Shabbat Service Readings

O God, where can I find you? Your glory fills the world.

Behold, I find You in the mind free to sail by its own star.

In words that spring from the depth of truth,

Where a scientist toils to unravel Your world’s secrets,

Where an artist makes beauty in Your world,

Where men and women struggle for freedom,

Among the lonely and the poor, the lowly and the lost.

Wherever noble deeds are done.

I find You

In the merry shouts of children at play.

In the mother’s lullaby, as she rocks her baby to sleep,

In the sleep that falls on an infant’s eyes,

In the smile that falls on sleeping lips,

And in the child as she grows to embrace a world of wonders,

A world of fun and light,

Of laughter, dreams, radiance, and love.

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Genuine prayer is an event in which man surpasses himself.

Man hardly comprehends what is coming to pass.

Its beginning lies on this side of the word,

But the end lies beyond all words.

At times all we do is to utter a word with all our heart.

Yet it is as if we lifted up a whole world.

It is as if someone unsuspectingly pressed a button and a gigantic wheel-work were stormily and surprisingly set in motion.

-Abraham Heschel

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God, help us now to make this new Shabbat.

After noise, we seek quiet;

After crowds of indifferent strangers,

We seek to touch those we love;

After concentration on work and responsibility,

We seek freedom to meditate, to listen to our inward selves.

We open our eyes to the hidden beauties

and the infinite possibilities in the world You are creating;

We break open the gates of the reservoirs

of goodness and kindness in ourselves and in others;

We reach toward one holy perfect moment of Shabbat.

-Ruth Brin

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Take time to think—thoughts are the source of power.

Take time to play—play is the secret of perpetual youth.

Take time to read—reading is the fountain of wisdom.

Take time to pray—prayer can be a rock of strength in time of trouble.

Take time to love—loving is what makes living worthwhile.

Take time to be friendly—friendship gives life a delicious flavor.

Take time to laugh—laughter is the music of the soul.

Take time to give—any day of the year is too short for selfishness.

Take time to do your work well—pride in your work, no matter what it is, nourishes the ego and the spirit.

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To worship is to stand in awe under a heaven of stars,

before a flower, a leaf in the sunlight, or a grain of sand.

To worship is to work with dedication and skill;

it is to pause from work and listen to a strain of music.

Worship is loneliness seeking communion.

It is a thirsty land crying out for rain.

Worship is kindred fire in our hearts;

it moves through deeds of kindness and acts of love.

Worship is the mystery within us reaching out to the mystery beyond.

It is an inarticulate silence yearning to speak;

It is the window of the moment open to the sky of the eternal.

-William H. Houff

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For cities and towns, factories and farms, flowers and trees, sea and sky—

God, we praise You for the world and its beauty.

For family and friends, neighbors and cousins—

God, we thank You for friendship and love.

For kind hearts, smiling faces, and helping hands—

God, we praise You for those who care for others.

For commandments that teach us how to live—

God, we thank You for those who help us to understand Your laws.

And for making us one family on earth, the children of One God—

God, we praise You, who made all people different, yet alike.

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There is something about the congregation praying together, as one, that makes me feel more alive than on a brisk winter’s day. There is something about all of our voices rising together, as one, which fills me with a quiet happiness that stays with me long after the singing stops. Why is it that here, I can feel separate bodies come together, as one, and hold on to that perfect unity as long as possible? Why, here, am I able to reach out effortlessly, and touch someone’s hand, by doing that, touch heaven? There is something about this place which brings out the best in me, for it brings out the best in us all. Surely this place is holy and I did not know it. I give thanks for this new and beautiful finding.

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There are days when we seek things for ourselves and measure failure by what we do not gain.

On the Sabbath we seek not to acquire but to share.

There are days when we exploit nature as if it were a horn of plenty that can never be exhausted.

On the Sabbath we stand in wonder before the mystery of creation.

There are days when we act as if we cared nothing for the rights of others.

On the Sabbath we are reminded that justice is our duty and a better world our goal.

Therefore we welcome Shabbat.

Day of rest, day of wonder, day of peace.

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Each person has a Torah, unique to that person, his or her innermost teaching. Some seem to know their Torahs very early in life and speak and sing them in a myriad of ways. Others spend their whole lives stammering, shaping, and rehearsing them. Some are long, some short. Some are intricate and poetic, others are only a few words, and still others can only be spoken through gesture and example. But every soul has a Torah. To hear another say Torah is a precious gift. For each soul, by the time of his or her final hour, the Torah is complete, the teaching done.

-Rabbi Lawrence Kushner

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Source of all goodness, as we join in Shabbat worship,

We ask your blessings.

Grant us health enough to perform our daily tasks,

Wealth enough to answer our needs,

Compassion enough to feel the needs of others.

Give us strength enough to recognize our faults,

Wisdom enough to understand Your laws,

Loyalty enough to discharge our duties.

Give us courage enough to be true to the best within us,

Charity enough to see the best in others.

Give us patience enough not to become discouraged,

Hope enough to overcome all fears for the future,

And faith enough to feel your presence. Amen.

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As Gandhi stepped aboard a train one day, one of his shoes slipped off and landed on the track. He was unable to retrieve it as the train was moving. To the amazement of his companions, Gandhi calmly took off his other shoe and threw it back along the track to land close to the first. Asked by a fellow passenger why he did so, Gandhi smiled. “The poor man who finds the shoe lying on the track,” he replied, “will now have a pair he can use.”

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If I could reach that certain star

And make a wish so true

It would not just be a wish for me

but a wish for all of you.

In a world so full of problems,

My wish would be for peace

People of all nations joining hands

Not wanting to escape or be released.

War, crime destruction

These three words we use every day

If I had that one wish

These three words would be wiped away.

Countries would no longer be at war

People would be good to each other

We were all created equal

God said to love one another.

So if I had that one wish

It would be for peace not sorrow

This way children just like you and me

Would have a future – a tomorrow.

-Written by a twelve year old in a letter to President Clinton

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To live content with small means;

to seek elegance rather than luxury

and refinement rather than fashion;

to be worthy, not respectable,

and wealthy, not rich;

to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages

with open heart;

to study hard;

to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently

await occasions, hurry never;

in a word, to let the spiritual,

unbidden and unconscious,

grow up through the common—

this is my symphony.

-William Henry Channing

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It is evening, and children slowly dream away the storms of day. It is evening, and stars glow gently in the quiet heavens. Can we understand a dream? Find a net to capture the meaning of a glowing star? What bridge spans the vast space we must cross to reach understanding? How small are we who attempt the journey! And yet somehow we learn to find our glory in a brave and endless struggle to comprehend eternal mysteries. We are voyagers in an infinite sea, our destination always beyond the horizon. But we are voyagers.

-Gates of Prayer

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Be understanding to your enemies.

Be loyal to your friends.

Be strong enough to face the world each day.

Be weak enough to know you cannot do everything alone.

Be generous to those who need your help.

Be frugal with what you need yourself.

Be wise enough to know that you do not know everything.

Be foolish enough to believe in miracles.

Be willing to share our joys.

Be willing to share the sorrows of others.

Be a leader when you see a path others have missed.

Be a follower when you are shrouded by the mists of uncertainty.

Be the first to congratulate an opponent who succeeds.

Be the last to criticize a colleague who fails.

Be sure of your final destination, in case you are going the wrong way.

Be loving to those who love you.

Be loving to those who do not love you, and they may change.

Above all, be yourself.

-Anonymous

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To pray is so necessary and so hard. Hard not because it requires intellect or knowledge or a big vocabulary, but because it requires of us humility. And that comes, I think, from a profound sense of one’s brokenness, and one’s need. Not the need that causes us to cry, “Get me out of this trouble, quick!” but the need that one feels every day of one’s life—even though one does not acknowledge it—to be related to something bigger than one’s self, something more alive than one’s self, something older and something not yet born, that will endure through time.

-Lillian Smith

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The universe is one great kindergarten for man. Everything that exists has brought with it its own peculiar lesson. The mountain teaches stability and grandeur; the ocean immensity and change. Forests, lakes, and rivers, clouds, and winds, stars and flowers, stupendous glaciers and crystal snowflakes—every form of animate or inanimate existence, leaves its impress upon the soul of man. Even the bee and ant have brought their little lessons of industry and economy.

-Orison Swett Marden

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If I had my life to live over,

I’d dare to make more mistakes next time.

I’d relax. I would limber up.

I would be sillier than I have been this trip.

I would take fewer things seriously.

I would take more chances.

I would take more trips.

I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.

I would eat more ice cream and less beans.

I would perhaps have more actual troubles by I’d have fewer imaginary ones.

Oh, I’ve had my moments and if I had it to do over again, I’d have more of them. In fact, I’d try to have nothing else. Just moments.

I’ve been one of those people who never go anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had it to do again, I would travel lighter next time.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.

I would go to more dances.

I would ride more merry-go-rounds.

I would pick more daises.

-Nadine Stair (age 85)

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When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make my favorite cake just for me, and I knew that little things are special things.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I heard you say a prayer, and I believed there is a God I could always talk to.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I felt you kiss me good night, and I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it’s all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw that you cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I looked…and wanted to say thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn’t looking.