We've just offered our Mi SheBeirach prayer for healing. But in fact, there are many different kinds of Mi SheBeirach prayers. Mi SheBeirach is a type of prayer, which requests a blessing for the person on whose behalf it is said. Most famously, there is the Mi SheBeirach prayer for a person who is sick -- but there also is a Mi SheBeirach for someone who's just had an aliyah to the Torah, a Mi SheBeirach for a wedding couple before they enter the chuppah, and also, there is a Mi SheBeirach prayer for a synagogue community, asking for blessing for congregation. And it is this final kind of Mi SheBeirach which we'd like to offer now.
Would the congregation please rise.
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May the One who blessed our ancestors -- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah -- bless this sacred congregation of Westchester Reform Temple.
God -- our ancestors had an insight, a glimmer of spiritual wisdom, which they passed down to their children, and their children’s children -- an insight which has, in turn, been passed down to us. Our ancestors taught: “Place these words which God has commanded you this day upon your heart. Teach them faithfully to your children. Inscribe them on the doorposts of our house, and on your gates.”
God -- our ancestors recognized the sacred power of the doorpost: a place that is neither inside nor outside, a place that is in between, a place on the cusp -- the place of transition.
Our Eternal God -- this holy congregation of Westchester Reform Temple stands now at the doorpost, in a moment of transition. Some of us are going out. Others among us are coming in. Still others, the majority, are not going any place in particular. But nevertheless, all of us -- whether we are in motion or standing still -- this entire community is in a moment of transition.
A moment of transition can bring with it conflicting emotions. It is at once both a beginning and an ending. It is at once both exciting and unsettling. It is at once both full of new possibilities, and also, is full of loss.
Our ancestors recognized that in a moment such as this, when our hearts are pulled in so many different directions, we need something to ground us. And so, our ancestors instructed us to mount a mezuzah on every doorpost -- a powerful reminder of their belief that You, our loving God, go with us through all our moments of transition.
And so, we pray: mi shebeirach avoteinu v’imoteinu -- may the One who blessed our ancestors with wisdom go with us through this hour of change. Help us, our Eternal God, to navigate the complexities of transition. Help us make our goodbyes sincere and heartfelt. Help us open our arms and our hearts widely, to embrace all the unknowns that await us, full of potential. Help us to carry with us always the experiences we have shared -- the times we have celebrated together, mourned together, prayed together, learned together, witnessed together our children’s growth and change, recognized together the changes we’ve discovered in ourselves. Our God, in this moment of transition, help us feel Your loving presence, a presence that accompanies us everywhere -- and in so doing, help us hold fast to our belief that life, that greatest of all transitions, is worthwhile and beautiful.
Standing in this doorway, may we gently lift our hand up to our lips, softly place a kiss upon our finger, and with the wisdom of our ancestors, lovingly reach out and touch the doorframe -- that we may approach this hour of change full of sweetness, affection, and love.
Our God, help us make it so. And together, let us all say: Amen.