AFTERNOON
---------
(Ashrei)
What happiness to be in Your house,
to sing Your praise, to belong to Your people.
What happiness to worship God.
A Psalm of David.
My God, my Guide, I will praise You always.
Day after day will I extol You.
God is infinite and awesome,
beyond all praise and all description.
Age after age Your works are praised,
Your power is felt, Your deeds are lauded.
I too am touched by Your glory,
the wonders of Your creation.
Some may speak of You only in awe,
but I speak of You with vast joy.
The very mention of Your goodness yields delight.
God is gracious and kind, patient and very loving,
good to everyone, compassionate to all creatures.
May all Your children be worthy of You.
May all who claim to love You be a blessing,
by honoring Your sovereignty,
by declaring Your power,
by showing the splendor of Godliness.
Your realm is the unbounded cosmos;
Your reign endures throughout eternity.
God upholds all who falter;
He lifts up all the downtrodden.
All eyes must look to You with hope;
satisfy our needs in due time.
Your hand is always ready to fill all life with joy.
Your are just in every way, loving in every gesture.
You are near to all who call upon You,
to all who call upon You with integrity.
May God always hear the prayer of the pious,
always answer their pleas, come to their aid.
May God guard every loving soul,
and destroy all wickedness.
May my own lips utter God's praise;
may all people worship God always.
May all of us praise God now and forever.
Halleluyah.
HATZI KADDISH
-------------
Hallowed and enhanced may He be
throughout the world of His own creation.
May He cause His sovereignty soon to be accepted,
during our life and life of all Israel.
And let us say: Amen.
May He be praised throughtout all time.
Glorified and celebrated,
lauded and worshipped,
acclaimed and honored,
extolled and exalted
may the Holy One be,
praised beyond all song and psalm,
beyond all tributes which mortals can utter.
And let us say: Amen.
AMIDAH (Alternative)
------
Help me, O God, to pray.
Our ancestors worshiped You. Abraham and Sarah, Rebecca and Isaac,
Jacob, Rachel and Leah stood in awe before You. We too reach for
You, infinite, awesome, transcendant God, source of all being whose
truth shines through our ancestors lives. We, their distant
descendants, draw strength from their lives and from Your redempting
love. Be our help and our shield, as You were theirs.
* We praise You, God, Guardian of Abraham.
Your power sustains the universe. You breathe life into dead matter.
With compassion You care for those who live. Your limitless love
lets life triumph over death, heals the sick, upholds the exhausted,
frees the enslaved, keeps faith even with the dead. Who is like You,
God of splendor and power incomparable? You govern both life and
death. Your Presence brings our souls to blossom.
* We praise You, God who wrests life from death.
Sacred are You, sacred Your mystery. Seekers of holiness worship You
all their lives.
* We praise You, God, ultimate sacred mystery.
The mind is Your gift, wisdom a spark from You. May we grow in
knowledge, insight and understanding.
* We praise You, God, gracious giver of awareness.
Help us find our way to Your truth again, to obey You with trusting
faith, to attain wholeness in Your Presence.
* We praise You, God who is always ready to help us start anew.
Forgive our failures with a parent's love, overlook our shorcomings
with regal generosity, for You are gentle and gracious.
* We praise You, God of mercy and forgiveness.
See our suffering, sustain us in our struggles, save us soon.
* We praise You, God, our people's hope of redemption.
Heal us, O God, and keep us in health. Help us, that we might help
ourselves, praising You always. Send true healing for all our pains,
for You are the source of healing and compassion.
* We praise You, God from whom all healing comes.
Bless this year for us with prosperity. May the wealth of the earth
and the rhythms of the seasons yield us a good harvest in abundance.
* We praise You, God whose blessings are as certain as the seasons.
Let freedom resound like a mighty ram's horn. Let our spirits soar,
sustained by Your promise. May Your scattered and lost children
find wholeness and renewal.
* We praise You, God who brings home His lost people.
May our ancient sense of justice be renewed, our classic sources
of wisdom rediscovered. May sorrow and sighing vanish from our
midst. May Your tenderness and pity, justice and compassion govern
our lives always.
* We praise You, God of kindness and justice.
May malice abate and will-ill perish, may hatred cease and arrogance
quickly wither in our lifetime.
* We praise You, God whose awesome power helps good to triumph
over evil.
For the loving and righteous, for the learned and the wise, for
the stranger and for our own selves as well, may Your mercy appear
and Your justice be made manifest. May we be counted among the good,
may we never regret having trusted in You.
* We praise You, God, strength of the just, root our confidence.
May Your love once more shine from Jerusalem. Let Your Presence
abide there as in days of David. Let Zion rebuilt soon stand firm,
the hub of Your people's hope forever.
* We praise You, God, builder of Jerusalem.
May Your people flourish, all of them and soon. Help us to hold
our heads high, celebrating Your deliverance and ours. Every day
and all day long we yearn for Your deliverance.
* We praise You, God by whose will we survive and flourish.
When we cry out, hear us with compassion; take our prayers gently
and lovingly. Listen to Your people when we reach toward You with
love. Let us not turn away from You empty.
* We praise You, God who cherishes prayer.
Would that Your people at prayer gained delight in You. Would that
we were aflame with the passionate piety of our ancestors' worship.
Would that You found our worship acceptable and forever cherished
Your people. If only our eyes could see Your glory constantly
renewed in Jerusalem!
* We praise You, God whose Presence forever radiates from Zion.
You are our God today as You were our ancestors' God throughout
the ages; firm foundation of our lives, we are Yours in gratitude
and love. Our lives are safe in Your hand, our souls entrusted to
Your care. Our sense of wonder and our praise of Your miracles
and kindnesses, greet You daily at dawn, dusk and noon. O Gentle
One, Your caring is endless. O Compassionate One, Your love is
eternal. You are forever our hope. Let all the living confront
You with thankfulness, delight, and truth. Help us, O God; sustain
us.
* We praise You, God whose touchstone is goodness. To pray to You
is joy.
O God, from whom all peace flows, grant serenity to all Your people,
with love and mercy, life and goodness for all. Consider us kindly,
bless us with tranquility at all times and all seasons.
* We praise You, God whose blessing is peace.
May my tongue be innocent of malice and my lips free from lies.
When confronted by hostile people may my soul stay calm, truely
humble to all. Open my heart with Your teachings, that I may be
guided by You. May all who plan harm against me abandon their
schemes. Hear my words and help me, God,
because You are compassionate,
because You are almighty,
because You are holy,
because You are loving,
because You reveal Your Torah.
May You find delight in the words of my mouth and in the emotions
of my heart, God, my strength and my salvation. As You maintain
harmony in the heavens, give peace to all of Your people.
Amen.
TAKHANUN
--------
King David said to the prophet Gad: I am in deep distress. Let us
fall into the hands of the Lord, for great is His compassion;
but let me not fall into the hands of mortals. (II Samuel 24:14)
Gracious and Merciful, I have sinned against You. Compassionate
God, have compassion for me; accept my supplication.
Chastise me not in Your anger, Lord, chasten me not in Your wrath.
He merciful to me, for I am weak. Heal me, for my very bones
tremble, my entire being trembles. Lord - how long? Turn to me,
Lord, save my life. Help me because of Your love. In death there
is no remembering You. In the grave who can praise You? Weary am
I with groaning and weeping, nightly my pillow is soaked with
tears. Grief dims my eyes; they are worn out with all my woes.
Away with you, doers of evil! The Lord has heard my cry, my
supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall
be shamed. In dismay they shall quickly withdraw. (Psalm 6)
Guardian of His people Israel, guard this remnant of that people
and let us not perish,, those who say:
Sh'ma Yisrael!
Guardian of His unique people, guard this remnant of that people
and let not that people perish who proclaim:
The Lord our God, the Lord is One.
Guardian of a holy people, guard this remnant of Your holy people
and let not Your holy people perish who repeat:
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord.
O God, moved by prayer and reconciled by supplication, accept
the prayers and the supplications of our afflicted generation,
for there is none else to help us. Our Father, our King, answer
us though we have no deeds to plead our cause; save us with mercy
and lovingkindness.
We look to You, for alone we are helpless. Remember Your compassion,
Lord, and Your lovingkindness, which have endured forever. May Your
kindness be with us, for we have put our hope in You. Do not hold
former sins against us, meet us with Your mercy, for we are brought
so very low. Have pity, for we are sated with contempt. He who
knows our weaknesses remembers that we are dust. Help us, God of
our deliverance, for the sake of Your glory. Grant atonement for
our sins, and save us because of Your mercy.
KADDISH SHALEM
--------------
Hallowed and enhanced may He be throughout the world of His own
creation. May He cause His sovereignty soon to be accepted, during
our life and the life of all Israel. And let us say: Amen.
May He be praised throughout all time.
Glorified and celebrated,
lauded and worshiped,
acclaimed and honored,
extolled and exalted
may the Holy One be,
praised beyond all song and psalm,
beyond all tributes which mortals can utter.
And let us say: Amen.
May the prayers and pleas of the whole House of Israel be accepted
by our Father in Heaven. And let us say: Amen.
Let there be abundant peace from Heaven, with life's goodness for us
and for all the people Israel. And let us say: Amen.
He who brings peace to His universe will bring peace to us and to
all the people Israel. And let us say: Amen.
ALEINU
------
We rise to our duty to praise the Lord of all, to acclaim the
Creator. He made our lot unlike that of other people, assigning
to us a unique destiny. We bend the knee and bow, acknowledging
the King of kings, the Holy One praised be He, who spread out
the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, whose glorious
abode is in the highest heaven, whose mighty dominon is in the
loftiest heights. He is our God, there is no other. In truth, He
alone is our King, as it is written in His Torah: "Know this day
and take it to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on
earth below.; there is no other."
And so we hope in You, Lord our God, soon to see Your splendor,
sweeping idolatry away so that false gods will be utterly
destroyed, perfecting earth by Your kindship so that all
mankind will invoke Your name, bringing all the earth's wicked
back to You, repentent. Then all who live will know that to You
every knee must bend, every tongue pledge loyalty. To You, Lord,
may all bow in worship, may they give honor to Your glory. May
everyone accept the rule of Your kingship. Reign over all, soon
and for all time. Sovereignty is Yours in glory, now and forever.
Thus is iit written in Your Torah: The Lord reigns for ever and
ever and ever. Such is the assurance of Your prophet Zechariah:
The Lord shall be acknowledged King of all the earth. On that
day the Lord shall be One and His name One.