Traditions Renewed: shema jewish prayer rainbow baruch melech echad eloheinu fruit vine shabbat motzi


The Shema Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad. Hear Oh Israel, Adonai our God, Adonai is One. "The watchword of our faith" transcends the literal translation to become an all encompassing prayer of spirituality, comfort, hope and gratitude. The V'ahavta reminds us to say the Shema before going to sleep and when you wake up. This is an especially nice tradition to share with young children. The Shema Pillow is a comforting addition to your bed and makes an excellent gift for a young child. Blessings for Various Occasions On seeing Lightning and other natural wonders Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam oseh ma'aseh vereshit. We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, Source of creation and its wonders. Upon recovery from serious illness or upon escape from danger Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam shegemalani kol tov. I praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, who bestows great goodness upon me. On seeing the ocean Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam she'asah et hayam hagadol. We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, for the life-giving waters of the sea. Over bread Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam Borei peri ha-motzi le-chem min ha-aretz. We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe. Over wine Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam Borei peri ha-gafen. We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, Creator of the the fruit of the vine. Over fruits that grow in soil Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam Borei peri ha'adama. We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the soil. Over fruits that grow on trees Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam Borei peri ha'etz. We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the tree. Over pastry Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam Borei minei mezonot. We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, Creator of many kinds of food. Over food other than breads, fruits or vegetables, and over liquids other than wine Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam shehakol niheyeh bidevaro. We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, by whose word all things come into being. Special Blessings: Rainbows: Everybody loves rainbows, a symbol of renewal in nature. While all wonders of nature deserve blessings, rainbows have the power to make us stop and look. And to say a special blessing for the rainbow. It is a sign of the covenant with Noah, but it is also one of the most beautiful of God's creations. Barukh attah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha-olam, zokher haberit vene’eman bivrito v’kaiyam bema’amaro. Praised are you Adonai, our God, Sovereign of the world, Who remembers the covenant, who keeps the promise, and fulfills God’s word.

The Shabbat service has an order and rituals ... The basic outline of the service - link The Torah service (especially when a Bar or Bat Mitzvah is reading) ... the basic outline and explaination of Torah service - link Hagbah - some people point their little finger at the Torah when it is held up after reading so the whole congregation can see. One explaination of this tradition is: Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, shlita,gave the following explanation: The Torah lists the ten generations from Noah until Abraham,including Yoktan, who established the largest number of families. Rashi notes that Yoktanmerited establishing so many families due to his great humility as his name indicates (from theroot katan-little). Rabbi Scheinberg went on to explain that when pointing at the Torah we takethis lesson to heart and we point with our smallest finger - the pinkie - to indicate that weshould reach out to try to gain understanding of the Torah with the utmost humility and thusmerit to succeed in this aspiration. Rabbi Chaim Falagie expounds on a second variation of the custom in which the index finger isused for pointing towards the Torah rather than the pinkie. He bases this custom on six consecutive statements in Tehilim the first of which is, "The Torah of Hashem is perfectreviving the soul...". Each one of these statements is composed of five words corresponding tothe number of fingers of one hand. The second word of each statement is Hashemcorresponding to the second, namely the index finger. In pointing towards the Torah with the index finger we are indicating that every word of the Torah is a Name of Hashem. For that same reason, Rabbi Falagie points out, during the wedding ceremony the ring is placed on theindex finger to signify that Hashem is the unifying force binding husband and wife. ( Tehilim (19:8-10).)

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