Rosh haShanah la-Behemah

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This is an archive of prayers and ritual activities prepared for, or relevant to, Rosh haShanah la-Behemah, the Jewish New Year’s Day for [primarily, Domesticated] Animals (Behemot), celebrated on Alef b’Elul, the first day of the month of Elul in the Jewish calendar. The day is one of the four New Year’s day festivals (Rosh Hashanot) in the Jewish calendar as explained in the Mishnah (Seder Moed Rosh Hashanah 1:1). During the Second Temple period, this was a day on which shepherds determined which of their mature animals were to be tithed for offerings. The day coincides with Rosh Ḥodesh Elul, exactly one month before Rosh Hashanah.

Beginning in 2009, the festival began to be revived by Jewish animal protection advocates and environmental educators to raise awareness of the mitsvah of tsar baalei ḥayim (obligating not causing undue suffering of any living creature), the source texts informing Jewish ethical relationships with domesticated animals, and the lived experience of animals impacted by human needs, especially in the industrial meat industry.

Click here to contribute your own prayers, song, or resource for an activity or ritual for Rosh haShanah la-Behemah!

Filtered by tag: “21st century C.E.” (clear filter)

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תהלים ח׳ | Psalms 8, a mizmor of David (translated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer)

The 8th psalm of the book of Psalms in Masoretic Hebrew accompanied by an English translation. . . .

Categories: Tehilim Book 1 (Psalms 1–41), Rosh haShanah la-Behemah

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., על הגתית Al HaGitit, מזמור Mizmor, Psalms 8

Contributor(s): the Masoretic Text, David ben Yishai (traditional attribution) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

A Prayer for the Earth, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)

God of all spirit, all directions, all winds You have placed in our hands power unlike any since the world began to overturn the orders of creation. . . .

Categories: Rosh haShanah la-Melakhim, Rosh haShanah la-Behemah, Earth, our Collective Home & Life-Support System, Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), 🌐 Earth Day (22 April), Rosh haShanah la-Ilanot (Tu biShvat)

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., earth, eco-conscious, ecoḥasid, North America

Contributor(s): David Seidenberg and Neohasid [dot] org

The Council of All Beings, an activity for all ages on the Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals, Rosh haShanah la-Behemah, on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul

Domesticated animals (behemot) are distinguished from ḥayot, wild animals in having been bred to rely upon human beings for their welfare. As the livelihood and continued existence of wild animals increasingly depends on the energy, food, and land use decisions of human beings, the responsibility for their care is coming into the purview of our religious responsibilities as Jews under the mitsvah of tsa’ar baalei ḥayyim — mindfullness of the suffering of all living creatures in our decisions and behavior. Rosh haShanah la-Behemah is the festival where we are reminded of this important mitsvah at the onset of the month in which we imagine ourselves to be the flock of a god upon whose welfare we rely. The “Council of All Beings” is an activity that can help us understand and reflect upon the needs of the flock of creatures that already rely upon us for their welfare. . . .

Categories: Rosh haShanah la-Behemah, Roleplaying

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., animal protection, eco-conscious, ecoḥasid

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady

A Blessing for the Bugs on the Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals, Rosh Hashana La-Behemah, by Trisha Arlin

I have come to see That we are not the only creatures who are B’tzelem Elohim, We are all in God’s image. So today, on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul, On the New Year of the Domesticated Beasts, Let’s give thanks to the bugs Like the four questioning children Wise and snarky and simple and oblivious, Like the four worlds of the kabbala The earth, the sky, the heart and the spirit We give thanks and acknowledge The bugs we have domesticated The bugs who serve us in their wild state The bugs that hurt us or gross us out And the bugs who live only for themselves, without any reference to us. . . .

Categories: Rosh haShanah la-Behemah, Rosh Ḥodesh Elul (אֶלוּל)

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., crawling things, English vernacular prayer, first person, four worlds, Fourth Day of Creation, insects, neo-lurianic, New York City, North America, Prayers as poems

Contributor(s): Trisha Arlin

Kavvanah before Shofar Blowing on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul for Rosh haShanah la-Behemah (the Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals)

The text of this ritual shofar blowing for Rosh Ḥodesh Elul on Rosh haShanah La-Behemah developed as part of the annual ceremony taking place at the dairy barn on the campus of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center beginning in 2009 under the auspices of Elat Chayyim Center for Jewish Spirituality and the Adamah Farm & Fellowship. The first Rosh haShanah ritual ceremony was co-developed by Rabbi Jill Hammer and Kohenet Sarah Chandler. My contribution of the kavvanah came a year later in 2010. The text presented here was built upon that ceremony and was presented first at the Hazon Detroit Jewish Food Festival in 2016. . . .

Categories: Rosh haShanah la-Behemah, Rosh Ḥodesh Elul (אֶלוּל)

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., animal protection, animal welfare, בהמות behemot, אלול elul, חשבון הנפש Ḥeshbon HaNefesh, שופר shofar, shofar blowing, the sixth month, צער באלי חיים tsa'ar baalei ḥayyim, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady

Meat and Feathers: We Confess, a vidui for Rosh haShanah la-Behemah (the Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals), by Trisha Arlin

Trisha Arlin first published this prayer for a communal confession on Rosh Hashanah LaBehemot on her liturgy site, here. Elements of this vidui (confession) are derived from the Kavvanah before Blowing the Shofar on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul for Rosh Hashanah LaBehemot (New Year’s Day for Domesticated Animals). . . .

Categories: Rosh haShanah la-Behemah, Rosh Ḥodesh Elul (אֶלוּל)

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., animals, בהמות behemot, חשבון הנפש Ḥeshbon HaNefesh, predatory nature, וידוי vidui

Contributor(s): Trisha Arlin

ברכת המזון לראש השנה לבהמה | Birkat haMazon Supplement for Rosh haShanah la-Behemah, by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

This is a poetic text for Birkat haMazon, signed with an alphabetical acrostic and the name of the author, to be recited on the first of Elul. It celebrates the variety of God’s creation as exemplified by the natural diversity of species, as well as alluding to the livestock tithes traditionally assigned on the first of Elul. . . .

Categories: Rosh haShanah la-Behemah, Blessings After Eating

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., acrostic, Acrostic signature, Alphabetic Acrostic

Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

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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