Blessing for Rosh Ḥodesh Shevat, by Kohenet Ilana Joy Streit

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Shared on:

י״א בשבט ה׳תש״פ (2020-02-05) under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Rosh haShanah la-Ilanot (Tu biShvat), Rosh Ḥodesh Shəvat (שְׁבָט)

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Prayers as poems, English vernacular prayer, Trees

A blessing for announcing the new moon of Shevat, for Rosh Ḥodesh Shevat, and for the whole month.

Financial contributions are most welcome, and support further creation and sharing of Ilana’s creative work. Venmo to @Ilana-Streit.

the sap
is considering rising
the snow
is considering falling

and here we are
between the two

may the rising sap
be woven into us
may it enter
our bloodstream

may the light from the sun
  reflected off of bare branches
enter into our eyes
    and from our eyes
       to our visions and prayers
  and then to vibrant waters
and a peaceful Jerusalem

may we be the trees
that we have been waiting for

may it be a month
  of rising and falling
    and being held and beheld
  touching the roots of our sorrow
blessing the roots of our redemption

may we be the trees
that we have been waiting for

may the Third Temple
be an altar
of words and grieving and joyful dancing
at town squares everywhere

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“Blessing for Rosh Ḥodesh Shevat, 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.

Stable Link:

https://opensiddur.org/?p=29989

Associated Image:

Shevat (credit: Ilana Joy Streit, license: CC BY-SA)

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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