A REACHING UP SONG

We dream

How God will bring us back to Zion.

Then shall we laugh again.

Then shall we sing again.

Then shall it be said abroad:

“How great it is!

Look at what God has done for them!

If God had done the same for us,

We too would be glad.”

O God! Why don’t You bring us back?

As you bring back water

To the dried-up Negev streams?

Yes we will trust. We sowed with tears

We will reap with song.

Those who go, casting out seeds,

Sometime feel like weeping.

Yet on they go, always trusting,

That they shall come back singing,

Bearing in the harvest sheaves.

(At Wedding Feast include)

Remove all pain, all wrath take wing

Then even ones who are mute will sing

Guide us aright and far from sin

As we join in praising Aaron’s kin

INVITATION AND CONSENT

Leader:

Havey-rai n‘va-reyekh.

Friends, let us give praise.

Response:

Y’hi sheym Adonai m‘vorakh mey-ata v’ad olam.

May God’s name be praised, now and forever

Leader:

Y’hi sheym Adonay m’vorakh mey-ala v’ad olam.

Bir’shut havey-rai, n‘vareykh Eloheynu

she-akhalnu mi-shelo.

May God’s name be praised, now and forever.

With your consent, friends, let us praise God,

of whose food we have partaken.

Response:

Barukh Eloheynu she-akhalnu mi-shelo uv‘tuvo

hayinu.

Praised be our God of whose abundance we have

partaken and by whose goodness we live.

Leader:

Barukh Eloheynu she-akhalnu mi-shelo uv‘tuvo

hayinu.

Praised be our God of whose abundance we have

partaken and by whose goodness we live.

Together:

Barukh hu u-va-rukh sh’mo.

Praised be God, and praised be God’s name.

THANKS FOR THE FOOD AND ITS NOURISHMENT

Praise, yes, praise is Yours, 0 God,

Ruler of all time and space,

Who every day invites the world

To the feast of love, goodness and compassion:

You feed us--and we earned it not;

You sustain us—and we deserved it not;

You so abundantly overwhelm us with

Your Goodness.

Food you provide for all Your creatures

Whom You love so abundantly.

And because you are so good to us,

We have never lacked sustenance in the past

And we believe that we will never lack food

In the future.

This You do for Your own repute

That You may be known as:

The one who sustains,

The One who supports,

The one who provides food for each

creature’s needs.

For Your feast is prepared for all,

And Your table is set for all;

You know well what each one needs,

For You did create all.

Therefore do we praise and. thank You,

the One who nourishes all.

THANKS FOR THE EXODUS,

THE TORAH, THE HOLY LAND--

AND FOR THE JOY OF EATING

We thank You, Adonai our God, because You settled

our ancestors in a land desirable and good and wide.

You removed us, Adonai our God, from the straits

and narrow places of Egypt, and freed us from being

at home in servitude.

We thank You for the promise sealed in our flesh,

For the Torah teaching which You impart to us,

And for the limits of conduct which

You made us know;

For life,

for beauty,

for love,

with which You are so generous.

And we thank You for the joy of eating which

You grant us while You nourish us, everyday,

every moment.

THANKS FOR THE GOOD EARTH AND HER PRODUCE

For all this, Our God,

We worship and thank YOU,

Whose name is praised

By ever new expressions of life.

We do this to fulfill Your command which states:

“Eat Your fill praising Adonai your God

for the earthy goodness which the Almighty

so freely gave to you.”

Therefore we say:

Praise to You 0 God

for the earth and for its food.

AS A MOTHER WOMBS HER CHILDREN IN MERCY

Have pity, 0 God, on

Israel Your people

Jerusalem Your city;

Zion Your glory’s shrine

And the heir to David’s throne.

And pity the Holy House

The Temple Of Grandeur

Where it was so easy

To call upon You.

Our God, Source of our being,

Mother, Father, Provider, Sustainer,

You nourish and support us,

Yet still allow us our independence.

O God, keep us free from needs that enslave us.

Permit us not to depend on gifts, handouts or loans.

For even when others offer help, what they give is

little and the indignity is great.

But may we only rely

On Your full, broadly open hand,

So we never lose self-respect,

Nor suffer shame or disgrace.

WHEN WE ALSO GIVE THANKS

FOR THE SABBATH’S REST

In commanding us You share your will with us.

In commanding us You impart in us the strength

to fulfill the commandment.

We thank You for the commandment of the seventh day

the great Shabbat, the holy Shabbat, this Shabbat.

A great day it is, holy it is, a day in which we

live Your presence.

We rest on it; we relax on it, we enjoy its peace;

Loving You all the more for the limits You set

on our actions by Your will.

On this day of rest--may there be no pain,

no worry, no anguish, stress or sighing.

On this Sabbath day open our eyes to the vision

of the consolation of Zion, and the upbuilding

of Jerusalem, Your holy city.

For you are at liberty to freely give liberation

and consolation.

WE REMEMBER OTHERS AS

WE REMEMBER JERUSALEM

We ate and drank

Yet we forget not that

there is exile, destruction,

famine, fear and want.

Please, forget us not,

But in remembering us,

Remember all in want.

Make this world

A place of holiness,

Now in our lifetime,

As you rebuild Jerusalem

Praised are you, 0 God,

Who in building up mercy

Builds Jerusalem.

Amen—do as we believe!

WHEN WE CELEBRATE

HOLY SEASONS

Our God and God of our ancestors,

May this prayer we offer to You,

Rise and come and reach You,

Be noted and accepted and

Heard by You;

Be remembered and acted upon:

As You become aware of us

As You remember us.

You remembered our parents,

You will remember the Mashiach

David’s son,

You are mindful of Jerusalem

Your city,

You are mindful of Israel

Your people.

Allow them all to find their way

To goodness, to grace, to kindness,

to mercy, to life, and to peace.

On this:

New Moon Day

Pesach

Sukkot

Shemini Atzeret

Shavuot

Rosh Hashana

Think well of this day

Be mindful on it for our blessing

Grant us the good life on it.

And as concerns such matters as

salvation and mercy

Pity us, be kind, save us, be gentle,

For our eyes look to You--

Divine, Majestic One

Yet also Kind and Gentle.

WE THANK YOU FOR ALL

THAT YOU ARE TO US

Praise, yea praise to You, 0 God,

Source of our being

Merciful Mother

Mighty Father

Powerful Ruler

Redeeming Creator

Holy Artist,

Jacob’s Sanctifier,

Guiding Shepherd,

Israel’s Shepherd,

Sovereign who is good to all.

In Your goodness you do not discriminate,

Doing good day by day according to that day’s

needs.

So You did act out of goodness in the past,

And so will You deal with us in the future.

You give of Your Self,

You gave of your Self,

You will give of Your Self

Freely and completely

kindly and mercifully

generously and abundantly

to save us,

to prosper us,

to bless us,

to redeem us

to console us

to sustain and support us—

in mercy, life and in goodness,

while not diminishing

the good You hold in store for us for eternity.

WE PRAY FOR THE MESSIANIC AGE AND

TIMES OF PEACE

Compassionate One!

Help us

so that we may be worthy of being alive

when Mashiach finally arrives.

Grant strength and loving kindness to Mashiach,

to David’s descendants,

to the very ends of time.

0 God!

We know that You can make peace on high:

That is not too difficult.

Grant peace to us and to all Israel:

That is more difficult:

Grant us peace!

INVOCATION FOR THE FUTURE

Harahaman Hu

Kind-hearted One!

Rule over us always.

Caring One!

Be involved wiih our heaven

and on our earth.

Feeling One!

You who are praised from one

generation to the next,

Take pride in us always.

May our lives honor You

in this world and in the next.

Merciful One!

Grant us an honorable livelihood.

Warm-hearted One!

Break the restraints that make

us strangers. Lead us home with dignity.

Generous One!

Send abundant blessing to this

home and to this table.

One who grants

Pleasant Surprises

Send Elijah the prophet--of

blessed memory--

To bring good news of liberation

and consolation.

Compassionate One!

Bless and protect all of us,

our loved ones and our families,

our endeavors and our possessions.

May we all be blessed

like Abraham--with everything

like Sarah--with faithfulness

like Isaac--by everyone

like Jacob--in everyway

like Rachel--with warmth

like Leah--with love.

And to all this let us say, Amen!

Sublime One!

Interpret our act as prompted by

good intentions, as an act of

surrender, worthy of blessing from You.

And even if we are no, deemed worthy,

then accept our act of thanksgiving

as a kind favor on Your part.

0 Helping God!

May we ever be found pleasant and wise

by you God

and by all our fellow human beings.

WE ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER BEFORE LEAVING THE TABLE

Fear Our God, you who make God holy!

Fearing only God, what will you lack?

Those who are self-sufficient, like young lions,

May starve in relying on their own strength.

But those who seek Only God

Shall not lack all that is good.

Give thanks to God who is so good,

Whose kindness is ever wise to the world.

Blessed are they who trust in God,

For God will ever be their guarantor.

I was young, now I’m old

Yet never saw a Zaddik so forsaken

That their child seeks only bread.

How can this be? How could this happen?

Surely blessings will be heaped on those

Who are really righteous, fair and just.

May what we ate

be a source of satisfaction

What we drank

A source of health

What we left a source

a source of blessing.

According to Scripture:

“The host set food before them,

They ate and left enough for others,

As God has spoken.”

God will surely give strength to our people

God will bless our folk with SHALOM!