Tashlich

Verses and Blessings to Help Create Your Sacred Space,  Mikdash M'at

1. Numbers 24:5    

מַה־טֹּ֥בוּ אֹהָלֶ֖יךָ יַעֲקֹ֑ב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יךָ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

How good are your tents, O Jacob, Your sacred places, O Israel!

2. Birkat Habayit (home blessing):

בְּזֶה הַשַּׁעַר לֹא יָבוֹא צַעַר

בְּזֹאת הַדִּירָה לֹא תָבוֹא צָרָה

בְּזֹאת הַדֶּלֶת לֺא תָבוֹא בֶּהָלָה

בְּזֹאת הַמַּחְלָקָה לֺא תָבוֹא מַחְלוֺקֶת.

בְּזֶה הַמָּקוֺם תְּהִי בְרָכָה וְשָׁלוֺם

Let no sorrow come through this gate.

Let no trouble come in this dwelling.

Let no fright come through this door.

Let no conflict come to this section.

Let there be blessing and peace in this place.

3. Exodus 20:21:

בְּכָל־הַמָּקוֹם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אַזְכִּ֣יר אֶת־שְׁמִ֔י אָב֥וֹא אֵלֶ֖יךָ וּבֵרַכְתִּֽיךָ

In every place where My name is mentioned, I will come to you and bless you.

4. Exodus 3:5

כִּ֣י הַמָּק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתָּה֙ עוֹמֵ֣ד עָלָ֔יו אַדְמַת־קֹ֖דֶשׁ הֽוּא׃

Indeed, the place on which you stand is holy ground.

5. Psalms 121:8

יְֽהוָ֗ה יִשְׁמָר־צֵאתְךָ֥ וּבוֹאֶ֑ךָ מֵֽ֝עַתָּ֗ה וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם׃

Adonai will guard your going and coming, now and forever.

6. Pirkei Avot 1:4     

 יְהִי בֵיתְךָ בֵית וַעַד לַחֲכָמִים, וֶהֱוֵי מִתְאַבֵּק בַּעֲפַר רַגְלֵיהֶם, וֶהֱוֵי שׁוֹתֶה בְצָמָא אֶת דִּבְרֵיהֶם:

Let thy house be a house of meeting for the wise, sit at their feet, and drink in their words.

7. The last line of the blessing said at Havdalah separating Shabbat from weekday can be used to “separate” this sacred space:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, הַמַבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחוֹל

Baruch atah Adonai, hamavdil bayn kodesh lechol. 

Blessed are You Adonai, who separates between holy and ordinary.

8. The traditional prayer for healing can be used to “heal” a space too:

ברוך אתה ה’, רופא כל בשר, ומפליא לעשות

Baruch atah Adonai, rofeh kol basar, u’maflee la’asot.

Praised are You Adonai, healer of all flesh, doing wonders.

 

From: Hindsight is 2020 - A High Holy Day Communal Project by Temple Beth David
https://templebethdavid.com/haggadah/

We Dance Around The Shul
By Trisha Arlin

Our Torah is old.
The blue velvet cover
And the silver plate that hangs over the velvet
Are both covered in names
Of donors long gone,
And their honored loved ones, gone even longer.
These names mean nothing to us:
We ignore them
On Shabbat
When we dance around the shul.

On Selichot we put aside the old velvet
And dressed our Torah in fresh white covers,  
only a year old,
Donated by a beloved member,
Amina.
She died this year, four days before Rosh HaShanah.
Tonight it’s Simkhat Torah.
So we now take off Amina’s white cover
And put on the old one,
Blue, embroidered with strangers' names. 
Then we will dance around the shul.

We will think of Amina every year at this time 
From now on 
Until none of us are around,
Until there is no one who remembers her, 
Or us.
Then others will carry this scroll with the white cover
Donated by a Jew they never knew,
While they dance around the shul.

We give thanks for the ancient traditions, 
Telling the story even when we can’t, 
Keeping our loved ones’ memories 

And giving us Torah from the beginning, every year.