God heard the cry of our ancestors suffering under the brutal hardships of slavery in Egypt and rescued them. So too, can God rescue us.
Not since 1933, has an American president been sworn into office facing a country in such dire circumstance. I don’t need to write the list - we all know it. We pray for a healing of the body and the soul, for the those who are sick. We are all praying for someone we know who is ill with COVID. Maybe we are praying for ourselves. We pray for the country we love and we pray for our world which is in serious distress. Please join me for three prayers - a for healing, for our country and leaders, and for those in distress and in harm’s way.
Mi Sheberach
On Shabbos, during the Torah reading, we say a prayer for all those who are sick and in need of healing. Join me in saying a prayer of healing.
God who blessed our ancestors, should bless and heal all those who are unwell, on account of this sacred community praying on their behalf. For this dedication, Hashem who is Blessed, should be filled with compassion for them, bringing them to health, and healing and maintaining them and restoring them to life, and quickly dispensing to them, from heaven, a complete recovery, just as to all the other unwell persons - a recovery of the soul, a recovery of the body. May a recovery come soon, this year, quickly and in the near future, and we should say Amen. (Based on translation in Nehalel Siddur)
Prayers for the Welfare of America and its Leaders
I wish I could stand on the bima of our Pico Shul, on this coming Shabbos Parsha Bo, with our entire congregation standing together, and recite a prayer for our country and a mi sheberach. In lieu of standing on the bima, I’m using this new newsletter to send out these prayers.
Prayer from a 1920s rabbi’s handbook.
We pray Thee, O Lord, who hast created the heavens, and hast stretched them forth; who hast spread abroad the earth and that which cometh out of it; who hast given breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. Thou didst establish the borders of the earth, and kingdoms and principalities thereon hast Thou erected; the government of the United States hath Thy hand ordained; small were its beginnings; but in the abundance of Thy lovingkindness it hath grown great like unto a cedar of Lebanon; and from generation unto generation, it increaseth in strength, in wealth, and in might; the stretching forth of its wings encompasseth a continent from sea to sea; and its dominion is over distant isles and lands. As the sun in his might, it shineth forth unto the world and all the peoples with the lustre of its Laws of right and justice; also Thy nation, the house of Israel, pursued from age to age by storm and tempest, envy of nations, and the peoples’ hate, ever despoiled without restraint, hath found within this country rest, a nest where to abide, a secure tent to shelter it.
And now, O Lord God, mayest Thou be willing, and bless this country and all its inhabitants with the abundance of Thy blessings. Let no more violence be heard in this land, nor desolation and destruction within its borders; and Thou shalt call its walls salvation, and its gates praise. Remove Thou from its inhabitants all disease and misfortune, all hindrance and mishap; spread Thou over it the pavilion of Thy peace, and may Thy glory, O Lord, rest upon it for all time. Amen.
Our Father in heaven, bless the President of these United States, and the Vice President, and the Congress, and the Supreme Court.
Shower Thy blessings also upon the Governor, and the Lieutenant-Governor of every State, and upon the Mayor and Government of every city.
Send Thy salvation to all our [cities, towns, counties] and to all its inhabitants. Spread upon them the pavilion of Thy peace, they shall receive joy and happiness, and sighs and sorrows shall depart. Amen.
Prayer for our brothers and sisters in distress
After our prayers on Shabbos for those who need healing and our country, and for Israel, we sing Acheinu, a prayer for all those in distress. The prayer, adapted from the weekday prayers, reminds us that as long as there are people who live fear or captivity - they must always be in our thoughts and prayers. We have in mind those living under brutal regimes, and those who have lost their livelihood and homes in this economic crisis. We have in mind front-line health care workers caring for those who are ill with COVID, and those administering the life-saving vaccines under challenging circumstances. We have in mind all those suffering from emotional and spiritual pain brought by this pandemic. We have in mind those standing guard against threats domestic and foreign. We have in mind our brave peacekeepers and peacemakers.
Let us recite Acheinu:
If any of our brothers or sisters find themselves in trouble or in captivity, whether they are at sea or on dry land, may God take pity on them and deliver them from their trouble to well-being, from darkness to light, from captivity to freedom, now sweetly- soon! Amen
After hearing about the dire situation at local hospitals and the effort to vaccinate more than 10,000 people a day at Dodger Stadium, I felt that we needed to do something to care for those caring for us.
Earlier in the pandemic, when the hospitals were being slammed, we organized, along with many other synagogues, churches, mosques and schools, to provide fresh meals to first-responders. We delivered lunches to Cedar Sinai and to the LA Fire Department.
The efforts dropped off when the pandemic seemed to ease in the summer.
Now that we are seeing an unprecedented resurgence, and over capacity at every hospital, we realized we needed to restart the program.
For $360 you can sponsor a lunch for some of the staff at Cedar Sinai.
For $600 you can sponsor lunch for the vaccination clinic at Dodger Stadium.
You can also donate whatever you can afford towards the cause.
Thank you in advance for doing a mitzvah, and for the donation.
Kabbalist’s Feast
Since I’m sending out this newsletter or blog, or whatever this is categorized as, I wanted to add a note about one of my favorite events of the year, our Tu B'Shvat Seder.
Year's ago in the ancient city of Tzfat a group of Kabbalists uncovered the mystical secret's of Tu B'Shevat. They revealed these secrets in a ceremonial meal patterned on the Passover seder and observed this ritual on the night of Tu B'shevat, the 15th of the month of Shevat. During the seder we enjoy four cups of wine, read from an inspiring haggadah, and uncover the inner dimensions of reality as revealed a dozen kinds of fruit.
Alas, this year’s feast it will be online, but that also means that we can accommodate an unlimited number of people from anywhere in the world. It would be a great honor for me if you would join - and it’s just the kind of feel-good Jewish event that we all need. And it’s totally free to RSVP thanks to our sponsors.
Please join me for this unique virtual and memorable excursion into the mystical realm of Tu B'Shevat with our unique Tu B’Shvat Hagaddah, which I edited for the event, based on the ancient Seder recited by the kabbalists in Tzfat centuries ago.
After you register you will receive a shopping list of fruit and a link to print out your own Haggadah!
Made possible by grant from the Whizin Center for the Jewish Future and the Alevy Family Foundation.Sponsorships available!
This is my first newsletter on Substack. I appreciate your feedback and ideas.