WORSHIP | STUDY

Exploring Mishkan T’filah-A Reform Siddur: March 2008

Our new prayer books, Mishkan T’filah, have arrived and we are already using them on Friday nights at 6:15 and Saturday mornings at 10:30. Each month we will print a different passage in The Window to help you explore the power of the prayers and poetry of this wonderful prayer book of our Reform Movement.

Note: This poem found on page 63 is included as a meditation for use during our moments for silent and private prayer and reflection. It may feel familiar to you when you read it, since Rabbi David Stern has shared these words, written by his mother, Priscilla Stern, of blessed memory, with us for many years as we have celebrated Shabbat together.

We reach for you, our God
from our quiet places.
May we stand still, for a brief moment,
and listen to the rain ––
Stand still, for a brief moment,
and watch the play of sunlight and shadow on the leaves.
For a brief moment –– listen to the world.

Let us stop the wheels of every day to be aware of Shabbat.
Find the stillness of the sanctuary which the soul cherished.
Renew the Covenant of an ancient people.

We need a quiet space to test the balance of our days.
The weight of our own deeds
against the heaviness of the world’s demands.
The balance is precarious –– steady us with faith.

Quiet places and stillness ––
where we will hear our own best impulses speak.
Quiet places and stillness ––
from which we will reach out to each other.

We will find strength in silence
and with this strength
we will turn again to Your service

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