Blessing after the haftarah - abridged / erased
July 23, 2013
Blessed source
of all time and spacein every generation
You are faithful.Be compassionate,
life-giving, home.Bring joy to our hearts.
Let us not be misled.You have promised
light.Thank You for
remembrancethank You
for everythingLet Your name be blessed
source of all the earth.
I've been spending some time lately with the blessings recited in my shul after the haftarah reading during the Days of Awe. Although my shul does not read haftarah on a regular basis, we do read the haftarot on the Days of Awe, and on those days, I generally chant the blessings before and after the reading. (They're here in Hebrew; I can't seem to find them online in English, oddly.)
It occurred to me that I could take the text of that traditional set of blessings, and work with it using the erasure techniques I've learned from Dave Bonta. (I've done this once before -- as one of my 30 poems from this past month of April, now collected in April Daily.) I liked the result, so I'm sharing it here.
If you use this in your shul as a variation on the traditional blessings, let me know how it goes. Below the cut: the full text of the traditional blessings in English, for comparison.
Blessing after the haftarah on Rosh Hashanah (English)
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, source of all, rock of all time and space, righteous in every generation, the faithful God whose word is deed, who speaks and establishes, whose every word is truth and justice.
You are faithful, Adonai our God, and faithful is Your word. Not a single word You have spoken goes unfulfilled, for You are God, faithful, just (and merciful). Blessed are You, Adonai our God, faithful in all ways.
Be compassionate upon Zion, for it is a life-giving home for our people. Restore her soon. Blessed are You, Adonai, who brings rejoicing to Zion and her children.
Adonai our God, let us rejoice in the fulfillment of our dream of Elijah and David. Let redemption come soon and bring joy to our hearts. Let us not be misled by false prophets, for You have promised that redemption’s light shall never be extinguished. Blessed are You, Adonai, shield of David.
We thank You for the Torah and worship, for the prophets, (for this Shabbat), and for this Day of Remembrance that You have given us, Adonai our God (for holiness and rest,) for honor and splendor. We thank You for everything, Adonai our God. Let Your name ever be blessed by all that lives. Your word is true forever. Blessed are You, Adonai, source of all the earth, who sanctifies (Shabbat,) the people Israel and the Day of Remembrance.