(Men say:) Hin’ni muchan u-mz’zuman …
(Women say:) Hin’ni muchana u-m’zumenet …
Ready to accept your invitation, Holy One
of Blessing, who orders creation, I stand
before You, with humility and with joy,
prepared to enter more fully into the
weave of Your commandments.
Attentive to the call of my heart to do good,
drawn by the pull of ancestors to sanctify
life, and held by the bonds of community,
alive to the mystery and possibility of
redemption, I ask for strength and resolve
that I may do Your will.
Through the discipline of this mitzvah,
I shore myself up against despair and
express my faith in the potential of our
partnership to repair our world.
Divine Parent, who divided the light from
the darkness, made meaning from hurly
burly (tohu vavohu), created all humanity in
Your image, and gave us the gift 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.,
I am mindful of the many blessings of my
life, and I thank You for sustaining my body
and guiding the maturation of my soul that I
may maintain a wide perspective, hear Your
voice, appreciate what is sacred, and make
righteous choices along the path of my return.
בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ יָהּ אֱלֹהֵינוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדַּשְׁתָּנוּ בְּמִצּוֹתֶיהָ וְצִוַּתְנוּ לְקַיֵּם מִצְווֹת
Brukhah At YahA name for God, as in "halleluyah" – praise God. Some people prefer this name for God as a non-gendered option. Eloheynu RuakhLit. Spirit. Some new versions of blessings call God "Spirit of the World" (Ruakh Ha’olam), rather than "King of the World" (Melekh Ha'olam). Ha’olam, asher kidshatnu b’mitzvoteha, v’tzivatnu l’kayem mitzvotLit. 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.".
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לְקַיֵּם מִצְווֹת
Barukh Atah Adonay Eloheynu melekh haolam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav, v’tzivanu l’kayem mitzvot.
Blessed are You, our God, Spirit of the Universe, who made us holy through Your commandments and commanded us to sustain them.
