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Traditional Jewish services are full of lines—sometimes whole paragraphs—about freedom and redemption. When read with an eye towards mass incarceration, many hitherto unremarkable lines jump out at us, clamoring for attention. We offer the following selection from the morning service as an invitation for meditation and contemplation, study and preaching, or song and chanting. We hope these—and others like them— find a use in the synagogue, the classroom, and out on the streets. From the birkhot hashachar, morning blessings:  Barukh atah...

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No matter what temper tantrum or adolescent rebellion marked the week that is past, we take a moment to place our hands on our children’s heads and to offer them words of pure love. The blessing for boys derives from Jacob’s blessing to his grandsons, Ephraim and Menashe, who are the first pair of siblings in the Bible who love each other rather than fight each other. The blessing for girls invokes the memory of our four matriarchs — Sarah, Rebekah,...

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Unending Love by Rabbi Rami Shapiro We are loved by unending love. We are embraced by arms that find us  even when we are hidden from ourselves.  We are touched by fingers that soothe us  even when we are too proud for soothing.  We are counseled by voices that guide us  even when we are too embittered to hear. We are loved by unending love. We are supported by hands that uplift us  even in the midst of a fall.  We...

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The shehechiyanu blessing thanks the creator for giving us life, sustaining us, and allowing us to reach this day. This blessing is said at momentous occasions, and tonight counts because it is the night when we can finally look back on the whole previous year. We made it! Whether bitter or sweet, difficult or fun, tonight we celebrate and feel grateful for making it to today, and to this table to reflect with people we care about. בָּרוּך אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ...

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Unetanneh Tokef or Un'taneh Tokef (ונתנה תוקף) (" Let us speak of the awesomeness ") is a piyyut that has been a part of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy in rabbinical Judaism for centuries. It is chanted while the Torah ark is open and the congregants are standing. -- Let us now relate the power of this day's holiness, for it is awesome and frightening. On it Your Kingship will be exalted; Your throne will be firmed with kindness...

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It’s time to say thank you. To your host or to your guests. To the people who have supported you through the last year, and the people who inspire you going forward. Say a real thank you--be as specific as you can, because thank yous are like fuel--they power us for the year to come. And don’t forget to thank God (or the creator/the Universe/the mystical source of connection) one more time for the year you just had, and the one...