תפילת בת המצווה | Prayer of the Bat mitsvah after she finishes reading from the Torah, by Chaim Hames-Ezra

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=10755

open_content_license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license date_src_start: 2015-04-21 date_src_end: 2015-04-21 languages_meta: [{"name":"English","code":"eng","standard":"ISO 639-3"},{"name":"Hebrew","code":"heb","standard":"ISO 639-3"}] scripts_meta: [{"name":"Latin","code":"Latn","standard":"ISO 15924"},{"name":"Hebrew (Ktav Ashuri)","code":"Hebr","standard":"ISO 15924"}]

Date: 2015-04-21

Last Updated: 2025-04-11

Categories: Bnei (Bar/Bat) Mitsvah & Other Birthday Prayers

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Jewish Women's Prayers, Masorti, בת מצוה Bat Mitsvah, ישראל Yisrael, קריאת התורה ḳriyat hatorah

Excerpt: A statement by the Bat Mitsvah after her first aliyah. . . .

Content:
Source (Hebrew) Translation (English)
הִנְנִי עוֹמֶדֶת בְּמָקוֹם זֶה הַיּוֹם
כְּדֵי לְהָעִיד וְלוֹמַר בְּקוֹל צָלוּל וּבָרוּר
שֶׁאֲנִי בַּת יִשְׂרָאֵל.
Here I stand in this place today
to witness and to announce in a deep and clear voice
that I am a daughter of Israel.
עָלִיתִי לַתּוֹרָה
כְּדֵי לְהִתְחַבֵּר לְדוֹרוֹת שֶׁל בָּנוֹת וּבָנִים,
אִמָּהוֹת וְאָבוֹת,
סַבְתוֹת וְסָבִים,
אֲשֶׁר קָרְאוּ בְּסֵפֶר זֶה,
פֵּרְשׁוּ אֶת מִלּוֹתָיו
וְרָאוּ בּוֹ עַמּוּד אֵשׁ
הַמֵּאִיר אֶת דַּרְכָּם מֵהֶעָבָר אַל הַהֹוֶה
וּמֵהַהֹוֶה לְעָתִיד.
I came up to the Torah today[1] I took an Aliyah today  
to connect with the generations of boys and girls,
mothers and fathers,
grandmothers and grandfathers,
that read from this book,
interpreted its words,
and saw within it the pillar of fire
that lit the passageway from the past to the present
and from the present to the future.
קְרִיאָתִי בְּסֵפֶר
מְחַזֶּקֶת אֶת הַקֶּשֶׁר
בֵּינִי לְבֵין מִשְׁפַּחְתִּי,
בֵּינִי לְבֵין חֲבֵרִי וַחֲבֵרוֹתַי,
בֵּינִי לְבֵין עַמִּי וְאַרְצִי.
My reading in this book
strengthens my connection
between myself and my family,
my friends,
and the people of my nation and country.
מְקַבֶּלֶת אֲנִי בְּאַהֲבָה
אֶת הִשְׁתַּיְכוּתִי לְמָסֹרֶת שֶׁל תּוֹרָה עַתִּיקַת יוֹמִין בָּהּ
יֵשׁ לַהֲגוֹת יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה.
I receive with love
my portion in the ancient daily tradition of the Torah,
to recite it day and night.
אֲנִי תְּקַוֶּה שֶׁאוּכַל לַהֲפֹךְ בָּהּ וְלַהֲפֹךְ בָּהּ,
לְהַתְווֹת לְעַצְמִי דַּרְכֵי חַיִּים בְּאֶמְצָעוּתָהּ,
לְחַפֵּשׂ בָּהּ נְתִיבוֹת לְחָכְמָה וּלְאַהֲבָה
וּלְהִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בָּהּ לְטוֹבַת הַכְּלָל.
I hope that I will be able to turn over and over in her,[2] Cf. Pirkei Avot 5:26 — Hafoch ba ve-hafoch ba, de’kula ba – Turn it and turn it, for everything is in it   
to outline my ways of life with her help,
to find paths to wisdom and love
and to use her for the good of all.
מִי יִתֵּן וּשְׂפָתָהּ שֶׁל הַתּוֹרָה
שֶׁמְּחַבֶּרֶת בֵּין עָבַר לֶעָתִיד,
וְאוֹתִיּוֹתֶיהָ
שֶׁחֲרוּתוֹת בְּדִמְיוֹנִי פְּנִימָה וּבְפִי הַחוּצָה,
תְּשַׁמֵּשְׁנָה אוֹתִי בְּשָׁכְבִי וּבְקוּמִי,
בְּבֵיתִי וּבְלֶכְתִי,
בִּצְעִירוּתִי וּבְזִקְנָתִי.
כִּי דְּרָכֶיהָ דְּרָכַי נֹעַם וּנְתִיבוֹתֶיהָ שָׁלוֹם.
אמן.
Whoever teaches and translates the Torah
connects between the past and the future,
so may the letters [of the Torah] 
— etched in my imagination and uttered by my mouth —
find use in my lying down and in my arising,
in my home and in my travels,
in my youth and in my old age,
because “her ways are ways of pleasantness and all of her paths peace.”[3] Proverbs 3:17   
Amen.

Notes

Notes
1 I took an Aliyah today
2 Cf. Pirkei Avot 5:26 — Hafoch ba ve-hafoch ba, de’kula ba – Turn it and turn it, for everything is in it
3 Proverbs 3:17

Contributor: חיים היימס-עזרא

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Featured Image:

Title:
Caption: "Bat Mitzvah in Israel 2004" by געוואלד (CC BY-SA)