Blessing for Rosh Ḥodesh Ḥeshvan, by Kohenet Ilana Joy Streit • the Open Siddur Project

Excerpt: A prayer for the month of Marḥeshvan (a/k/a Ḥeshvan) on Rosh Ḥodesh Marḥeshvan in the autumn season. . . .

Content:

Blessing for Rosh Ḥodesh Ḥeshvan

May all of the ḥavurah leaders, rabbis, cantors, and Hebrew priestesses
heave one giant sigh of relief
(and be able to cook for themselves
and answer personal emails
and read New Yorker cartoons)

May all of the synagogue administrators
get massages
and pedicures
and days off
and empty to do lists

May the Torah hold us

May the matriarchs and patriarchs
hold us
and whisper to us
and dance with us

May we keep dancing,
far beyond Simḥat Torah

May sweetness now be folded into our lives
like laundry,
as if it belonged,
which it does

May Mr. Ḥeshvan be a kind and friendly sort of man,
like a next-door neighbor
who will shovel our sidewalk
every so often

May there not be any snow this Ḥeshvan

May our hearts be warmed instead of the earth

May autumn descend gently,
may we find both gloves in each pair

May we reconnect
with the joys of soup
and fireplaces
and snuggling in a warm bed

A poem-blessing for the Hebrew month of Ḥeshvan, suitable for Birkat HaḤodesh and for Rosh Ḥodesh Ḥeshvan itself. Also to be kept in the pocket of Jewish communal leaders during Elul and Tishrei.

Please note that this was written in the Northern Hemisphere and conveys the experience of Ḥeshvan as an autumn month.

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Featured Image:

Title: Autumn Leaves by iIana joy streit
Caption: Autumn Leaves by IIana Joy Streit