Prayers  ☞  Life cycle  ☞  Jewish Life Cycle  ☞  Marriage  ☞  הברכה שמח תשמח | Blessing for Joy: A Poetic Rendering of Sheva Brakhah no. 6 (Same’aḥ T’samaḥ), by Daniel Kieval

הברכה שמח תשמח | Blessing for Joy: A Poetic Rendering of Sheva Brakhah no. 6 (Same’aḥ T’samaḥ), by Daniel Kieval

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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

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

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

Related liturgy and liturgy-related work:

✍ שבע ברכות | The Seven Blessings over a Wedding (interpretive translation by Aharon Varady)

✍ Blessing over Separation, by Shelby Handler

✍ A Prayer For Kavanah by Amanda Rush

✍ תחינה לתחילת יומן חדש | Prayer on Beginning a New Journal, by Aharon N. Varady

✍ תפילה לעגונות | Prayer for the Liberation of Agunot, by Shelley Frier List (2005)

✍ ברכת יוצר יצירים | A Blessing for Creating, by Rabbi Adina Allen (Jewish Studio Project)

✍ תפילה בין השריפות | Prayer between the Fires (between the 32nd and 42nd days of the Omer, neohasid.org)

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“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.
Daniel Kieval

Daniel Kieval

Daniel Kieval works with children and families of all ages and trains educators in the curriculum and pedagogy of experiential Jewish environmental education. He joined Teva Learning Center in 2011, having previously taught at the Pearlstone Center's Jewish educational farm and at Glen Helen Outdoor Education Center. Daniel studied Biology at Wesleyan University and Permaculture and Ecovillage Design at Kibbutz Lotan in Israel.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established."–Psalms 90:17

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