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This is a poetic rendering of the sixth blessing (of the Sheva Brakhot/7 Blessings) for a wedding. It riffs off of themes and language in the Hebrew text of joy, love, and companionship, and invocations of the Garden of Eden, creation, and eternity. Written originally for the wedding of friends; I hope you’ll feel free to adapt and rework it however suits your needs!
| Source (Hebrew) | Translation (English) |
|---|---|
|
שַׂמֵּֽחַ תְּשַׂמַּח רֵעִים הָאֲהוּבִים |
May you bask in outrageous joy in the radiant glow of your companion,
your beloved, your friend — pure and perfect each moment in each other’s presence as if you were just created tasting eternity looking into his face, looking into her face |
|
כְּשַׂמֵּחֲךָ יְצִירְךָ |
May you laugh all of your laughter, and also cry all of your tears
|
|
בְּגַן עֵֽדֶן מִקֶּֽדֶם. |
May you know the joy of gardens:
gardens of flowers and fruit of bees and butterflies of vines and hummingbirds and clear ponds gardens of surprise and delight of challenge and struggle of growth and birth and death |
|
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From the garden may you learn to be rooted in the good Earth
to weather the stormy rains and calm sunny skies to make friends with those that crawl down below, those unseen ones who maintain the very foundations |
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May you dance and work and love and cry and look deeply until you can no longer tell the difference
between this moment and paradise |
|
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ מְשַׂמֵּֽחַ חָתָן וְכַלָּה׃ |
and give gratitude to the Source that renews your rejoicing over and over
|
“הברכה שמח תשמח | Blessing for Joy: A Poetic Rendering of Sheva Brakhah no. 6 (Same’aḥ T’samaḥ), by Daniel Kieval” is shared by Daniel Kieval with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
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