Family
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On Nursing…
The experience of breast feeding brings the text of birkat hamazon (Grace After Meals) to mind with startling power. We share this Kavannah by Elisheva S. Urbas of Yorktown Heights, NY, a reader of Sh’ma.
Meditation:
(to be recited before nursing)
God of our mothers, Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah, You remembered me when I longed for this child and in the pain of labor, and You have brought me, rejoicing, to hold this infant in my arms. Now I turn to You again, hoping to feed this child as You feed all living creatures, out of Your boundless loving kindness. I trust in you, that in Your goodness you surely will not let my child lack sustenance, neither now nor ever, for the sake of Your great Name. Let an pain that I may feel a I nurse this child be submerged in my joy as I watch the miracle of my flourishing baby, and keep us from any misfortune that may cause suffering to my child or to me between now and the time that my child is safely weaned. May your goodness teach me to help my child grow both now in my arms and in all the years You grant us together. For You are the God who has always given me good things. Blessed are You, God, who sustains all.
Blessing:
Baruch atah Adonai, hazan et hakol.
Blessed are You, who provides food for all.
Teaching:
"And who would have believed, and told Abraham, that Sarah would nurse her children?" (Genesis )
"That you may nurse and be satisfied with the breasts of comfort, may the mild delight you with it’s abundant glory." (Isaiah)
"And the people will nurse on the abundance of the seas and the treasures hidden in the sands." (Deuteronomy)
Baruch atah Adonai, Hazan et hakol.
Blessed are You, who provides food for all.
(CLAL Faculty)
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