Jewish Gratitude Practices for the Everyday
Lorne Blumer for Congregation Shir Libeynu
June 21, 2020 29 Sivan 5780 What we’ll be up to
❖Pinch of conceptual ❖A few doses of doing ❖Everyday blessings ❖Birkot HaShachar / Morning Blessings – not just for early risers ❖Do It Yourself by way of Spain and Mt. Pleasant Street – Thank You ❖New Meets Old ❖Your mission, should you choose to accept it ❖Resources ❖Hanging out
2 Yes, Exactly!
“Brachot [or blessings] are responses: Responses to the beauty, majesty, sadness, madness, love, compassion, intensity and suffering in the world. They are moments when we, as Jews, step back and acknowledge the immensity of the universe, of God's creation. They are a fixed element of Jewish worship -- we say certain brachot everyday or at specific times, like on Shabbat -- and they are spontaneous -- we say them whenever we're moved to offer prayer.”
- The Princeton Reform Siddur Project
3 Blessing for Torah study
4 Let’s try this #1
5 Start Me Up: Modah/Modeh Ani
6 Let’s try this #2
7 27 ways in choosing your own brucha adventure with the help of Kol Haneshamah, Reconstructionist siddur for weekdays
8 Everyday but not Mundane: There’s an App for That
this one’s called Sanctifull
9 Everyday, but not Mundane
Wonders of Nature
10 Everyday but not Mundane, a sequel
Hearing Thunder…
Encountering something unusual or “grotesque” 11 Everyday but not Mundane, with edibles
12 Everyday but not Mundane, more edibles
13 The Birkot HaShachar (Morning Blessings)
Proof I’m not making this stuff up!
14 From the Birkot HaShachar / Morning Blessings
Blessed are You, Source of all being, who gives
sight to the blind 15 From the Birkot HaShachar / Morning Blessings
Blessed are You, life of all the worlds, who
clothes the naked 16 From the Birkot HaShachar / Morning Blessings
Blessed are You, Adonai, Sovereign of the Universe, who has made me in the Divine image 17 From the Birkot HaShachar / Morning Blessings
Blessed are You, Adonai, Source of all being, who gives the morning bird the wisdom to distinguish day from night
18 From the Birkot HaShachar / Morning Blessings
Blessed are You, Shechina, who makes firm a person’s steps
19 From the Birkot HaShachar / Morning Blessings
Blessed are You, Adonai, Sovereign of the Universe, who has made me of the people Israel
20 Who clothes the naked
21 Who has made me in the Divine image
22 Who has made me of the people Israel 23 Sometimes it’s like this…
Camino Toronto, June 2020
Camino Portuges, May 2017 & 2018
24 …and sometimes it’s like this…so, Thank You
Camino Portuges
Camino Toronto 25 A blessing for keeping ourselves and others safe by Wearing Masks, Washing Hands, Staying at Home
Instead of Parapets
You are bountiful, Infinite our God, majesty of space and time, who has sanctified us with divine commandments and has commanded us about protecting life
Rabbi Michael Knopf
26 Your mission, should you choose to accept it
❖Pick a blessing, any blessing ❖Maybe write it down to see at home and/or carry with you ❖Spend a week seeing when there are opportunities to recite it, and go for it ❖See what happens OR ❖Pick two – one you like, one you’re not sure about, and do ‘em OR ❖Don’t pick a blessing, but note when there are opportunities to recite one, maybe one of your own creation, recite it, see what happens OR ❖Any combination of the above
27 Resources
❖Sanctifull App ❖Online: ❖My Jewish Learning - Blessings ❖My Jewish Learning - 8 Jewish Prayers You’ve Never Heard Of ❖Jewish Virtual Library - Jewish Prayers: Brachot (Blessings) Before Eating ❖Lorne Blumer – Lorne Meets World – Stumbling Through Blessing ❖Books: ❖Any siddur of your choosing for the Birkot HaShachar – Kol Haneshamah, Reconstructionist siddur for weekdays is especially good for a progressive, multi- gender approach ❖Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, Life’s Blessings (Orthodox perspective) ❖Marcia Faulk, The Book of Blessings (I don’t know it myself, but I hear great things) ❖You!!!!
28 Questions?
Comments?
Anecdotes?
29