Build me a Jew, O Lord, who will bring honor to the names of the matriarchs. Bestow upon her their qualities of nobility, beauty, strength, and gentility.
May she be like RuthAn important female biblical character with her own book. The Book of Ruth, read on Shavuot, tells the story of Ruth’s devotion to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and their return to Israel. Ruth’s story is often read as the first story of conversion. Ruth is the grandmother of King David., a fountain of our faith. May she be like Golda, a pillar of our people. Instill in her the love of learning; grant her the joy of marriage; teach her to have compassion upon all life that she be blessed with the three-fold blessing of TorahThe Five Books of Moses, and the foundation of all of Jewish life and lore. The Torah is considered the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and study of the Torah is a high mitzvah. The Torah itself a scroll that is hand lettered on parchment, elaborately dressed and decorated, and stored in a decorative ark. It is chanted aloud on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat, according to a yearly cycle. Sometimes "Torah" is used as a colloquial term for Jewish learning and narrative in general., Chupah, and Maasim TovimLit. Good deeds. The traditional prayer for a newborn infant at his or her brit milah or baby naming concludes, "May s/he grow to Torah, to Chuppah, and to ma'asim tovim.".
Build me a daughter, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when she is weak and brave enough to face herself when she is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, but humble and gentle in victory. Send her, I pray, not only in the path of ease and comfort but also in the spur of difficulty and challenge. Here let her learn to stand up in the storm; here let her learn compassion for those who fall. Grant her the insight to know herself and the wisdom to know you. Be with us, her parents, as we begin this new journey through life.
Build me a daughter, O Lord, whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high; a daughter who will master herself before she seeks to master others; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.
After all these things are hers, this I pray, enough sense of humor that she may always be serious but never take herself seriously. Give her humility so that she may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength; then we, her parents, will dare to whisper, “We, too, have been enriched.”
