Light

בְּאור פָּנֶיךָ / "In the light of Your face…"

I know the light of God's face

in how my face shines

when I see yours.

When the song of my heart

finds harmony, that's

the closest thing to wholeness

I know.

-- R. Rachel Barenblat, originally published at Bayit as part of Grant Peace

When I turned to the Shalom blessing in the amidah along with my collaborators in Bayit's Liturgical Arts Working Group, this is the first place it took me. I got caught by the Hebrew phrase  בְּאור פָּנֶיךָ, "in the light of Your face," and those words took me deep into my own heart. 

Our latest collaborative offering is out: poetry, liturgy, and art riffing off of the Shalom blessing in the Shabbat amidah. (This is the 8th offering in a series, and one more is forthcoming.) Shalom, peace, shleimut -- the word means so many different things to each of us.

The closing blessing of the Amidah asks for shalom: peace, wholeness, completion. What does this prayer mean to us today? What does it ask of God – and of us? What does it mean to ask for peace in a time of tumult and injustice? How can we ask for something we may not even wholly understand? This offering arises out of those questions and more. 

This offering turns that prayer in a kaleidoscope and reveals different ways our hearts might shine. Find it here: Grant Peace.