Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
SINCE 2007
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Welcome to
Sh'mini Atzeret -
the day that is
a prayer for rain
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
אַתָּה גִּבּוֹר לְעוֹלָם אֲדֹנָי רָב לְהוֹשִׁיעַ:
מוֹרִיד הטָּל:
מַשִּׁיב הָרוּחַ וּמוֹרִיד הַגָּשֶׁם:
atah gibor le’olam adonay rav lehoshi’a
PESACH TO SHEMINI ATZERET: morid hatal
SHEMINI ATZERET TO PESACH: mashiv haru’ach umorid hagashem
You are forever powerful, Yah, abundant in your saving acts.
PESACH TO SHEMINI ATZERET: You send down the dew.
SHEMINI ATZERET TO PESACH: You cause the wind to blow and the rain to fall.
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
3 Tishrei 5785 / 5 October 2024
ALL
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Blessing for Pursuing Justice
בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ שְכִינָה בְּתוֹכֵינוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר
קִדְשָתְנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתֶיהָ וְצִוָתְנוּ לִרְדֹף צֶדֶק
B’rucha at Shekhinah, b’tocheynu, ruach ha’olam, asher kidshatnu b’mitzvoteha v’tzivatnu lirdof tzedek
Blessed are you, Shekhinah, who is within us, spirit of
the world, who infuses our lives with holiness
and commands us to pursue justice
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
שׁיר חָדָשׁ/ Blessing for New Songs
Dorshei Derekh Women's Haftorah Group
Bruchah At Yah, Simchat Ha-olam, בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ יָהּ שִׂמְחַת הָעוֹלָם
asher m’oreret אֲשֶׁר מְאוֹרֶרֶת
rucheinu la-shir shir chadash רוּחֵינוּ לַשִׁיר שִׁיר חָדָשׁ.
Blessed are You, Yah, Joy of the Universe,
who awakens our spirits
that we may sing a new song.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
נְקָבִים חַלוּלִים / Openings and Vessels
נְבָרֵך אֶת עֵן הַחַיִים אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת הָאָדָם בְּחָכְמָה וּבָרָא בוֹ נְקָבִים נְקָבִים חַלוּלִים חַלוּלִים. גָלוּי וְיָדוּעַ לִפנֵי כִסֵּא כְבוֹדֵך שֶׁאִם יִפָּתֵחַ אֶחָד מֵהֶם אוֹ יִסָּתֵם אֶחָד מֵהֶם אִי אֶפְשָׁר לְהִתְקַיֵם וְלַעַמוֹד לְפָנֶיךָ.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה רוֹפֵא כָל בָּשָׂר וּמַפְלִיא לַעַשׂוֹת.
N’varech et ein hachayim asher yatzar et ha’adam bechochmah uvara vo nekavim nekavim chalulim chalulim. Galuwi veyadu’a lifney chisey chevodeich she’im yipate’ach echad mehem o yisatem echad mehem i efshar lehitkayem vela’amod lefanecha.
Baruch ata Yah rofey chol basar umafli la’asot.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
ALL
Let us bless how from the earth these bodies of wisdom were created, alive as they are, all open openings and holy holes.
Unconcealed, revealed, we face the fate of our dignity:
if wrongly opened one would be, or wrongly closed another,
we know not how we could withstand.
Broken though this flesh can be,
broken though this world can be*,
still we love this life while we last.
Blessed and blessing, we bow to both the healing of sleep
and the daily miraculous of awakening.
Elliott batTzedek & *Miriam Geronimus
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
The Three of Cups
Marge Piercy
Taste what is in your mouth,
if it is water, still taste it.
Wash out the cups of your fingers,
clean your eyes with new tears.
We are not worse revolutionaries if we remember
that the universe itself pulses like a heart;
that the blood dances within us; that joy is a power
treading with hoofs and talons on our flimsy bodies;
that water flows and fire leaps and the land gives strength
if you build on it with respect, if you dance on it with vigor,
if you put seeds in with care and give back what is left over;
that a ritual of unity makes some of what it pretends;
that everything is a part of something else.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Morning Blessings
Opening Phrase by Andrew Shaw
New Blessings by Elliott batTzedek
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, הַמַּעֲבִירָה שֵׁנָה מֵעֵינַי וּתְנוּמָה מֵעַפְעַפָּי.
Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, hama’avirah shenah mey’eynai ut’numah me’afapay
All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who removes sleep from my eyes, slumber from my eyelids.
כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לַשֶּׂכְוִי בִינָה לְהַבְחִין בֵּין יוֹם וּבֵין לָיְלָה.
Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, asher natan l’shech’vi vinah l’hav’chin beyn yom uveyn laylah
All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who has given the rooster understanding to distinguish day from night.
4 Wings of America by photographer Mel Alexenberg
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הַעוֹלָמִים, שְהִקְדִישָה אֶת כָּל הִיצוּרִים
Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, shehik’dishah et kol hitzurim
All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who made all beings holy
כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, שְׁנָתְנָה לִי אֶת הַרָצוֹן לִצְעֹד מְאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם
Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, sh’nat’nah li et haratzon litzod m’eretz mitzrayim
All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who has placed in me the desire to march out of my oppression
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים,
שפָתְחָה אֶת הַמַחְשָׁבָה
Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, sh’pat’chah et hamach’shavah
All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who opens the mind.
כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים,
מַלְבִּישָׁה עֲרֻמִּים.
Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, mal’bishah adumim
All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who clothes the naked.
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, מַתִּירָה אֲסוּרִים.
Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim,
matir asurim
All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who releases the bound.
כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, זוֹקֶפֶת כְּפוּפִים.
Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, zokefet k’fufim
All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who lifts up the bent.
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, מִי בָרְאָה עוֹלָם שֶל עוֹשֶׁר
Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, mi bar’ah olam shel osher
All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who created an abundant world
כָּל בְּרָכוֹת נוֹבְעוֹת מִן יָהּ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ, חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, הַנּוֹתֶנֶת לַיָּעֵף כֹּחַ.
Kol b’rachot nov’ot min Yah, eloheynu, hey ha’olamim, hanotenet laya’ef ko’ah
All blessings flow from Yah, our God, life of the worlds, who gives strength to the weary.
from Bereshit 2: 4-7
אֵ֣לֶּה תוֹלְד֧וֹת הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ בְּהִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם בְּי֗וֹם עֲשׂ֛וֹת יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶ֥רֶץ וְשָׁמָֽיִם:
Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created. When God made earth and heaven—
וְכֹ֣ל ׀ שִׂ֣יחַ הַשָּׂדֶ֗ה טֶ֚רֶם יִֽהְיֶ֣ה בָאָ֔רֶץ וְכׇל־עֵ֥שֶׂב הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה טֶ֣רֶם יִצְמָ֑ח כִּי֩ לֹ֨א הִמְטִ֜יר יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹהִים֙ עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וְאָדָ֣ם אַ֔יִן לַֽעֲבֹ֖ד אֶת־הָֽאֲדָמָֽה:
when no shrub of the field was yet on earth and no grasses of the field had yet sprouted, because God had not sent rain upon the earth and there were no human beings to till the soil,
וְאֵ֖ד יַֽעֲלֶ֣ה מִן־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְהִשְׁקָ֖ה אֶֽת־כׇּל־פְּנֵ֥י הָֽאֲדָמָֽה:
but a flow would well up from the ground and water the whole surface of the earth—
וִ֩יצֶר֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֗ם עָפָר֙ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה וַיִּפַּ֥ח בְּאַפָּ֖יו נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּ֑ים וַיְהִ֥י הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּֽה:
God formed the Human from the soil’s humus, blowing into his nostrils the breath of life: the Human became a living being.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
And what is the reason that God had not caused it to rain? BECAUSE THERE WAS NO ONE TO TILL THE GROUND, and there was, therefore, no one to recognize the utility of rain.
When Adam was created, however, and realized that rain was necessary for the world, he prayed for it and it fell, so that trees and verdure sprang forth.
Rashi on Genesis 2:5:2
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Millennia ago, the earth was washed in water
connections sparked unimaginable across the water
the life we know begins cradled in water
each human being emerges in a flood of water
from ancient times we've prayed to God for water
not too much, not too little, just enough water
this year the landscape I first knew lacked water
grasslands parched, thirsting for drops of water
this year the hills where I live ran with water
seeping through roofs, swelling doors shut with water
to mark holy times we immerse ourselves in water
washing our old hurts away in water
Geshem (Rain)
Rabbi Rachel Barenblat
call & Response
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
in the city of gold rooftop tanks collect water
those who have and those who lack fight over water
in the beginning, presence hovered over water
mysterious and unknowable like deep water
the bodies we inhabit are made of water
our veins and tissues stay functional through water
we couldn't stand and offer praise without water
source of all, be kind to us: send water.
Geshem (Rain)
Rabbi Rachel Barenblat
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
call & Response
Do Stones Feel?
Mary Oliver
Do stones feel?
Do they love their life?
Or does their patience drown out everything else?
When I walk on the beach I gather a few
white ones, dark ones, the multiple colors.
Don’t worry, I say, I’ll bring you back, and I do.
Is the tree as it rises delighted with its many
branches,
each one like a poem?
Are the clouds glad to unburden their bundles of rain?
Most of the world says no, no, it’s not possible.
I refuse to think to such a conclusion.
Too terrible it would be, to be wrong.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
The Gemara relates: Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi declared a fast but rain did not come. Rabbi Ilfa descended to lead the service. He recited: He Who makes the wind blow, and the wind indeed blew. He continued to recite: And Who makes the rain come, and subsequently, the rain came.
Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to Ilfa: What are your good deeds, in the merit of which your prayers are answered so speedily?
He said to him: I live in an impoverished city…
Taanit 24a:15-17
The Voice of the Rain
Walt Whitman
And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower,
Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated:
I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain,
Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,
Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely form'd, altogether changed,
and yet the same,
I descend to lave the droughts, atomies, dust-layers of the globe,
And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;
And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin,
and make pure and beautify it;
(For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfilment, Wandering,
Reck'd or unreck'd, duly with love returns.)
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
lave – to have water wash over
atomies - skeletons
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Af-Bri
Eleazar beRabbi Qallir
probably lived in first half of 7th century and probably in Palestine
perhaps connected to Karaite Judaism
perhaps ascended to heaven to learn from the angels the special power of writing alphabetical hymns
version here is compilation of English versions by Elliott batTzedek
Af-Bri is the angel of rain
who overcasts the sky, and makes clouds then to empty them
and cause the rain to fall.
Water whose flowing currents adorn the valleys;
May it not be withheld by the drought of our unpaid debts.
May the merit of the faithful amplify our prayers for rain.
Blessed are You, Lord, Shield of Our Ancestors!
You are mighty forever, You are the Resurrector of the dry land,
You the Powerful One, You are Deliverer.
You who cause Af-Bri to divert rain into gentle streams
that soften the surface of the earth, rain of sparkling, gem-like drops.
Rain is how we know Your might, as our stories tell.
Its drops remind us that with Your moist breath
you blew life into our bodies first only dry dust.
We are kept alive by our praise of the powers of rain.
Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me
Mary Oliver
Last night
the rain
spoke to me
slowly, saying,
what joy
to come falling
out of the brisk cloud,
to be happy again
in a new way
on the earth!
That’s what it said
as it dropped,
smelling of iron,
and vanished
like a dream of the ocean
into the branches
and the grass below.
Then it was over.
The sky cleared.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me
Mary Oliver
I was standing
under a tree.
The tree was a tree
with happy leaves,
and I was myself,
and there were stars in the sky
that were also themselves
at the moment
at which moment
my right hand
was holding my left hand
which was holding the tree
which was filled with stars
and the soft rain –
imagine! imagine!
the long and wondrous journeys
still to be ours.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Praise the
Rain
Joy Harjo
Praise the rain, the seagull dive
The curl of plant, the raven talk—
Praise the hurt, the house slack
The stand of trees, the dignity—
Praise the dark, the moon cradle
The sky fall, the bear sleep—
Praise the mist, the warrior name
The earth eclipse, the fired leap—
Praise the backwards, upward sky
The baby cry, the spirit food—
Praise canoe, the fish rush
The hole for frog, the upside-down—
Praise the day, the cloud cup
The mind flat, forget it all—
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Praise the rain,
Praise the hurt,
Praise the dark,
Praise the mist
Praise the backwards, upward sky.
all
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Praise crazy. Praise sad.
Praise the path on which we're led.
Praise the roads on earth and water.
Praise the eater and the eaten.
Praise beginnings; praise the end.
Praise the song and praise the singer.
Praise the rain; it brings more rain.
Praise the rain; it brings more rain.
Praise the Rain
Joy Harjo
Praise the rain; it brings more rain.
Praise the rain; it brings more rain.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
all
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Lulav
בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ שְכִינָה בְּתוֹכּינוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְשָתְנוּ
בְּמִצְוֹתֵיהָ וְצִוָתְנוּ עָל נְטִלָת לוּלַב
B’rucha at Shekhinah, b’tocheynu, ruach ha’olam, asher kidshatnu
b’mitzvoteha v’tzivatnu al n’tilat lulav
Blessed are you, Shekhinah, who is within us, spirit of the world, who infuses our lives with holiness and commands us to take up the lulav
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
ALL
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Ana adonay hoshi’ah na
I pray, Yah, send us your help!
I pray, Yah, send us your help!
I pray, Yah, help us prevail!
I pray, Yah, help us prevail!
אָנָּא יהוה הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא
אָנָּא יהוה הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא
אָנָּא יהוה הַצְלִיחָה נָּא
אָנָּא יהוה הַצְלִיחָה נָּא
ana adonay hoshi’ah na
ana adonay hoshi’ah na
ana adonay hatzlichah na
ana adonay hatzlichah na
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
ALL
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
בָּרְכוּ / Bar’khu/ Pool of Blessing
Kohenet liturgy
בָּרְכוּ אֶת הַבְּרֵכָה הַמְבֹרֶכֶת
Leader: Barchu et haBereichah haMevorechet
Give blessing to the Pool of Blessing
בָּרוּכָה הַבְּרֵכָה הַמְבֹרֶכֶת לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
Group: Beruchah ha Bereichah haMevorechet le’olam va’ed
Blessing to the Pool of Blessing in all the worlds throughout eternity
בָּרוּכָה הַבְּרֵכָה הַמְבֹרֶכֶת לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
Leader: Beruchah ha Bereichah haMevorechet le’olam va’ed
Blessing to the Pool of Blessing in all the worlds throughout eternity
call & Response
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
If Not
Rabbi Hillel, Adrienne Rich, Dane Kuttler
If I am not for myself
who is for me?
If I am only for myself
what am I?
If not now
then when?
If not with others
then how?
If not here
then where?
call & Response
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
בִּרְכַּת יְצִירָה
Blessing of Creation
Marcia Falk
נְבָרֵךְ אֶת עֵין הַחַיִּים,
מְקוֹר הַחֹשֶׁךְ וְהָאוֹר,
מְקוֹר הַשְּׁלֵמוּת וְהַתֹּהוּ,
מְקוֹר הַטּוֹב וְהָרָע,
מְקוֹר כָּל יְצִירָה.
N’vareykh et eyn hachayim
m’kor hachoshekh v’ha’or
m’kor hash’leymut v’hatohu
m’kor hatov v’hara
m’kor kol y’tzirah
Let us bless the source of life
source of darkness and light,
source of wholeness and chaos
source of goodness and evil
source of all creation.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
ALL
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
from Talmud, Sukkah 53a
It is taught in the Tosefta (compilation of Jewish oral law): They said about Hillel the Elder that when he was rejoicing at the Celebration of the Place of the Drawing of the Water he said this: If I am here, everyone is here; and if I am not here, who is here? In other words, all must consider ourselves as the one upon whom it is incumbent to fulfill obligations, and we must not rely on others to do so. He would also say this: To the place that I love, there my feet take me, and therefore, I come to the Temple. And the Holy One, Blessed be He, says: If you come to My house, I will come to your house; if you do not come to My house, I will not come to your house, as it is stated: “In every place that I cause My name to be mentioned, I will come to you and bless you” (Talmud, Sukkah 53a).
דִּבְרֵי תּוֹרָה/ Blessing for Revelation of Wisdom
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Gatherings / Elliott batTzedek
Gather our strengths
and gather our failures
Gather our kin
and gather our strangers
Gather what we love
and what we fear
Gather what we have lost
and what we are afraid to lose
Find the courage to proclaim
“All we gather is sacred”
call & Response
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
שְׁמַע / Sh’ma
Ariadne Joy Lieber
שְׁמַע אמִי הַשְׁכִינָה בְּקִרְבֵּינוּ הַשְׁכִינָה אַחָת
Sh’ma Ami ha-Shekhinah b’Kirbainu ha-Shekhinah Ahat
Listen, My People, the Shekhinah is in our inmost being, the Shekhinah is one
בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
Baruch shem kevod malchuto le’olam va’ed.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
/V’ahav’tוְאָהַבְתְּ
וְאָהַבְתְּ אֵת יְיָ אֱלֹהַיִךְ, בְּכָל-לְבָבֵךְ וּבְכָל-נַפְשֵׁךְ, וּבְכָל-מְאֹדֵךְ. וְהָיוּ הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵֽלֶּה,
אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוָּתֵךְ הַיּוֹם, עַל-לְבָבֵךְ. וְשִׁנַּנְתִּים לִבְנֹתַיִךְ וּלְבָנַיִךְ, וְדִבַּרְתְּ בָּם,
בְּשִׁבְתֵּךְ בְּבֵיתֵךְ, וּבְלֶכְתֵךְ בַּדֶּֽרֶךְ, וּבְשָׁכְבֵּךְ וּבְקוּמֵךְ. וּקְשַׁרְתִּים לְאוֹת עַל יָדֵךְ,
וְהָיוּ לְטֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינַיךְ. וּכְתַבְתִּים עַל מְזֻזוֹת בֵּיתֵךְ וּבִשְׁעָרַיִךְ.
Ve’ahav’t et skekhinah elohayich, bechol levavech, uvekol nafshech u-ve’chol me’odech. Vehayu hadevarim ha’eleh, asher anochi metzavatech hayom, al levavech. Veshinantim l’vnotayich ul’vanayich, vedibaret bam beshivtech beveitech u’velechtech baderech, uveshachbech uvekumech. Ukshartim le’ot al yadeych, vehayu letotafot bein einayich. Uchetavtim al mezuzot beitech uvisharayich.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
And you must love The One, your God, with your whole heart, with every breath, with all you have. Take these words that I command you now to heart. Teach them intently to your children. Speak them when you sit inside your house or walk upon the road, when you lie down and when you rise. And bind them as a sign upon your hand, and keep them visible before your eyes. Inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
all
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Blue Herons
Twyla Hansen
All morning I have glimpsed them—
along this highway bottomland
the river tried hard to reclaim,
broken dikes and debris and backwater—
blue-gray sentinels nearly motionless,
patient for a meal.
Blessing of Redemption מָקוֹר תּקּוּן עוֹלֶּם
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
blue-gray sentinels nearly motionless,
patient
ALL
And what can we do-
in these wide-open spaces
where mud creeks are capable
of churning out of their banks,
flattening brome and fence and farmland—
Blue Herons
Twyla Hansen
And what can we do-
in these wide-open spaces
but to take inventory of threatened senses,
to pick ourselves up above the water,
to rise, to rise?
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
And what can we do –
in these wide-open spaces
but to take inventory?
ALL
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
6 Tishrei 5786/ 27 September 2025
Amidah/On Our Feet We Speak to You
Marge Piercy
We rise to speak
a web of bodies aligned like notes of music.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
ALL
1.
Bless what brought us through
the sea and the fire; we are caught
in history like whales in polar ice.
Yet you have taught us to push against the walls,
to reach out and pull each other along,
to strive to find the way through
if there is no way around, to go on.
To utter ourselves with every breath
against the constriction of fear,
to know ourselves as the body born from Abraham
and Sarah, born out of rock and desert.
We reach back through two hundred arches of hips
long dust, carrying their memories inside us
to live again in our life, Isaac and Rebecca,
Rachel, Jacob, Leah, [Bilhah, Zilpah].
We say words shaped
by ancient use like steps worn into rock.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Amidah/On Our Feet We Speak to You
Marge Piercy
ALL
2.
Bless the quiet of sleep
easing over the ravaged body, who quiets
the troubled waters of the mind to a pool
in which shines the placid broad face of the moon.
Bless the teaching of how to open
in love so all the doors and windows of the body
swing wide on their rusty hinges
and we give ourselves with both hands.
Bless what stirs in us compassion
for the hunger of the chickadee in the storm
starving for seeds we can carry out,
the wounded cat wailing in the alley,
what shows us our face in a stranger,
who teaches us what we clutch shrivels
but what we give goes off in the world
carrying bread to people not yet born.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Amidah/On Our Feet We Speak to You
Marge Piercy
ALL
Bless the gift of memory
that breaks unbidden, released
from a flower or a cup of tea
so the dead move like rain through the room.
Bless what forces us to invent
goodness every morning and what never frees
us from the cost of knowledge, which is
to act on what we know again and again.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Amidah/On Our Feet We Speak to You
Marge Piercy
ALL
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
אַתָּה גִּבּוֹר לְעוֹלָם אֲדֹנָי רָב לְהוֹשִׁיעַ:
מַשִּׁיב הָרוּחַ וּמוֹרִיד הַגָּשֶׁם:
atah gibor le’olam adonay rav lehoshi’a
mashiv haru’ach umorid hagashem
You are forever powerful, Yah, abundant in your saving acts.
You cause the wind to blow and the rain to fall.
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
תּפִילַּת גֶּשֶׁם / Sephardic Tefilat Geshem
אֱלֹהֵינוּ ואלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְאִמוֹתֵינוּ
Eloheynu velohey avoteynu ve’imoteynu.
Our God and God of our Ancestors
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
בְּגִשְׁמֵי אוֹרָה תָּאִיר אֲדָמָה:
Begishmey orah ta’ir adamah.
When we rain light the earth will glow
בְּגִשְׁמֵי בְרָכָה תְּבָרֵךְ אֲדָמָה:
Begishmey verachah tevarech adamah.
When we rain blessing the earth will bless
בְּגִשְׁמֵי גִילָה תָּגִיל אֲדָמָה:
Begishmey gilah tagil adamah
When we rain joy the earth will rejoice
new English adaptation of Tefilat Geshem
by Elliott batTzedek
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
בְּגִשְׁמֵי דִיצָה תְּדַשֵׁן אֲדָמָה:
Begishmey ditzah tedashen adamah
When we rain charm the earth will carouse
בְּגִשְׁמֵי הוֹד תְּהַדֵּר אֲדָמָה:
Begishmey hod tehadar adamah.
When we rain dazzle the earth will exclaim
בְּגִשְׁמֵי וַעַד טוֹב תְּוַעֵד אֲדָמָה:
Begishmey va’ad tov teva’ed adamah
When we rain balance the earth will breathe.
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
בּבְּגִשְׁמֵי זִמְרָה תְּזַמֵר אֲדָמָה:
Begishmey zimrah tezamer adamah
When we rain song the earth will sing
בְּגִשְׁמֵי חַיִּים תְּחַיֶּה אֲדָמָה:
Begishmey chayim techayeh adamah.
When we rain living the earth will enliven
בְּגִשְׁמֵי טוֹבָה תֵּיטִיב אֲדָמָה:
Begishmey tovah teytiv adamah
When we rain sharing the earth will swell
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
בְּגִשְׁמֵי יְשׁוּעה תּוֹשִׁיעַ אֲדָמָה:
Begishmey yeshu’ah toshi’ah adamah
When we rain bounty the earth will billow
בְּגִשְׁמֵי כַלְכָּלָה תְּכַלְכֵּל אֲדָמָה:
Begishmey chalkalah techalkel adamah
When we rain restoration the earth will be redeemed
שֶׁאַתָּה הוּא יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ רַב לְהוֹשִׁיעַ מַשִׁיב הָרוּחַ וּמוֹרִיד הַגָּשֶׁם:
She’atah hu adonay eloheynu rav lehoshi’ah mashiv haru’ach umorid hagashem
For you are Yah, our God, many are your saving acts, who makes the wind to blow and the rain to fall
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
3.
All living are one and holy, let us remember
as we eat, as we work, as we walk and drive.
All living are one and holy
we must make ourselves worthy.
We must act out justice and mercy and healing
as the sun rises and as the sun sets,
as the moon rises and the stars wheel above us,
we must repair goodness.
We must praise the power of the one that joins us.
Whether we plunge in and thrust ourselves far out
finally we reach the face of glory too bright
for our eyes and yet we burn and we too give light.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Amidah/On Our Feet We Speak to You
Marge Piercy
ALL
Holy is the hand that works for peace and for justice,
holy is the mouth that speaks for goodness
holy is the foot that walks towards mercy.
Let us lift each other on our shoulders
and carry each other along.
Let holiness move in us.
Let us pay attention to its small voice.
Let us see the light in others and honor that light.
Remember the dead
who paid our way here dearly, dearly
and remember the unborn
for whom we build our houses.
Praise the light that shines before us,
through us, after us, Amen.
ALL
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Amidah/On Our Feet We Speak to You
Marge Piercy
We will try to be holy,
We will try to repair the world given to us to hand on.
Precious is this treasure of words and knowledge
and deeds, that moves inside us.
ALL
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
3 Tishrei 5785 / 5 October 2024
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Blessing Before Reading Torah
Dorshei Derekh Women's Haftorah Group
בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ יָהּ עֵין הַחַיִים אַשֵׁר מוֹשָׁה דִבְרֵי תוֹרָה
מִמַיִם-חַיִים בְּרַחַמִים רָבִּים
Bruchah At Yah, ein ha-chayim, asher moshah divrei Torah
mi-mayim chayim b’rachamim rabim.
Blessed are you, Yah, Source of Life, who with abundant compassion draws words of Torah from living waters.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Honi the Circle Maker
Taanit 23a
The mishna teaches: Once, most of the month of Adar had passed but rain had still not fallen. The people sent this message to Honi HaMe’aggel (Honi the Circle Maker): Pray, and rain will fall. He prayed, but no rain fell. He drew a circle in the dust and stood inside it and said before God: Master of the Universe, “Your children have turned their faces toward me, as I am like a member of Your household. Therefore, I take an oath by Your great name that I will not move from here until you have mercy upon Your children and answer their prayers for rain.” Rain began to trickle down, but only in small droplets. His students said to him: “Rabbi, we have seen that you can perform great wonders, but this quantity of rain is not enough to ensure that we will not die. It appears to us that a small amount of rain is falling only to enable you to dissolve your oath, but it is not nearly enough to save us.”
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Honi the Circle Maker
Honi said to God: “I did not ask for this, but for rain to fill the cisterns, ditches, and caves.” Rain began to fall furiously, until each and every drop was as big as the mouth of a barrel, and the Sages estimated that no drop was less than a log in size. His students said to him: “Rabbi, we have seen that you can call on God to perform miracles and we will not die, but now it appears to us that rain is falling only to destroy the world.” Honi again said before God: “I did not ask for this harmful rain either, but for rain of benevolence, blessing, and generosity.” Subsequently, the rains fell in their standard manner, until all of the people sought higher ground and ascended to the Temple Mount due to the rain. They said to him: “Rabbi, just as you prayed that the rains should fall, so too, pray that they should stop.”
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Honi the Circle Maker
He said to them: In the tradition that I received one does not pray over an excess of good. Nevertheless, bring me a bull. I will sacrifice it as a thanks-offering and pray at the same time.” They brought him a bull for a thanks-offering. He placed his two hands on its head and said before God: Master of the Universe, “Your nation Israel, whom You brought out of Egypt, cannot bear either an excess of good or an excess of punishment. You grew angry with them and withheld rain, and they are unable to bear it. You bestowed upon them too much good, and they were also unable to bear it. May it be Your will that the rain stop and that there be relief for the world.” Immediately, the wind blew, the clouds dispersed, the sun shone, and everyone went out to the fields and gathered for themselves truffles and mushrooms that had sprouted in the strong rain.
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
6 Tishrei 5786/ 27 September 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Blessing After Reading Torah
Dorshei Derekh Women's Haftorah Group
בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ יָהּ אֱלֹהֵינוּ לֵב הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר שָׂמַה לֵב אֵלֵינוּ וְשׁוֹמָעַת
קוֹל לִבֵּינוּ רַחֲמִי עָלֵינוּ וְיִשָׁמַע קוֹל דְמָמָה דָקָה
Bruchah At Yah, Eloheinu Lev Ha-olam, asher samah lev eileinu v’shoma’at
kol libeinu; rachami aleinu v’yishama kol d’mamah dakah
Blessed are You, Yah, Heart of the Universe, who attends to us and hears the voice of our hearts; have compassion on us and make audible the still, small voice.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Aleynu / עָלֵינוּ
We stand in the midst of a burning world
primed to burn with compassionate love and justice,
to turn inward and find holy fire at the core,
to turn outward and see the world that is all
of one flesh with us, see under the trash, through
the smog, the furry bee in the apple blossom,
the trout leaping, the candles our ancestors lit for us.
from Nishmat by Marge Piercy
Fill us as the tide rustles into the reeds in the marsh.
Fill us as the rushing water overflows the pitcher.
Fill us as light fills a room with its dancing.
Let the little quarrels of the bones and the snarling
of the lesser appetites and the whining of the ego cease.
Let silence still us so you may show us your shining
and we can out of that stillness rise and praise.
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
So it remains to reassemble
whatever we can
on this holy or unholy day
on this day like any other
remembering
letting words fall into our mouths
like bits of a
shared meal
scanning the numerous texts,
rendering all the possible
readings,
scriptures various as
seeds, the many meanings
of this feast
the spilled wine of
our living.
So it remains
Susan Griffin
January 26, 1943 – September 30, 2025
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Yitgadal veyitkadash shemey raba be’alma divra hiruty veyamlih malhutey behayeyhon uvyomeyhon uvhayey dehol beyt yisra’el ba’agala uvizman kariv ve’imru amen.
Yehey shemey raba mevarah le’alam ulalmey almaya.
Yitbarah veyistabah veyitpa’ar veyitromam veyitnasey veyit-hadar veyitaleh veyit-halal shemey dekudsha berih hu le’ela le’ela min kol birhata veshirata tushbehata venehemata da’amiran be’alma ve’imru amen.
Yehey shelama raba min shemaya vehayim Aleynu ve’al kol yisra’el ve’imru amen.
Oseh shalom bimromav hu ya’aseh shalom Aleynu ve’al kol yisra’el ve’al kol yishma’el ve’al kol yoshvey tevel ve’imru amen.
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
Mourner’s Kaddish קַדִּישׁ יָתוֹם
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
Mourner’s Kaddish / Elliott batTzedek
So often am I lost,
yet through the pall, yet through the tarnish, show me the way back,
through my betrayals, my dismay, my heart’s leak, my mind’s sway,
eyes’ broken glow, groan of the soul—which convey all that isn’t real,
for every soul to These Hands careen. And let us say, amen.
Say you will show me the way back, my Rock, my Alarm. Lead the way, Oh my Yah
And yet in shock and yet in shame and yet in awe and yet to roam and yet to stay and yet right here and yet away and yet —“Halleluyah!” my heartbeat speaks, for You live, for You live, in all this murk and too in the clear and too in our wreckage.
You are the mirror of our souls, let us say: amen
Life may harm me, rob me, ream me raw, try me, even slay me
Over all You will prevail. And let us say: Amen
Say You shall loan me a tomorrow, Say You shall loan another day to all who are called Yisrael and all called Yishmael and all called We and They, and let us say, Amen
Fringes: a feminist, non-zionist havurah
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
19 Tishrei 5786/ 11 October 2025
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Honoring the Dark
6 Tishrei 5786/ 27 September 2025