Quote by Abraham Joshua Heschel 

God, there are those among us who struggle with addiction. We offer this special prayer for those in recovery:

• Mi Sheberach, to the one who blesses: May God bless you with the courage to conquer your cravings, the strength to stay far from temptations and from people who can lead you astray.
• Mi Sheberach, to the one who blesses: May God hear the cry of your soul and bless you with the knowledge that you have the power to remake your life, to repair what has been destroyed, to recover what has been lost, to receive all the blessings that have been ignored.
• Mi Sheberach, to the one who blesses: When you fall into despair, may God bless you with hope. If you stray from the path of recovery, may God show you how to begin again. May God renew your faith in yourself. May God open your eyes to all the miracles that surround you.

Bless all those who are living in recovery. God, lead them on the path back to life, back to love, and back to You. Amen.

A Priestess’s Prayer under Quarantine
by Rachel Kann

Let me be not deceived, 
let me remember this
moment holds sweetness 
enfolded in its deep grievousness.

Let me be a vessel for 
the healing this planet
so deeply needs.

Use me 
as a source of soothing 
for everyone suffering 
under every destructive 
regime’s undoing.

Use me 
as a sukkat shalom, 
as shelter from 
the tumbling detritus
of crumbling empires,
as comfort
for those terrified
of this 
natural catastrophe.

Let me awaken
the sleepers
and weave lullabies 
for the sleepless.

Let me tend with 
utmost tenderness.

Help me find the calm inside 
so that I may grant it 
expansiveness.

From within this cocoon,
use me to reveal 
the mercy of retreat.

Use me as a tool 
to teach 
of Mother Gaia’s 
tremendous gentleness,
of her unfathomably vast patience 
with this human race—

what unimaginable grace 
she shows us.

What merciful tolerance
she bestows upon us:

to serve us 
three-day-pay-or-quit papers,
rather than a
well-deserved 
immediate eviction notice.

Remind me that I was born 
for this moment.

Let this be the turning point,
we so desperately need,

let me be 
empathy,

let me mourn
each soul’s last gasp 
of breath,

let me be compassion,
let me 
radiate graciousness,

please,
hear this simple petition,
please 
use me to priestess 
the emerging world 
Into existence.

 This adaption of Psalm 42 was made as part of The Psalms Project from G-dcast, dedicated to raising basic Jewish literacy. We invited poets to interpret the Biblical psalm of their choice, and then we animated the most compelling entries.

The Higgs Field: Each Green Unfurling
by Rachel Kann

Can you imagine the practical grace
in your thoroughgoing pulsation?
The surge of blood toward and from,
the electric whisper of your heart’s continuing?

Do you grasp the implication
of your lungs’ twinned genius?
The expansion and contraction
in eternal pranic tango
with each green unfurling?

The gift of
paroxysms of laughter?

The wonder
that is your stumbling journey?

The elaborate code
of your elegant animal?

The miraculous machinery
of your is-ness,
if you could witness it,
would knock you to your knees in awe,
raise you to your toes in grateful praise

to the greatness that set the tempo,
made momentum out
of the ineffable substance
our every atom is pushing through.

Caroline Rothstein performs Fat is Not a Feeling
https://www.carolinerothstein.com/video/fat-is-not-a-feeling/

Fruit
By Rachel Kann


Know this:
you are wonderful-wild.
Do not deny it, contort
akimbo,
reach your glorious limbs skyward. 
No more mourning
your exclusion from the orchard—
you were never meant to be regimented,
thank heaven.

The predatory parasites
who hijacked the canopy,
clawing toward your inner sugar,
have all been evicted. 
They could never truly penetrate;
never rip to the center of you. 
They tried to prune your shine,
you bloomed through it.
Their attempts to graft you
proved fruitless, 
they carved their tags into your trunk,
underestimated your fortitude. 
How could they predict
you’d claim your scars as splendor? 
Your roots go deeper
than you ever imagined.
You are steadfast
and untamable. 
Your leaves unfurl face-up
toward the
massive gentleness
and outrageous abundance
emanating in waves of electric radiance. 
Your existence bridges
earthly with celestial. 
Today, it begins.
Awaken, under cover of cold snap.
Be your sweetness, revealed.
Your glow is a holy permission slip. 
Beneath the harsh winter—
hidden growth. Humble/pliant,
you are safer than you realize.

Here is a secret worth knowing:
To dance, you must let the wind
whip your branches.

To sing, permit the breeze
to whistle through you. 
Your very being is a map of eternity.
You are inviolable,
fairly spilling with potential. 
Come to blossom;
Come to fruit. 

Said after childbirth, major surgery, surviving an accident, traveling overseas, being released from incarceration and other life-threatening situations, the Gomel Blessing has its origins in the Talmud. The blessing is said together with community. 

First, the person who has survived says: 

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם הַגּוֹמֵל לְחַיָּבִים טוֹבוֹת שֶׁגְּמָלַנִי כָּל טוֹב

Barukh atah Adonai, Elohainu melekh haOlam, ha-gomel l’chayavim tovot she-g’malani kol tov.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, ruler of the world, who rewards the undeserving with goodness, and who has rewarded me with goodness.

Then, the community responds: 

מִי שֶׁגְמַלְךָ כֹּל טוֹב הוּא יִגְמַלְךָ כֹּל טוֹב סֶלָה

May God who rewarded you with all goodness reward you with all goodness forever.  

Mi she-g’malcha kol tov, hu yi-g’malcha kol tov selah.

In a world where we are constantly encouraged to produce, taking time to rest can feel radical.

Founded in 2016, The Nap Ministry is an organization devoted to exploring how rest is a form of spirituality and resistance, especially for oppressed people.  Learn more about how The Nap Ministry is making naps a sacred practice at: https://thenapministry.wordpress.com/ 

To help yourself connect with this aspect of Shmita, find a space in your home that is solely dedicated to rest. Bring blankets, pillows, yoga mats or anything you need  to feel comfortable into the space. Shut out noise and unplug from technology. Consider having calming sounds and smells into your space as you nap, daydream, rest, meditate or sleep.