Preparing for the Shema, a responsive reading by Rabbi Cantor Eva Robbins (2015)
Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=54786
open_content_license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license date_src_start: 2015-00-00 date_src_end: 2015-00-00 languages_meta: [{"name":"English","code":"eng","standard":"ISO 639-3"}] scripts_meta: [{"name":"Latin","code":"Latn","standard":"ISO 15924"}] Date: 2024-03-15
Last Updated: 2025-04-11
Categories: the Shema
Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Opening Prayers, כוונות kavvanot, שמע shemaŋ
Excerpt: Originally composed by Rabbi/Cantor Eva Robbins for her ordination at the Academy for Jewish Religion, California, in 2015, this responsive reading is intended to prepare oneself for a deeper connection before chanting the Shema. It can be used alone or in community. . . .
Content:
| Source (Hebrew) |
Source (English) |
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שמע
|
Reader
SH’MA –
Our ears can hear,
but our beings must listen.
Close out, if for only a moment,
everything that pulls, distracts
and keeps us away from truly paying attention.
Congregation
In this moment I open
every pore of my being.
I listen with deep intention
to what my faith proclaims.
|
|
ישראל
|
Reader
YISRAEL –
One who strives with El, the Holy One
and like Jacob is transformed for eternity.
Congregation
I know I have fears
but I must embrace the angel of challenge,
so I can grow and be a better person.
|
|
יהוה
|
Reader
ADONAI –
The Lord and Master of each one of us –
each individual Belongs to you.
Congregation
You are my Lord,
the Master of all good and evil,
I must always choose to walk in your ways.
|
|
אלהינו
|
Reader
ELOHEYNU –
You are God to many,
yet you are the One.
Congregation
You are our God.
I share your presence and your goodness with others.
We are your family—
You are the great mother and father.
We are your children.
|
|
יהוה
|
Reader
ADONAI –
You are Yud Hey Vav Hey—
the spiritual skeleton that supports,
every single human being.
Congregation
As I walk through life,
I am supported by your name.
My bones are strengthened
by the marrow of your essence.
|
|
אחד
|
Reader
EḤAD –
You are ONE –
You are a single strand
that began before time,
a multiplicity of possibilities –
the One, the only –
the first, the last.
Congregation
I am unified by your being,
ensouled by your presence,
attached and never alone!
|
Originally composed by Rabbi/Cantor Eva Robbins for her ordination at the Academy for Jewish Religion, California, in 2015, this responsive reading is intended to prepare oneself for a deeper connection before chanting the Shema. It can be used alone or in community.
Contributor: Eva Robbins
Co-authors:
-
Name: Eva Robbins
Bio: Rabbi and cantor Eva Robbins is co-founder of N'vay Shalom with her husband Rabbi Stephen Robbins, on the Faculty of the Academy for Jewish Religion, California, and officiant of lifecycle ceremonies in Los Angeles. She is the author of Spiritual Surgery: A Journey of Healing Mind, Body, and Spirit (about the Mishkan) and is a visiting columnist for the Jewish Journal of Southern California. She is on the Board of the Sandra Caplan Community Beit Din as well as participating in conversion ceremonies and a teacher of Torah and Jewish meditation.
Website: https://expandedspirit.org/
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/eva-robbins
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