This ritual is designed to take place one week before a group adult B’nei MitzvahLit. Commandment. It is traditionally held that there are 613 mitzvot (plural) in Judaism, both postive commandments (mandating actions) and negative commandments (prohibiting actions). Mitzvah has also become colloquially assumed to mean the idea of a “good deed." service.
The class participants and rabbi gather outside of a mikvehThe ritual bath. The waters of the mikveh symbolically purify – they are seen as waters of rebirth. A convert immerses in the mikveh as part of conversion. Many Orthodox married women go to the mikveh following their period and before resuming sexual relations. Couples go to the mikveh before being married. Many, including some men, immerse before Yom Kippur; some go every Friday before Shabbat.. The rabbi welcomes participants and explains what will happen.
Rabbi reads:
By the Water
Water
source of life,
medium of redemption,
means to purification,
path to rebirth,
metaphor for learning.
We stand by the water today.
We reflect on the sacred journey concluding,
And acknowledge the truth:
it is but a beginning.
We feel our strength to travel forward (Rabbi Lisa Greene)
Each adult B’nei mitzvah shares a word on commitment as you journey forward.
All sing:
EILI, EILI
Eili Eili shelo yigamer l’olam
Hachol v’hayam rishrush shel hamayim
B’rak hashamayim, tefilat ha’adamAdam is the first human being created by God. Symbolizes: Creation, humankind.
O God, my God
I pray that these things never end
The sand & the sea,
the rush of the water
The crash of the heavens,
the prayer of the heart (HannahHannah is the mother of the prophet Samuel, who, through her prayers, is rewarded a child. She herself is also considered a prophet. Hannah's intense devotional style of prayer becomes the model, in rabbinic Judaism, for prayer in general. Senesh)
Students read together:
At the Water
I immerse.
At this moment
at the edge of change
I embrace roots and growth
and spread wings to soar ahead.
Stepping in to the living waters,
I walk forward to new beginnings
that are wholly mine. (Rabbi Lisa S. Greene)
Each participant has a personal immersion with blessings in the mikveh (Blessings from Mayyim Hayyim can be used.)
After everyone immerses, the class & rabbi gathers for rabbi to offer the priestly blessing.
