Prayer
Blessing of the Sun, April 8; may we let the sun bless us
GREEN MENORAH COVENANT (on climate crisis) | Earth | Globalization and Economic Justice | Interreligious Relations | Oiloholic Uncle Sam & Global Scorching | PrayerWhat follows is a service for Birkat HaChamah, the traditional Jewish ceremony for Blessing of the Sun, which comes in a cycle of 28 years -- next on April 8, 2009.
Though rooted in Jewish tradition, the service invites participation by all. Its universal calling is especially apt in a generation when the world is threatened by the overuse of fossil fuels, and needs to turn toward the sun for the sources of energy to heal and sustain our lives.
This version of the service integrates support for solar energy in the Asiyah ("Actuality") world with the other three of the Four Worlds of Kabbalistic thought: the spiritual, emotional, and intellectual aspects of the ceremony.
Praying with Lior: A Prayer For Christmas
PrayerBy Timothy Shriver
Washington Post, December 25, 2007; Page A25
This Christmas, one might be forgiven for praying for the second coming of Jesus rather than for the joy to celebrate his initial appearance 20 centuries ago. Taking the long view of history, you could argue that we have collectively proved how inadequate we are in fulfilling the Bethlehem announcement of peace and justice. While we celebrate the mystery of God's coming in human form, can't we also pray for an expedited return?
That type of prayer would give many Christians common ground with our Jewish brothers and sisters during a season when we otherwise seem to part ways. We both want the Messiah to come; is it such a big deal whether we want Him for the first or the second time?
Are Jewish Meditation & Social Action at Odds?
Nonviolence & Violence in Judaism | Prayer | Spirituality of Justice | What is Jewish Renewal?Rabbi Arthur Waskow *, 6/8/2005
American Jewish efforts to renew Judaism have been exploring new forms of tikkun olam (healing the world toward peace and social justice) and tikkun halev (healing the heart toward calm and equanimity).
In the social
Exploring "Shalom" with Teachers from The Shalom Center
Peace | Justice | Commentary | Earth | Lifetime Spiral | Prayer | Festival Spiral | CommunityRabbis Berman & Waskow; National Organizer Lenchner, 8/25/2004
Rabbi Phyllis Berman and Rabbi Arthur Waskow have been leading prayer services and teaching in both mulltireligious gatherings (e.g. conferences called by Jobs with Justice, the Religiou
Sh'ma: An Interpretation for the 21st Century
PrayerRabbi Arthur Waskow, 10/2/2003
Sh'sh'sh'ma Yisra'el —
Listen, You Godwrestlers!
Pause from your wrestling and hush'sh'sh
To hear —
YHWH/ Yahh
Hear in the stillness the still silent voice,
The silent breathing that intertwines life;
YHW
Eco-Torah: the Wind & Rain, The Sun and Soil, are ONE
GREEN MENORAH COVENANT (on climate crisis) | 46. EKEV | Oiloholic Uncle Sam & Global Scorching | PrayerRabbi Arthur Waskow
When Torah Says the Breath of Life is ONE:
2d Paragraph of Sh'ma
This week, the Jewish reading of the Torah moves deeper into the Book of Deuteronomy. One of the powerful passages in this week's portion is Deuteronomy 11: 13-21 -- so powerful that in traditional prayer-books, it was treated as the second paragraph that comes just after the Sh'ma – the affirmation/ reminder of God's unity.
In quite direct translation, it says:
"If you hear, yes hear (shamoa tishma'u) the commandments/ connections (mitzvot) that today I command you/ connect you to, to love YHWH/ the Breath of Life your God and to serve Him [sic] with all your heart and every breath, then I will rain upon the earth in its right-time, autumn rain that falls like an arrow and the soaking rains of winter, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your olive oil. I will give grass in your fields for your cattle. And you will eat and be satisfied.
Ahava Rabah - an English translation
PrayerRabbi Arthur Waskow
Ahava -- English
You whose Unity is acted out
In the wheeling of the galaxies
And the pulsing of each atom,
In the double spiral that spins in every living cell
And in the loop of memory and imagination --
We praise You
Sh'ma: At Every Boundary, The World Is One
PrayerRabbi Arthur Waskow
AT EVERY BOUNDARY, THE WORLD IS ONE
Is there a way to reawaken a deep and intense understanding of the three paragraphs that follow the Sh'ma, to get beyond the habituated chant-'em-through (or drop-'em-out) tha
Aliyot a la P'nai Or
PrayerRabbi Arthur Waskow
Aliyot in Jewish Renewal
A new practice for aliyot that emerged in P'nai Or/Aleph/ Jewish renewal circles and has begun to spread more broadly. It works
especially easily in communities that do not have 7 separate aliyot
The Embodiment of God in Prayer
PrayerRabbi Arthur Waskow
The Embodiment of God in Prayer
By Rabbi Arthur Waskow*Why do the communities of Jewish renewal seek forms of prayer different from those our forebears used? For the same reason Rabbinic contact w
