https://opensiddur.org/?p=47057"Avinu Malkeinu," dvar tefillah by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)2022-10-03 07:26:15The words of Avinu Malkeinu are a little different from the standard translation. It doesn't say in Hebrew, "we have no good deeds" (<em>ein lanu ma'asim tovim</em>), but rather, "there are no deeds in us" (<em>ein banu ma'asim</em>). The <em>p'shat</em> (literal meaning) implies that whatever we have done in the past does not have to live inside of us -- we can release our deeds and be released from them, fully, to start over, like a newborn, to become whoever we need to become.Textthe Open Siddur ProjectDavid SeidenbergDavid Seidenberghttps://opensiddur.org/copyright-policy/David Seidenberghttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/Yom KippurPrayers as poemsEnglish vernacular prayerAseret Yemei Tshuvahשבת תשובה Shabbat Tshuvahparaliturgical avinu malkeinuאבינו מלכינו avinu malkeinucommentary as prayerd'var t'fillah21st century C.E.58th century A.M.
The words of Avinu Malkeinu are a little different from the standard translation. It doesn’t say in Hebrew, “we have no good deeds” (ein lanu ma’asim tovim), but rather, “there are no deeds in us” (ein banu ma’asim). The p’shat (literal meaning) implies that whatever we have done in the past does not have to live inside of us — we can release our deeds and be released from them, fully, to start over, like a newborn, to become whoever we need to become.
It says, no deeds
not good-bad, not beautiful-ugly
no trace of the past in us to
constrain, condone, condemn
our forward path,
not regret, not mistakes, not strife, nor failure
or triumph, ki ein banu ma’asim.
What-for-ever in us is is the now, the aha
of one instant — just!
So here, bring your lovely-most self
nothing else
to meet-greet the unladen year.
Clear the channel; become hollow
as a bone.
What you are
becoming now here, for the Source of Life:
a wellspring of tsedaqah and ḥesed, of righteous love,
a fountain of blessing.
“Avinu Malkeinu” by Rabbi David Seidenberg, versified paraliturgical commentary on the prayer Avinu Malkenu, was first offered on Shabbat Tshuva in 2022 (5783).
Rabbi David Seidenberg, founder of NeoHasid.org, teaches text and music, Jewish thought and spirituality, in their own right and in relation to ecology and the environment. With smikhah (ordination) from the Jewish Theological Seminary and from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, he has taught at over 100 synagogues, communities, retreats and conferences across North America (and a few in Europe and Israel). Rabbi Seidenberg's teaching empowers learners to become creators of Judaism through deep study and communion with texts and tradition. Areas of specialty include Kabbalah and Ḥasidut, Talmud, davenning, evolution and cosmology, sustainability, Maimonides, Buber, and more. Rabbi Seidenberg has published widely on ecology and Judaism. He is the author of the acclaimed book Kabbalah and Ecology: God's Image in the More-Than-Human World (Cambridge U. Press, 2015). To read selections and find out about ordering the book, go to kabbalahandecology.com.
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“Avinu Malkeinu,” dvar tefillah by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)
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not good-bad, not beautiful-ugly
no trace of the past in us to
constrain, condone, condemn
our forward path,
not regret, not mistakes, not strife, nor failure
or triumph,
ki ein banu ma’asim.
of one instant — just!
nothing else
to meet-greet the unladen year.
as a bone.
becoming now here, for the Source of Life:
a wellspring of tsedaqah and
ḥesed, of righteous love,
a fountain of blessing.
“Avinu Malkeinu” by Rabbi David Seidenberg, versified paraliturgical commentary on the prayer Avinu Malkenu, was first offered on Shabbat Tshuva in 2022 (5783).
““Avinu Malkeinu,” dvar tefillah by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)” is shared by the living contributor(s) with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
David Seidenberg
Rabbi David Seidenberg, founder of NeoHasid.org, teaches text and music, Jewish thought and spirituality, in their own right and in relation to ecology and the environment. With smikhah (ordination) from the Jewish Theological Seminary and from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, he has taught at over 100 synagogues, communities, retreats and conferences across North America (and a few in Europe and Israel). Rabbi Seidenberg's teaching empowers learners to become creators of Judaism through deep study and communion with texts and tradition. Areas of specialty include Kabbalah and Ḥasidut, Talmud, davenning, evolution and cosmology, sustainability, Maimonides, Buber, and more. Rabbi Seidenberg has published widely on ecology and Judaism. He is the author of the acclaimed book Kabbalah and Ecology: God's Image in the More-Than-Human World (Cambridge U. Press, 2015). To read selections and find out about ordering the book, go to kabbalahandecology.com.
Works of related interest:
A Prayer before Candle-lighting, by Chaya Kaplan-Lester
Al Ḥeyt, by Stew Albert & Judy Gumbo (2006)
הַוִּדּוּי הַמַּשְׁלִים | HaVidui haMashlim (Complementary Confession), by Rabbi Binyamin Holtzman
[Children’s] Prayer for Shabbat Teshuvah, by Lilian Helen Montagu (27 September 1941)
A Prayer for Eating on Yom Kippur, by A Mitzvah to Eat (2022)
An Intention for Eating on Yom Kippur, by Rabba Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez (2022)
Meditation before Yom Kippur for One who Cannot Fast, by Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub (2005)
An Alternate Yom Kippur Vidui, by Ron Lee Meyers (2022)