Sweet Prayers to Add for the Year

As the days approach Rosh Hashannah,  two brachot for all of us:

The first is a complement to the Birkat Kohanim, the blessings in our home each week.

In addition to this blessing from parents, (a commentary on which can be found here)  feminist author Marcia Falk, asks us, as the blessers, to value who our children are, not to push them into a mold that we might seek for them.  

הֱיֵה אֲשֶׁר תִּהְיֶה וֶהֱיֵה בָּרוּךְ בַּאֲשֶׁר תִּהְיֶה 

 / הֲיִי אֲשֶׁר תִּהְיִי וַהֲיִי בְּרוּכָה בַּאֲשֶׁר תִּהְי

“Be who you are –

and may you be blessed in all that you are.”  

This is a challenge to all of us. All too often, we want others to be what we want from them.  On this Rosh Hashannah and throughout the year, this bracha challenges us to ask God to bless others to be the best them that they can be.  

The second bracha was written by R Eyal Vered, Head of Kehillat Yachdav in Petach Tikvah It is truly all encompassing and although it is best in Hebrew (which can be found by clicking here), its English has real power.  The text is below and simply speaks for itself.

What we Pray for on Rosh Hashannah

A prayer for aloneness-for those who have no family, or have not been able to raise a family, who are alone or who are fleeing something.

A prayer for identity- for all of us to be connected to something bigger, to our communities and to the Jewish people and to the world.

A prayer for tradition-on the preservations of our family, national and religious legacy from our ancestors to Mt. Sinai and to now.

A prayer for comfort-comfort for the broken hearts that we all have had, from challenge, from loss of those whom we love.

A prayer for elders-on the elders of our community that their aging should be with honor. 

A prayer for people on the road-for us that we pay attention to them, and for them that they arrive to their destination in peace, and a general prayer for the roads and those who travel the air and the sea and the roads.

A prayer that we can approach one another - and that our words are truly heard.

A prayer for the unity of the Jewish people…”

Wishing a year of goodness, health, growth and fulfillment to you, your families, to our people and to the world.