Table of Contents Blessing the Wine 1 Blessing the Challah 2 Blessing the Shabbat Candles 3 Havdalah Blessings 4 Barchu 5-6 Sh’ma 7-8 Mi Chamocha 9-10 Chanukah Blessings 11-12 Ma Nishthanah 13-14 V’ahavta Part 1 & 2 16 V’ahavta Part 3 17 V’ahavta (complete) 18 Avot V’imahot 19-20 G’vurot 21-22 Kedushah 23-24 Kiddush 25-26 Yotzer 27-28 Ma’ariv Aravim 29-30 Aleinu 31-32 Blessing Ha Torah Before 34 Blessing Ha Torah After 35 Blessing Before Haftarah 37 Blessing After Haftarah Part 1 38 Blessing After Haftarah Part 2 39 Blessing After Haftarah Part 3 40 Blessing After Haftarah (complete) 41 Eitz Chayim 42 Ha’tikvah 43-44 Shabbat Blessings Just as we say thanks with words, a hug, a note or an email, we say thank you for God’s gifts with prayers called Brachot. There are different kind of Brachot – blessings – for the different things we are grateful for, like waking up, eating, or even seeing something beautiful. Saying these blessings makes us stop and appreciate the world around us. We thank God and show that we do not take God’s creations for granted. We are the caretakers of God’s world and we show respect for God by treading God’s world – our earth – with respect. Most Brachot begin with the same six words: .. .. There are special Brachot with which we welcome Shabbat. When we say Brachot over the candles, wine, and challah, we are thanking God for creating the Shabbat and allowing us to celebrate. The first blessing we say is over the candles, this blessing helps us usher in Shabbat with brightness and joy. The Kiddush is the blessing we say over the wine, we express our joy as we remember two occasions – when God created the universe and when we were freed from slavery in Egypt. On Shabbat, we also say the blessing for bread – over a specially breaded challah to praise and thank God for giving us food to eat. BLESSING the WINE 1 2 Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine. 1 BLESSING the CHALLAH 1 2 Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. BLESSING the CHALLAH 1 2 Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. 2 BLESSING the SHABBAT CANDLES 1 2 Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, who hallows us with mitzvoth, commanding us to kindle the light of Shabbat. BLESSING the SHABBAT CANDLES 1 2 Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, who hallows us with mitzvoth, commanding us to kindle the light of Shabbat. 3 Blessing for the Wine 1 2 Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine. Blessing for the Spices Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, Creator of varied spices. Blessing for the Light Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, Creator of the lights of fire. 4 Barchu The Barchu prayer is a signal – it calls the congregation together, announcing that the main part of the prayer service is about to start. Usually, the leader of the service says the first line of the Barchu while bowing as a sign of respect to God. The congregation then recites the second line of the prayer in response while bowing too. The Barchu is thousands of years old. The Jewish people have said it since the time of the Old Temple. In addition to signaling us into the main prayer service, the Barchu is also part of the blessing said before we read from the Torah. 5 BARECHU 1 2 BARECHU 1 2 6 Sh’ma The Sh’ma prayer comes from the Book of Deuteronomy in the Torah. The second line of the Sh’ma is not in the Torah. It was first recited in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, and later became the response, or follow-up, to the first like of the Sh’ma prayer. The Sh’ma expresses a feeling and a belief so strong it is unlike anything else – and so deeply felt that there are almost no words to describe it. This prayer is our pledge of loyalty to God; when we say it, we are expressing our belief in only one God who created the entire universe. The Sh’ma expresses the very core of our faith. It is such an important and intense prayer that many people recite it with their eyes closed so they can concentrate completely on this pledge. The first line of the Sh’ma declares our belief in one God; the second line praises God’s name. 7 SHEMA 1 2 SHEMA 1 2 8 Mi Chamocha The prayer Mi Chamocha is from the Book or Exodus in the Torah. Exodus tells the story of our people’s journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom. The Children of Israel sang Mi Chamocha after safely crossing the Sea of Reeds. The Mi Chamoca is read at both the morning and evening service. The Jews who were slaves in Egypt sang Mi Chamocha after observing the miraculous parting of the Sea of Reeds, which allowed them to escape to freedom. They said the Mi Chamocha – meaning, “Who is like You?” – in praise of God and in acknowledgment of God’s unique and awesome power in setting them free. 9 MI CHAMOCHA 1 2 3 MI CHAMOCHA 1 2 3 10 Chanukah Blessings On Chanukah, we light the menorah to remember the miracle that happened when the Maccabees fought and took back the Holy Temple. The Maccabees, after a triumphant victory, cleaned and restored the Temple, but only had one small container of oil to light the menorah. The small amount of oil lasted for eight days, which was considered a miracle, so we now celebrate Chanukah to remember this event and thank God. On the first night of Chanukah, only two candles are placed in the menorah – the Shamash, or “helper” candle, and one other candle. The other candle is placed all the way to the right of the menorah. Each night we add another candle to (adding them right to left), and lighting the newest candle first (left to right). The Shamash candle is always lit first, and is used to light the other candles. During the candle lighting, there are prayers that must be said. On the first night, we say three prayers. Then, on the remaining nights, we only recite two prayers. The first prayer that we say each night is to acknowledge that God is awesome and that we respect God by following the commandments to light the Chanukah menorah. The second prayer that we say each night is to thank God for the miracles and wonderful deeds that God has carried out for our ancestors. The third prayer, which we only say on the first night of Chanukah, is the Shehechiyanu. We say this prayer whenever we are doing something for the first time. This blessing thanks God for granting us life and for bringing us to the present moment. 11 12 Ma Nishthanah: The Four Questions The Four Questions, or Mah Nishtanah, are an important part of the Passover Seder. During the Passover Seder, the Haggadah is read and we retell the story of the Jews as slaves in Egypt walking away to freedom. The Four Questions are the central theme of the Seder. Mah Nishtana translates to “why is this different?” When we read the Four Questions, we notice that each questions asks why this night is different from others concerning different things. Two of the questions remind us of the time our ancestors served as slaves in Egypt. The other two questions remind us to celebrate our freedom. The Four Questions are typically read or recited by the youngest child at the Seder table that is able to ask them. 13 MA NISHTHANAH: The Four Questions 14 V’ahavta The V’ahavta comes immediately after the Sh’ma in the siddur. Originally, these prayers come from the Book of Deuteronomy in the Torah. In this section of the Torah, Moses talks to the Children of Israel about how they should behave when they enter the land of Canaan. The theme of V’ahavta is our love for God, it tells us to reciprocate God’s love for us. The prayer reminds us to love God by respecting and following God’s commandments. We put a mezuzah – a small box containing the Sh’ma and V’ahavta – on the doorposts of our house. Each time we look at the mezuzah, it reminds us of our love for God and of our respect for God’s commandments. 15 V’AHAVTA Part 1 V’AHAVTA Part 2 16 V’AHAVTA Part 3 15 16 17 18 19 17 Complete V’AHAVTA 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 18 Avot V’imahot The Avot V’imahot is the first blessing in a very old and very important group of blessings called the Amidah. The Amidah is a group of blessings at the heart or center of every prayer service. Amidah means “standing”; we always stand when we say the Amidah, as if we are standing in front of God. The Avot V’imahot asks God to recognize us as descendants of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel.

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