Mikveh Kavvanah for Affirming Jewish identity, by Rabbi Jonah Rank

Contributor(s):

Jonah Rank

Shared on:

21 January 2019 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Immersion (Purification)

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Jewish identity, affirmations, confirmation, conversion

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	When recited by one who immersed to accept or to affirm Jewish identity:
	May these living waters carry me forward As I have now immersed deeper into the stream of Jewish life. May the living waters of Torah, symbolized in this mikvah, Embrace me as I embrace Torah in turn. As I wade through uncharted waters in my renewed life, May the Divine guide and comfort me, and may I express gratitude, living a life of blessings. May the people I am joining support me along this current, And may I be open to their outpouring of love in hard times and in times of joy.
	May I emerge from these waters new—and the same; Open to the new aspects of Torah I will learn—and learned in all the lessons I have learned. May my family and friends honor this sacred life I have chosen, And may it be that the waters of this mikvah have washed over me with a touch of Divine love.
	May my immersion in this mikvah permit me A life of community and connectedness, A life of learning and teaching, A life of doing good in fulfilling mitsvot, A life of holiness and Torah, And a life filled with God’s presence and peace.
	Amen.

	When recited by an officiant overseeing a conferring of or confirmation of Jewish identity:
	May these living waters carry you forward As you have now immersed deeper into the stream of Jewish life. May the living waters of Torah, symbolized in this mikvah, Embrace you as you embrace Torah in turn. As you wade through uncharted waters in your renewed life, May the Divine guide and comfort you, and may you, in turn, express gratitude, living a life of blessings. May the people you are joining support you along this current, And may you be open to their outpouring of love in hard times and in times of joy.
	May you emerge from these waters new—and the same; Open to the new aspects of Torah you will learn—and learned in all the lessons you have learned. May your family and friends honor this sacred life you have chosen, And may it be that the waters of this mikvah have washed over you with a touch of Divine love.
	May your immersion in this mikvah permit you A life of community and connectedness, A life of learning and teaching, A life of doing good in fulfilling mitsvot, A life of holiness and Torah, And a life filled with God’s presence and peace.
	Amen.

Rabbi Jonah Rank’s prayer for affirming one’s Jewish identity in a mikvah was originally published in Ritualwell, here.

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“Mikveh Kavvanah for Affirming Jewish identity, by Rabbi Jonah Rank” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Jonah Rank

Rabbi Jonah Rank is President and Rosh Yeshivah of Hebrew Seminary: A Rabbinical School for the Deaf and Hearing. An award-winning Jewish songwriter, Rabbi Rank earned an MA in Jewish Thought and was ordained in 2015 at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Rabbi Rank has been involved in Jewish education for many years and served as the Maskil (“Teacher-of-Tradition”) at the Shaar Shalom Synagogue in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where his spouse, Rabbi Dr. Raysh Weiss, served as Senior Rabbi. While living in Canada, Rabbi Rank initiated the annual Halifax Communal Beit Midrash, and collaborated with the community’s Education Committee in rebooting the Halifax Joint Hebrew School. Following his family’s return to the U.S, he became the Director of the Shul School at Kehilat HaNahar in New Hope, Pennsylvania. While managing the supplementary school, Rabbi Rank co-led a Virtual Youth Arts Beit Midrash serving youth across five states, designed a virtual reality Purim carnival, and created curricular materials for young Jews to engage with Jewish notions of responsibility towards marginalized communities and to the planet. Rabbi Rank has authored several academic articles, served as the Managing Editor of Zeramim: An Online Journal of Applied Jewish Studies, and is currently editing Siddur Kanfey HaShekhinah, a forthcoming traditional Ashkenazi Hebrew prayer book, where the language referring to God is with feminine grammar. An advocate for civic causes, Rabbi Rank was appointed in 2021 to the Environmental Advisory Council in the Township of Lower Makefield, Pennsylvania. Rabbi Rank’s recently moved with his family to Natick, Massachusetts.

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Works of related interest:

Certificate of Affirmed Jewish Identity for a Minor (Jonah Rank 2024)

תעודת זהות מאושרת בישראל (קדם־גיל־מצות) | Certificate of Affirmation of Jewish Identity for a Minor, by Rabbi Jonah Rank

Certificate of Affirmed Jewish Identity for an Adult (Jonah Rank 2024)

תעודת זהות מאושרת בישראל | Certificate of Affirmation of Jewish Identity for an Adult, by Rabbi Jonah Rank

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A Jewish Prayer for Graduation and an Interfaith Meditation on Wisdom and Learning, by Jonah Rank (2010)

שבע ברכות לנפשות קשורות | Seven Blessings For Interlinking Souls, by Rabbi Dr. Raysh Weiss and Rabbi Jonah Rank

Certificate of Conversion for an Adult (Jonah Rank 2019)

תעודת גירות בישראל | Certificate of Conversion for an Adult, by Rabbi Jonah Rank

Certificate of Conversion for a Minor (Jonah Rank 2024)

תעודת גירות בישראל (קדם־גיל־מצות) | Certificate of Conversion for a Minor, by Rabbi Jonah Rank

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תחנון לימים קשים | Taḥanun [Plea for Mercy] on Hard Days by Noa Mazor (trans. by Jonah Rank)

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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