Blessing for Rosh Ḥodesh Elul, by Kohenet Ilana Joy Streit

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כ״ז באב ה׳תש״פ (2020-08-16) under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Rosh Ḥodesh Elul (אֶלוּל)

Tags:

אלול elul, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah, תחינות teḥinot, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, תשובה teshuvah

A blessing for announcing the new moon of Elul, for Rosh Ḥodesh Elul, and for the whole month. A poem of kindness, rootedness and transformation as we enter into a time of turning and returning.

[If you have the means, please consider making a financial contribution to recognize and compensate Ilana for her creative work. Venmo to @Ilana-Streit.]

May we turn and return
to glimpses of beauty and truth

May this month and the year ahead
be a time of compassion and grace

May healing show the way
may our footsteps show the way
may new melodies guide us

May we lend each other faith
as if it was a cup of sugar (because it is)

May we bake muffins of kindness
pies of gentleness
brownies of generosity

May this year be so sweet that
it inspires a new profession
spiritual dentistry

May we be well-midwifed this year
may we be the ones that our shadows
have been waiting for, this year

May we tend altars of forgiveness
and drink often from their waters

May our breadcrumbs feed the birds of transformation

May there be a week in the coming year
    when all we read is children’s books
May these next 40 days be a time
    when we clean all of our own and each other’s mirrors
        so that we may then celebrate our own place
    in Creation and in Torah

May we then dance about and around the Torah of our own lives
and may we write and live
the Torah of our own lives

May moonlight shine upon our
    joy and celebration and blessed sleep this year
May the sparks of liberation
    and the yuntif candles burn away any last bits of regret
        and shame and disconnection

May we enter into this turning time whole
may it be a time of mending quilts
and returning long-borrowed books

May it be a time of flowing ink from the pens of wisdom
and flowing tears from the eyes of hope

You can find more writing like this at Writing by Ilana Joy Streit (Facebook page).

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“Blessing for Rosh Ḥodesh Elul, by Kohenet Ilana Joy Streit” is shared by the contributors with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Ilana Streit

Weaver of Blessings: poet, liturgist, singer-songwriter. Interpretive, radical, earthy, feminist. Based in Greater Boston, MA.

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image of a tree at sunset (writing by kohenet ilana joy streit)

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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