Earthprayersliturgy for the Earth |
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NeoHasid has always been a source for eco-Torah and liturgy. Here are links for some of the prayers for the Earth that appear on neohasid.org.
Prayers for all times (below are more prayers for holidays and for wondrous and unusual occasions):
Kaddish for a Human Minyan
An English version for understanding the depth of Kaddish, for honoring Creation and praying for all living creatures, and for fully including people who are not Jewish. Even though this kaddish is a creative translation, it sticks close to the meaning and form of the Aramaic kaddish, more so than many other translations. It begins:May the Name that fills all names be blessed and strengthened in this created world. May the Breath of Life that fills all breaths fill us with Life, and may it guide and rule our actions and visions...
Pope Francis's Prayer for Our Earth, from Laudato Si
~ in side-by-side English and liturgical HebrewThe prayer begins:
All-powerful God, great and mighty, You are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures. You embrace
with Your tenderness all that exists. Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and its beauty. Fill us with peace, and settle peace upon us that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one...
A revised prayer for the State of Israel
with a special emphasis on peace for the whole land that comprises Israel and Palestine.
A Prayer for the Earth and the Heavens – Hebrew and English
Y'kum Purkan Lish'maya: May salvation arise for the Heavens – for use in your synagogue, minyan, or havurah; for Earth Day, Rainbow Day, Shabbat Noach and Behar, and everyday. It begins:Elohei Haruchot, God of all spirit, all directions, all winds, You have placed in our hands power unlike any since the world began to overturn the orders of creation. Please God, give us wisdom and skillful hands to heal the Skies and the Earth from our sins; Y'kum purkan lish'maya 'May salvation arise for the heavens'...
Borei Nefashot
~ for all our relations ==>
Here's one more brief prayer for every day based on the Sefardi liturgy for Sukkot:
God full of compassion, make Your Presence, Shekhinah, rest among us, and spread over us a sukkah of compassion and peace. Encompass us with the radiance of the Shekhinah, heal the heavens from our wounding actions and purify us from our sins. As an eagle awakens its nest, may You awaken the flow of life-energy to flow upon Your world, to give life to all, and water them. Give the hungry their food in its time, and grant us merit to dwell many days on the earth. Blessed be Yah for all time, Amen, Amen.
Download this prayer with Hebrew, four per page, in doc format.
Prayers for special times and holidays, from Rosh Hashanah through Tisha B'Av, in calendar order:
Tashlikh
On "throwing our sins" in the ocean - kavvanot and poetry
An environmental Al Chet for Yom Kippur
For the sin of destroying God's creation...Seder Ushpizin/Ushpizata for Sukkot
The Sefardi liturgy for the sukkah includes the remarkable prayer you can read above that begins with "God full of compassion". Get neohasid's whole Ushipizata/Ushpizin liturgy here, which includes this prayer at the end of the liturgy.Hoshana Rabbah: new translation
The original Jewish earth prayersBlessing from the first published Tu Bish'vat Seder
From the 16/17th century seder manual, P'ri Eitz Hadar, based on the Kabbalah of the four worlds. The original seder calls on us to bring blessing to all creation.A kavanah for the earth when you search for your chametz
for the night before Passover or the next morning when you burn it.Birkat Ha-ilanot
The spring blessing on flowering fruit trees. Handout includes some good tree texts!
A Kinah for Tisha B'Av
~ for the destruction of the Garden of Eden that is this Earth
Prayers that only come once in many years:
Listen to and download the Shmita year Harachaman
for Birkat Hamazon, about returning to the land. Next Shmita year begins in 2021.
For the solar eclipse
Blessings, prayers, and texts for partial or total eclipse – written for the eclipse of August 2017. The next total eclipse in North America will be 2024.Blessing the Sun
Once in 28 years – that's how often this blessing comes around. Here's a liturgy we used in 2009 that weaves together Kabbalah and deep ecology, along with links to more resources. Next blessing comes in 2037, may we live to see that day in blessing upon a healthy planet!