Shabbat Lech-Lecha 1

Hinei Mah Tov

// = percussive sound

Hinei mah tov // u’mah na-im Shevet achim gam yachad Hinei mah tov // u’mah na-im Shevet achim gam yachad (x2)

How good it is (how good it is) How sweet it is (how sweet it is) To be together on this day How good it is (how good it is) How sweet it is (how sweet it is) To be together on this day

Hinei mah tov // u’mah na-im Shevet achim gam yachad Hinei mah tov // u’mah na-im Shevet achim gam yachad

Shalom aleichem, Salaam aleykum Shalom aleichem, Salaam aleykum (x2)

How good it is (how good it is) …

Hinei mah tov u’mah na-im … Lech-Lecha 2

Kavannah / Insight for Candlelighting

To light candles in all the worlds -- that is Shabbat. To light Shabbat candles is a soul-leap pregnant with potential into a splendid sea, in it the mystery of the fire of sunset. Lighting the candles transforms my room into a river of light, my heart sets in an emerald waterfall.1

1 Kol Haneshamah Shabbat and Festivals Prayerbook, The Reconstructionist Press Shabbat Lech-Lecha 3

Barechu

We are loved, loved, loved by an unending love, an unending love. (2x)

We are embraced by arms that find us, even when we are hidden from ourselves. We are touched by fingers that soothe us, even when we are too proud for soothing. We are counseled by voices that guide us, even when we are too embittered to hear. We are loved...

We are supported by hands that uplift us, even in the midst of a fall. We are urged on by eyes that meet us, even when we are too weak for meeting. We are loved...

Embraced, touched, soothed, and counseled, our are the arms, the fingers, the voices; ours are the hands, the eyes, the smiles; We are loved by an unending love. We are loved....2

2 Music by Shir Yaakov from an interpretation of the prayer by Rabbi Rami Shapiro, https://shiryaakov.bandcamp.com/track/we-are-loved Shabbat Lech-Lecha 4 Shabbat Lech-Lecha 5

Kavannah/Insight for Mi Chamocha

The symbol of redemption in the mythic life of the Jewish people is the crossing of the Sea. In the rabbinic imagination, the ancient Israelites slog through mud up to their knees, their waists, even their chests. It falls to us to continue the task of redemption -- to face the contemporary morass and find the resolve to wade through it with waves threatening to submerge us on either hand. We wade toward a future that at our darkest moments seems but a dim hope. The hint of the Promised Land is in our loving moments.3

3 Kol Haneshamah Daily Prayerbook, The Reconstructionist Press Shabbat Lech-Lecha 6 Shabbat Lech-Lecha 7

Hashkiveynu

Hashkiveinu Adonai Eloheinu l’shalom V’ha’amideinu Shomreinu l’cha--yim

Spread the shelter of Your peace over us Guide us in wisdom, compassion, and trust

Hashkiveinu Adonai Eloheinu l’shalom V’ha’amideinu Shomreinu l’cha--yim

Save us for the sake of Your name Shield us from hatred sorrow and pain

Hashkiveinu Adonai Eloheinu l’shalom V’ha’amideinu Shomreinu l’cha--yim l’cha--yim, l’cha--yim, l’cha--yim

[Lay us down, Adonai, our God in peace, And raise us up, our Guardian, to life renewed.] Shabbat Lech-Lecha 8

Kavannah/Insight for the

Dear God, Open the blocked passageways to you, The congealed places.

Roll away the heavy stone from the well as your servant Jacob did when he beheld his beloved Rachel.

Help us open the doors of trust that have been jammed with hurt and rejection.

As you open the blossoms in spring, Even as you open the heavens in storm, Open us -- to feel your great, awesome, wonderful presence.4

4 Kol Haneshamah Daily Prayerbook, The Reconstructionist Press Shabbat Lech-Lecha 9 Shabbat Lech-Lecha 10

Reading for Silent Reflection

Shabbat Lech-Lecha 11 Shabbat Lech-Lecha 12

Shalom Rav

Mi Shebeirach Shabbat Lech-Lecha 13

הכרת הטוב Recognizing the Good / Hakarat HaTov

May we live with the awareness that each day is a miracle and each hour contains wonders. May we wake up in gratitude and go to sleep in appreciation for all we have been given. May we seek joy in both the small and great events of our lives, sharing this happiness with others. And may we always remember to recognize the good in ourselves, in others, and in the world around us. בָרוְ אַתָה יְיָ אֱלהֵינו, מֶלְֶ הָעולָם שֶבְכָל יום וָיום מֵיטִיב לָנו Baruch atah Adonai, melech ha-olam, she-bechol yom vayom meitiv lanu. We acknowledge and praise the Source of Being, present throughout our days, bringing us goodness.

Aleinu

It is up to us to hallow Creation, to respond to Life with the fullness of our lives. It is up to us to meet the World, to embrace the Whole even as we wrestle with its parts. It is up to us to repair the World and to bind our lives to Torah.

Therefore we bend the knee Shabbat Lech-Lecha 14 and shake off the stiffness that keeps us Shabbat Lech-Lecha 15 from the subtle graces of Life and the supple gestures of Love. We reverence and thanksgiving we accept our destiny and set for ourselves the task of redemption. Shabbat Lech-Lecha 16

L'chi lach, to a land that I will show you Leich l'cha, to a place you do not know L'chi lach, on your journey I will bless you And you shall be a blessing (3x) l'chi lach

L'chi lach, and I shall make your name great Leich l'cha, and all shall praise your name L'chi lach, to the place that I will show you L'sim-chat cha-yim (3x) l'chi lach

L'chi lach, to a land that I will show you Leich l'cha, to a place you do not know L'chi lach, on your journey I will bless you And you shall be a blessing (2x) Shabbat Lech-Lecha 17

And you are a blessing, l'chi lach5

5 Music by Debbie Friedman, lyrics adapted from Genesis by Savina Teubal. Artwork: Marc Chagall, Abraham and Sarah, http://www.artnet.com/artists/marc-chagall/abraham-and- sarah-8VHwNBHqqGslKWwhn8gNqA2