The Sabbath, a paraliturgical berakhah aḥat meʼayin shevaʼ (CCAR 1923)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown and Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]

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17 January 2026 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., ברכה אחת מעין שבע berakhah aḥat me'ayin sheva', English vernacular prayer, paraliturgical berakhah aḥat me'ayin sheva'

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	And the Lord spoke unto Moses saying: Speak thou also unto the children of Israel saying: Verily ye shall keep My Sabbath, for it is a sign between Me and you through your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord who sanctify you. (Exodus 31:12) Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and rested. (Exodus 31:16-17)
	This day is for Israel light and rejoicing, A Sabbath of rest. Thou badest us standing assembled at Sinai, That all the years through we should keep Thy behest. To set out a table full-laden to honor, The Sabbath of rest. This day is for Israel light and rejoicing, A Sabbath of rest. Treasure of heart for the broken people, Gift of new soul for the souls distrest, Soother of sighs for the prisoned spirit, The Sabbath of rest. This day is for Israel light and rejoicing, A Sabbath of rest. When the work of the worlds in their wonder was finished, Thou madest this day to be holy and blest, And those heavy-laden find safety and stillness, A Sabbath of rest. This day is for Israel light and rejoicing, A Sabbath of rest. (From “Yom Zeh l’Yisrael” by Isaac Luria as translated by Nina Davis Salaman)
	The splendor of lofty conceptions and the blessedness of a thousand joys dwell with the memory of the Sabbath day. Its observance is older than Israel itself; its roots lie at the foundations of the world. It tells of the victory of light over darkness, of order over chaos, and brings the undying promise that the Lord will reign for ever, creating, building, and breathing into human bodies a living spirit, sacred and indestructible.
	The Sabbath is sacred. It is welcomed with a Ḳiddush, a Sanctification. It enters with the beauty of holiness, bringing a gift, an added measure of the spirit of God, transfiguring our daily life and emphasizing the features of our divinity.
	The Sabbath is a day of joy,— joy of accomplishment, joy of well-earned repose, joy of the promise that if we have labored with God, we will find rest in His presence. Whenever we welcome her coming, ‘Princess Sabbath’ brings into our lives an echo of the creative word, the glory of an added holiness, and the joy of blessed rest.
	We need the sustaining thought of God’s creative power, for our age is despairing and weary. We should seek an added holiness, for disillusionment has tarnished the splendor of our dreams; and how welcome should be a day of joy and serenity in our treadmill of labor and grief.
	Difficult it is, indeed, to observe the Sabbath; yet it is equally difficult to live without its blessings. We cannot remake our environment, the life around us, but we can snatch from its insatiable demands, moments of blessedness. Whatever measure of Sabbath joy we can win for ourselves, will hallow our lives. Whether we take the blessed ceremony of its joyous advent, or the refreshing calm of its synagog service, the Sabbath will renew our strength, enrich our souls with a clearer vision, and calm our spirits with the quiet happiness of peace.
	Lord of all worlds, whose mighty word brought light into the darkness, Thou hast created us and formed us. Thou didst mould us as clay is moulded in the hands of the potter, and hast breathed into our souls part of Thy spirit. Thou didst bid us walk in Thy footsteps, to become coworkers with Thee in Thy creation.
	We thank Thee, O God, for that eternal command, for the joy of worthy labor and the blessing of hallowed rest; for the toil of the week which invites our strength and for the serenity of the Sabbath which renews our soul.
	Heavenly Father, have mercy upon us, for we have neglected Thine ancient behest. We toil indeed, arduously and ceaselessly, but we fail to seek the refreshment of rest in Thee. Six days do we labor, but the Sabbath often remains unhallowed.
	Lord, Thou knowest our lives, their struggles and their temptations. We have no strength but in Thee. Grant us the power, we pray Thee, to seek Thy presence more eagerly than we pursue earthly gain. Bid us partake of Thy blessings and to ‘know that the Lord is good’ (Psalms 34:9). Hallow our homes that they may become fit habitations for Thy holy day. Direct our steps unto Thy holy place. O fill the portion of the Sabbath which Thou hast preserved for us, with Thy spirit, that its joy may revive us, and its sanctity bring us a sacred moment of nearness to Thee.

“The Sabbath” is the fifth prayer found in ברכה ותהלה Blessing and Praise: A Book of Meditations and Prayers for Individual and Home Devotion (CCAR 1923), pp. 22-25. Unfortunately, we do not yet know of a resource providing clear attribution to any of the prayers in this volume. The author was likely one of the members of the Committee on Book of Meditations and Prayers: Solomon B. Freehof, Israel Bettan, Abraham Cronbach, Morris S. Lazaron, and Abram Simon. For this prayer, I suspect it may have been Rabbi Freehof, for his idiosyncratic spelling of “synagog.”

Source(s)

Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Unknown

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]

The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada.

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The Sabbath Queen. Illustration by E.M. Lilien (1874-1925) from the book: Juda, ballads of Börries von Münchhausen (Berlin 1901)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "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)

The Sabbath, a paraliturgical berakhah aḥat meʼayin shevaʼ (CCAR 1923)

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