Service of Selichot Hebrew Congregation of St Thomas zegilq Prayers of Forgiveness and Reconciliation An Evening of Spiritual Preparation for the High Holy Days within A Prayer for Selichot O Source of Light and Truth, forgive me for not being the best Jew I can be. Forgive me for pointing fingers at others who look at life in different ways. Help me to do better. Help me to be the best person that I can be. Our tradition teaches that God can only forgive us for offenses committed against God. We must ask forgiveness directly from those we have wronged, in order for them to forgive us. FOR OUR CHILDREN (of all ages), please forgive us for the times we have yelled at you because we were angry at someone else. Forgive us for promises we made and failed to keep. Forgive us for not understanding your inner hurts, and for times when we were too busy to listen. Forgive us for all the times we said "No" for no reason. Help us to be better parents. Try to understand that parents often are selfish, and think of themselves first. Yet parents love you and want to teach you to love the world and the people in it. We love you, and ask your forgiveness. FOR OUR SPOUSES, please forgive me for the petty misunderstandings that have grown into large quarrels. Forgive me for not reaching out to you in your need when I was too wrapped up in my own. Help me to be a better partner and mate. Help me learn to share more of myself, in honesty and depth. And help me to know you, as you really are. May we appreciate our love to its fullest. FOR OUR FRIENDS, forgive me for unknown hurts I may have inflicted upon you, by not being aware of your needs. Forgive me for not sharing some of my thoughts and hurts with you. Help me to be a better friend. FOR OURSELVES, forgive me for all the times I did not stop myself from saying or doing something that may have hurt others. Forgive me for being too hard on myself and not seeing the goodness that is there. Forgive me for not allowing myself to grow. Help me to understand that before another can love me, I must love myself. Help me to enjoy life, love and the world. FOR EACH OTHER, thank you for being patient with each other; thank you for caring about each other; thank you for being you and allowing each of us to be ourselves. Please Rise HAVDALAH Separation Service of Havdalah for the Evening of Selichot Open Gate The arc of evening slowly turning, the sun’s blue shadows washed away, the gate still open as three stars wait to pierce the sky In the corridor where night bares its maze you begin to begin again. Light Havdalah Candle(s) As Shabbat departs, let us celebrate the sweetness of a new week, as soon we will celebrate the sweetness of Rosh Hashanah, a New Year. .ot¤ b¨d© ix¦R§ `x¥FA ,m¨lFrd¨ K¤ln«¤ Epid«¥Ÿl`¡ ,i¨i§ dY¨ `© KExA¨ Barukh attah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech HaOlam, Borei P’ri HaGafen Blessed are you, BOUNDLESS ONE, sovereign of all worlds, who creates the fruit of the vine. Let us bless the source of life that ripens fruit on the vine as we hallow the week calling to mind our history. :min¦ U¨a§ ip¥in¦ `x¥FA ,m¨lFrd¨ K¤ln«¤ Epid«¥Ÿl`¡ ,i¨i§ dY¨ `© KExA¨ Barukh attah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech HaOlam, Borei Minei V’samim Blessed are you, REVIVER, sovereign of all worlds, who creates various kinds of spices. Let us celebrate the breath of all living things and praise all essences. :W`¥ d¨ ix¥F`n§ `x¥FA ,m¨lFrd¨ K¤ln«¤ Epid«¥Ÿl`¡ ,i¨i§ dY¨ `© KExA¨ Barukh attah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech HaOlam, Borei M’orei Ha’eish Blessed are you, RADIANT ONE, sovereign of all worlds, who creates the lights of the fire. Let us seek the unseen sparks that kindle the greater lights. Barukh attah Adonai, ,m¨lFrd¨ K¤ln«¤ Epid«¥Ÿl`¡ ,i¨i§ dY¨ `© KExA¨ Eloheinu Melech HaOlam HaMavdil bein kodesh l’chol, ,KW¤ Ÿg« l§ xF` oiA¥ ,lFgl§ Wc¤wŸ « oiA¥ lic¦a§ O© d© bein or l’choshech, .dU¤ £rO© d© in¥ i§ zW¤ W«¥ l§ ir¦ ia¦ X§ d© mFi oiA¥ ,miO¦ r©¨l l`¥ x¨U§ i¦ oiA¥ bein Yisrael l’Amim, .lFgl§ Wc¤wŸ « oiA¥ lic¦a§ O© d© ,i¨i§ dY¨ `© KExA¨ bein yom ha’sh’vi’i l’sheishet y’mei hama’asei. Barukh attah Adonai HaMavdil bein kodesh l’chol. Blessed are you, MANY NAMED ONE, sovereign of all worlds, who distinguishes between holy and ordinary, light and dark, the seventh day and the six days of the week. Blessed are you, INVISIBLE ONE, who separates the holy from the ordinary. Let us distinguish parts within the whole, and bless their differences. Like Shabbat and the six days of creation may our lives be made whole through relation. As rest makes Shabbat precious, so may work give meaning to the week. Let us separate Shabbat from the other days of the week seeking holiness in each. May the One who divides The watchman says Let me be pure Between holy and plain The morn has come Like long before, Forgive our sins and soon the night, My blemish fade And ease our pain. yes, soon the night. Like passing night. Posterity and plenty Add to our gain. Your justice strong As Mount Tabor; Like seashore sands My sins forgive Like stars at night. My faults ignore. The day moves on Like palm tree shade. I call to God Who charts the way. May blessing abound Blessed be the vessel In city and field And the work of the hands, In the home The fruit of the body And on the journey And the fruit of the land. May it be a fruitful week And a blessed year. Elijah! Week after week we wait; at Sabbath’s end we wait for you, we wait to be redeemed: from guilt and oppression redeemed; from empty nights redeemed; and from the struttering of our hearts, from that, too, redeemed. Do you wait for us? Do you await one sigh one deed, one surprise? Yes, yes! You wait for us, you wait for us to wait no more. Your presence now we invoke in song: SELICHOT Forgiveness zegilq Service of Selichot Shabbat has ended; still we stand before You. O God of praises, hearken from on high. Lish-mo-a el ha-ri-na v’-el ha-t’-fi-lah. O hear our song and our prayer. For Isaac’s sake, who gave himself to You, Shield his children who cry to You this night. Lish-mo-a el ha-ri-na v’-el ha-t’-fi-lah. O hear our song and our prayer. Be our offering this night acceptable as sacrifice of old. Maker of miracles, make us to see the miracle of forgiveness. Lish-mo-a el ha-ri-na v’-el ha-t’-fi-lah. O hear our song and our prayer. Turning: The Call Now is the time for turning. (Up north, in places with four seasons) The leaves are beginning to turn from green to red and orange. Birds are beginning to turn, and are heading one more toward the south. The animals are beginning to turn Storing food for the winter. For leaves, birds and animals turning comes instinctively, But for us it is not so easy. It takes an act of will for us to make a turn. It means breaking with old habits. It means admitting that we have been wrong -- and this is never easy. It means losing face. It means starting all over again -- and this is always painful. It means saying, "I'm sorry." It means admitting that we have the ability to change – and this is always embarrassing. These things are terribly hard to do. But unless we turn, we will be trapped forever in yesterday's ways. Eternal God, help us turn – from callousness to sensitivity, from carelessness to discipline, from fear to faith. Turn us around, O God, and bring us back towards You. Revive our lives, as at the beginning. And turn us towards each other, Eternal One – for in isolation there is no life. based on Jack Riemer Eternal God, what can we say in Your presence? How account for our sins? We speak of repentance, yet are slow to change. But we turn to You with the prayer that Your love will abide with us always, turning our hearts to Your ways, our feet to Your paths. Hope is food and drink for us. Hope sustains us. And so we pray: Do not turn us away empty-handed from Your presence. End our darkness with Your light, and turn our passions towards Your purpose. Help us, in this hour of turning to make real in our lives the words of our mouths, the meditations of our hearts. Return, O Israel, to your Eternal God; Return, O Israel, return, all you who have stumbled. to your Eternal God. For thus says the Eternal God, the Holy One of Israel: Behold how the Eternal One does great things In returning, in peace shall you triumph; with this people! in calm trust shall you find strength. Behold the Most High, You are a stronghold to the poor, who heaps miracle upon wonder! a shelter from the storm, Return, O Israel, return! a shade from the heat.