Opening Psalm for Rosh Chodesh

Witnessing

Cypresses point to the night,
through clouds and beyond them.
We follow them up to the mountain
to stake our site.

We wait. The air is still.
The leaf, the branch, the bark–
our signposts in the darkness
of the hill.

And now the blade of night
gleams through the briars.
We gather twigs for the fires:
New Moon, old light.

Excerpted from The Book of Blessings: New Jewish Prayers for Daily Life, the Sabbath and the New Moon Festival; Harper, 1996; paperback edition, Beacon, 1999; copyright 1996 Marcia Lee Falk. The Book of Blessings includes an entire section of prayers for Rosh Chodesh eve and Rosh Chodesh morning as well as Kiddush Levanah. Used by permission of the author. www.marciafalk.com

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