בִּרְכוֹת הַתּוֹרָה | Birkhot haTorah, paraliturgical reflections by Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=31384

Date: 2020-05-07

Last Updated: 2025-02-02

Categories: Birkhot haTorah, Torah Study

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, paraliturgical birkhot haTorah, shame resilience, ברכות התורה birkhot haTorah

Excerpt: A paraliturgical reflection on the blessings over learning Torah, the Birkhot haTorah, for a shame resilience practice. . . .

Content:

Source (Hebrew)	Paraliturgical Reflection (English)
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֺתָיו, וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל דִבְרֵי תוֹרָה׃	I bless You, Holy One, whose Spirit compels me to seek wisdom.
וְהַעֲרֶב נָא יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ אֶת דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָתְךָ בְּפִֽינוּ, וּבְפִי כׇל עַמְּךָ בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל.	Remind me that seeking wisdom is sweet, that learning is a sacred act even when it is uncomfortable, even when I do not understand right away.
וְנִהְיֶה אֲנַֽחְנוּ וְצֶאֱצָאֵֽינוּ, וְצֶאֱצָאֵי כׇל עַמְּךָ בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל, כֻּלָּנוּ יוֹדְעֵי שְׁמֶֽךָ וְלוֹמְדֵי תוֹרָתְךָ לִשְׁמָהּ.	Remind me that I am in a long line of wisdom-seekers, from my ancestors before me to my students and descendants after me.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ הַמְלַמֵּד תּוֹרָה לְעַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל׃	Remind me that I who wrestle with being alive am part of a human community of other wrestlers.
	Remind me that all our seeking is for the sake of You, the One who is Consciousness.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר בְָּחַר בְָּנוּ מִכׇּל הָעַמִּים, וְנָֽתַן לָֽנוּ אֶת תּוֹרָתוֹ. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ נוֹתֵן הַתּוֹרָה׃	I bless You, Holy One, who teaches wisdom through the ages and in my life.

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Rabbi Shoshana Meira’s paraliturgical interpretation of the Birkhot haTorah (the blessings over learning Torah), was first published in her Siddur v’lo Nevosh (2014). Linear correspondence between the Hebrew source and the English by Aharon Varady.

Source(s)

 

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Contributor: Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman

Co-authors:

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  Name: Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman
  Bio: Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman is the Associate Rabbi at Temple Sinai in Brookline, Massachusetts. She feels blessed to serve this vibrant community through building personal relationships, teaching Torah, innovating new engagement initiatives, working for justice, and leading prayer. Rabbi Shoshana is a leader in the interfaith climate justice movement in New England. She and her husband Yotam Schachter co-wrote The Tide Is Rising, an anthem for the climate movement that has been sung in congregations, climate rallies, and gatherings in the US, Brazil, Denmark, and France. In other pursuits, she has released an album of original music called Guesthouse, clowned for hospitalized children, tended a community garden, and written poetry. Her publications include pieces in the Huffington Post and the Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and she has written an interpretive translation of the weekday prayer service called Siddur V'lo Nevosh: Jewish Prayer as Shame Resilience Practice. Rabbi Shoshana was ordained at Hebrew College Rabbinical School, and is a graduate of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, JOIN For Justice, and Oberlin College of Arts & Sciences where she was also a Henry David Thoreau Scholar. She grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, and lives in Jamaica Plain with Yotam and their dog Lulu. For sermons, publications, music, and activism visit www.rabbishoshana.com.
  Website: http://www.rabbishoshana.com
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/shoshana-friedman

Featured Image:

Title: Tea_bowl_fixed_in_the_Kintsugi_method
Caption: "Tea bowl fixed in the Kintsugi method" (Public Domain). Kintsugi is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with lacquer resin dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum.