To Learn and Grow - Prayer for Daily Minyan on January 30, 2022 for The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, Overland Park, KS

When I lead the daily minyan on Facebook Live for The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah in Overland Park, I try to create a short reading to move from the Barechu/Call to Worship to the Shema/Declaration of God’s Oneness.   There was a lot on my mind this week, especially the banning of a book that teaches about the Holocaust in a unique way.  

Daily Minyan Reading

January 30, 2022

Blessed are You, Eternal One, 

Creator of Light 

That illumines this world by day

And enlightens our minds both day and night.

Teach us to shine light into dark places 

When meaningful history is consigned to shadows

When present truths are forced into dark corners

Of concealment

When visions for the future that could ensure well-being

Are cast, instead, as threats to human hope. 

Eternal God, 

Source of wisdom who granted us the ability 

To learn and grow, 

Make our faces, our eyes, our souls

Glow with the essence of Your Torah

Enabling us to discover

All around us and inside of us

Your Oneness

Which unites us in love.

New light - Prayer for January 23, 2022 Daily Minyan for The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, Overland Park, KS

The sun rises

A new day begins. 

May the light the You have created, Eternal One, 

Lead us to discover

In the coming hours

New wisdom 

Fresh insights 

Deeper understanding 

Undying hope

All emanating 

From the love 

Flowing from Your Oneness

That we affirm, through our very existence, 

As one world

And one people.

Bathed in Light - Reading for Daily Minyan on January 18, 2022 (after Colleyville)

Bathed in Light 

Reading for The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah Daily Minyan

January 18, 2022

Blessed are You, Eternal One, our God

You created day so that we could know how it feels

To be bathed in Your light of love and wisdom. 

You established night so that we

Could discover new ways to flood the darkness

With our light that burns brightly in our souls

Because You gave us a spark to nurture, 

Individually and together. 

May your timeless teachings guide us

To dispel pain with compassion and healing

To alleviate fear with support and comfort

To overcome despair with heartfelt hope

To counter denigration and discrimination

With the pride and confidence

To continue to reveal and reflect

Your Oneness

That resides within each of us

And lies at the heart of all existence.

A Prayer for January 15, 2022 (Thinking of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, TX)

A Prayer for January 15, 2022

Eternal God, 

Our Creator, 

I still believe that You are 

A Shield 

A Shelter

A Guardian

A Support 

A Guide 

Available to all people

Except for those who have shut themselves off 

From all You have to give. 

And when that happens, 

You are still, 

for those with open minds and hearts

A Shield 

A Shelter 

A Guardian

A Support

A Guide 

And a connection builder

Among us 

So that we will be able to provide

For each other

Shelter

Guidance 

Support 

Love

Comfort

And Hope. 

Be with us today. 

We need You. 

And help us be present for one another

So that we will still sense the possibility 

Of safety 

as we voice our praise 

For this amazing world 

And all of its blessings.

May our Voices Resound - Reading before the Shema for the week of B’shalach/Song at the Sea - January 10, 2022

MAY OUR VOICES RESOUND

Original reading 

For Parashat B’shalah and the Song at the sea

Reading before the Shema for the daily minyan of

The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah 

January 10, 2022

Eternal God, the One

Who fashions the world anew every day, 

Who creates us all, 

Who leads us always to freedom, 

Who reveals truths and teachings 

That can be the foundations of our lives:

Never let us forget to sing 

As did our ancestors at the shore of the sea. 

May our voices rise up in songs of hope

That will guide us towards a better tomorrow.

May our voices join in harmonious chorus

To forge new mutual understandings 

That will bring us together. 

May our voices resound in anthems of peace

That will unite us as one as You are One.

Your Reflection, Your Love - Reading for the live-streamed daily minyan on January 2, 2022 for The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah (Overland Park, KS)

Your Reflection, Your Love

Original Reading for The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah (Overland Park, KS)

Live-streamed Daily Minyan

January 2, 2022

Blessed are You, God of Time and Space

You sustain the cycle of sunrise to sunset

and dusk to dawn. 

You turn the pages of our book of life

Day to day, year to year 

Inspiring us to reach within for greater compassion

And to comb the world around us for deeper wisdom. 

You reveal to us new meanings in your gift of Torah

And lead us to new vistas of understanding 

Through which we will see Your presence

Reflected

Throughout the universe

Within our own souls

And in each other’s eyes.  

Blessed are You, God of Time of Space

Who embraces each of us

And all of us 

in Your love, 

So that we can become One as You are One.