Life Cycle
Searching for some words to mark a special moment in someone's life? Here you will find articles about rituals, new and old, that can help us mark those moments in our lives when we celebrate, grieve, or transition.
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Beginning To Study Torah…
In Medieval Europe, a Jewish boy would be wrapped in a tallit, carried to his teacher’s house and be seated on the teacher’s lap. His teacher would recite the Hebrew alphabet, written on a tablet, and would instruct the child to lick the honey that had been smeared on the tablet. The boy would eat cakes upon which Biblical verses were written, as well as hard-boiled eggs inscribed with mystical formulae to enhance memory. The boy then recited an incantation against forgetfulness, and he would be rewarded with fruits and nuts. Finally, to symbolize his openness to Torah, he would be led by his teacher to a riverbank, where he would be told that "his future study of Torah, like the rushing water in the river, will never end." (Rituals of Childhood, Ivan Marcus) Today, it is we who can create the sweet memories our own daughters and sons will have when they look back and recall their first encounter with Torah.
Meditation:
May learning Torah be a source of joy for our children. Help them to learn easily, to perform your mitzvot and to be open to wisdom and insight. May we support them as they wrestle, discover, challenge and delight. May we watch them blossom, in their learning.
Ritual:
Together with your child, spend time selecting and decorating a special backpack just for Torah studies. Before it is used the first time, fill it with treats that delight your child. On the first day of your child’s Jewish studies, as you stand at the threshold of your child’s classroom, place your hands on your child’s head and give your child traditional and personal blessings.
If you or another adult in your family are beginning or intensifying your own Torah studies, invite people you love to bless you and celebrate with delicious sweets.
Blessing:
(As you stand outside your child's classroom)
V’ha'arev na Adonai eloheinu et divrei toratkha b’finu, u’v’fi amkha beit yisrael, v’niyeh anachnu v’tze’etza’einu, v’tze’etza’ei amkha beit yisrael, kulanu yodei sh’mekha v’lomdei toratkha l’shma. Barukh atah Adonai, ham’lamed torah l’amo yisrael.
Holy one, may the words of Your wisdom be pleasant in our mouth and in the mouth of Your people, the house of Israel, so that we and our children may all know You and study Your wisdom. Blessed are You, who teaches us wisdom.
Barukh atah Adonai, eloheinu melekh ha'olam, asher bachar banu mi-kol ha’amim, v’natan lanu et torato. Barukh atah Adonai, noten hatorah.
Blessed are You who have chosen us from all peoples by giving us Your Torah. Blessed are You for the gift of Torah.
(Offer your personal blessing)
This is my hope as you begin your studies: __________________.
Teaching:
"Creator of the worlds! We know that You have created the world with great wisdom.
We have urged our child to study the Torah with dedication. I beseech You, God, strengthen
our child to learn with ease, to heed Your mitzvot and our advice. Lead our child in the
path of Torah and mitzvot. Amen."
("A Tkhine for a Mother Who Leads Her Child to Kheyder" in The
Merit of Our Mothers: A Bilingual Anthology of Jewish Women's Prayers, Tracy Guren
Klirs, ed.)
"Educate children in the way to go, and when they are old, they will not depart
from it."
(Proverbs 22:6)
V’shinantam l’vanekha v’dibarta bam.
You shall teach these words diligently to your children.
(CLAL Faculty)
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