This Ritual Life Archive
Welcome to This Ritual Life.
Here you will find out about ways to enhance your holiday experience, to celebrate or mark a meaningful life cycle event, and to deepen your experience of the everyday.
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Preparing Ourselves to Do Sacred Work
Just as our sages raised their consciousnesses before engaging in sacred acts, we too can prepare ourselves. Preparation, teaches Rachel Sabath, is "what indicates that we want to make what we are about to do stand out, be different from a mundane act that my have preceded it." A kavannah is a meditative pause, an act of centering that allows us "To be fully present and aware of or place, our time…to feel God’s presence."
Meditation:
Hineni muchan u’mezuman…
I am here, ready, prepared to…
Makor habrachot…
Source of Blessing, allow me to…
Borei ha’olam…
Creator of the world, help and guide me to…
Ribbono shel olam…
Master of the Universe, make me aware of…
Blessing:
Tein b’libi lehaveen u’lehaskil, lishmoa lilmod u’lelamed
(Allow my heart to understand, to enlighten, to listen, to learn, and to teach.)
Blessed are You God, Who allows us to be fully present.
(Rabbi Shai Gluskin)
Teaching:
"All depends on the kavannah of the heart."
(TB Megillah 20a)
"And Jacob awoke from his sleep and he said, ‘Surely there is God in this
place and I, I did not know.’"
(Genesis 28:16)
Hineni muchan.
I am prepared.
(CLAL Faculty)
CLAL's National Jewish Resource Center develops and publishes rituals that
help to bridge the gap between our contemporary lives and the ancient wisdom of the Jewish
tradition. We invite you to become a partner with us in thinking about the place of ritual
in our lives and in developing new ritual resources for our time. If you are interested in
being part of this exciting endeavor, visit with us in the Ritual Resource Area
of the CLAL website by clicking here.
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