let us write them on mezuzahs in our homes as lessons. Let us make our every deed a labor of love. Redemption The good in us will win, Over all the wickedness, over all the wrongs we have done. We will look back at the pages of written history, and be amazed, And then we will laugh and sing, And the good that is in us, children in their cradles, will have won. Our hearts beat with certainty That there is a day and an hour, and a mountain called Zion, And that all of the sufferings will gather there and become song, Ringing out into every corner of the earth, from end to end, And the nations will hear it, And like the caravans in the desert will all to that morning throng. Mishkan T filah We bless those who seek peace and pursue it.

6 Song Ayfo ori? Ori bi. Ayfo tikvati? Tikvati bi. Ayfo Kokhi? Kokhi bi. V gam bakh. Ayfo Ori Where is my light? My light is in me. Where is my hope? My hope is in me. Where is my strength? My strength is in me. And in you. Sherwin Wine Amidah Since the Temple stood in Jerusalem, Jews, in a standing position, amidah, have idealized qualities which they attributed to their ancestors and deity. Let us stand together now to proclaim our shared ideals and our will to act upon them. Amidah Let us remember those who have come before us, who have given us life, love, and our culture. Such is our zikkaron hasdei, `imot v -`avot, our remembrance of the kindness and merits of our mothers and fathers. Let us work together in mutual aid to benefit all. May we thus advance mutuality, our best response to being parts of a vast and interdependent world. Let us make a world of beauty to be shared by every living being. May we thus spread pleasure in life. Let us be thankful for all we enjoy in life. Let us work for peace in our relationships, our communities, and our world. Let us recognize and celebrate our differences to better live together on this one planet. Let us work: to heal the sick and sustain health, to give to the weary strength and life renewed, to support those who have fallen, to uplift those bowed down, to free all in bondage, to abolish both greed and poverty, to repair and improve the world. Let us commit ourselves to such deeds in this world today and every day.

7 Let us all be thus dedicated and appreciated, devoted and acknowledged. Let us encounter each person as a precious presence, a sublime jewel of life. Let us thus see & feel, hear & smell, taste & celebrate the beauty of this world: All the Earth is full of merit and splendor, all beings full of worth and wonder. May we find peace with those we love, growing together over time. May we be at peace with ourselves and with the labors that fill our days. May we fashion peace in our world with wisdom and gentle patience. Song Na aseh shalom ba-olam. Na na aseh shalom aleinu V al kol Yisrael. V no mar, no mar: Amen. Na aseh Shalom Na aseh shalom, na aseh shalom- Shalom aleinu, V al kol Yisrael. Na aseh shalom, na aseh shalom- Shalom aleinu, V al kol ha-olam. Let us make peace in the world. Peace is our responsibility, The responsibility of all the Jewish people, all of Yisrael, And the responsibility of all peoples in the world. Mishkan T filah

8 Text (Torah) Study and Reflections Happy is the one who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding; for its value is greater than silver, its yield than fine gold. It is more precious than rubies, no treasure can match it. We take poetic license in re-interpreting Torah as teaching of any kind that advances humanity, and ha-avodah as the work of serving the common good of the world. Song Al Shlosha d varim Proverbs 3:13-15 Al sh losha d varim, Al sh losha d varim Al sh losha, sh losha d varim ha-olam, ha-olam omeid: Al ha-torah, v al ha-avodah V al g milut chasadim. Upon three things the world stands: On wisdom, on work, and on mutual kindness. Simon the Just, Pirkei Avot Blessing before Reading Together let us say a b rakha for engaging in the study of our text. Let us bless the wisdom of each person as we gather together to engage in matters of learning, and to give new Torahs, new perspectives, new teachings. Blessing after Reading May our hearts be lifted, Our spirits refreshed, Our understanding deepened By the study of Torah. And may the words of Torah be sweet To us and to our offspring And to all the offspring of Israel. Marcia Falk

9 D var Torah Sharing Celebrations and Concerns Aleinu Let us praise the majesty of the universe, old beyond imagining, source of all things, which has created diversity and interdependent unity. We stand in awe before the majestic, terrifying power of the creative and destructive forces of the universe, and recognize our smallness in relation to eternity and our dependence on one another. Recognizing our limits in this world which sustains and destroys life, we affirm our hope for a society built on justice, equity, and compassion. May the idols of greed and selfishness fall to the overwhelming power of cooperation and righteousness. May all who live acknowledge the rule of justice and swear loyalty to a life of goodness. And may the establishment of the just and compassionate society come soon and in our day. On that day, goodness shall reign over all the earth; and humanity shall be one. Mourners Kaddish Our ancestors are part of a human chain of solidarity which was strengthened by persecution and by the awareness that we depended so much on each other. Our loved ones, who are no longer with us, were also part of this passionate commitment. They deserve our tribute. Rabbi Sherwin Wine We remember our loved ones whom death has recently taken from us and those who died at this time in previous years. The martyrs of our people are always in our thoughts. May their memories be a blessing to all. NITGADAL V NITKADASH B RUAKH HAADAM Let us enhance and exalt ourselves in the spirit of humanity. Let us acclaim the preciousness of life. Let us show gratitude for life by approaching it with reverence.

10 Let us embrace the whole world, even as we wrestle with its parts. Let us fulfill, each of us in our own way, our share in serving the world and seeking truth. May our commitment to life help us strengthen healing of spirit and peace of mind. May healing and peace permeate and comfort all of Israel and all those who dwell on earth. NITGADAL V NITKADASH B RUAKH HAADAM Let us enhance and exalt ourselves in the spirit of humanity. And let us say: Ken y hee. May it be so. Jon Dickman and Congregation Kol Shalom inspired by Rabbi Rami Shapiro Community Announcements Song Gesher Tzar M od Kol haolam kulo gesher tzar m od V ha-ikar lo l facheid klal. The entire world is but a narrow bridge; the most important thing is not to be afraid. Nachman of Breslov