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Kindle the Sabbath Lights
Oh YHWH,
God of Israel,
We bless You for blessing the nations
with knowledge of You
and Your Torah,
the true Revelation that Israel was privileged
to be given
as part of its Covenant with You
on Sinai.
We bless Israel for sharing with the nations,
the Hebrew Scriptures
which record both their failures and successes,
their losses and their victories,
for us to learn from.
Through Your Revelation on Sinai,
and Your interaction with Your chosen people,
we have gained knowledge of You—
the One True God,
the God of Israel,
the God of the nations.
May Israel’s ‘servant light’ continue to shine
that the whole world may be illumined
by the Light of Your Torah,
and may we Gentiles who have seen Your LIGHT,
through Your servant’s light,
become sparks and lamps ourselves
to help dispel the darkness
in the minds and hearts of humankind.
Oh YHWH, Revelator on Sinai,
God of our Sinai community . . . .
God of all those who acknowledge You as the One True God,
The One and Only God, none before and none after,
YHWH, self-revealing God in the Hebrew Scriptures!
As we come together to delight
in this 1st Sabbath of this month,
We remember all the miracles
You wrought in Israel’s behalf.
And yet it is evident to all
who have eyes to see,
that you continue to work miracles
for one nation and one nation only,
to which You committed Yourself
to see them through
from their birth on Sinai
to the end of the age.
Outside of the timeline of the canon of the TNK,
the feasts celebrated by the nation of Israel
recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures though surely,
recorded in the mind, heart, and spirit of every Jew,
who look back on their national history,
when they reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem for You,
their God, their Liberator not only from Egypt,
but from all other nations that have since oppressed them
over six millennia of their existence on Your earth;
and yet they have survived to this day
to be a Nation-Witness to the Covenant
You made with them on Sinai.
We kindle our Sabbath lights
and join this weekly celebration of Israel,
Your chosen people, Your ‘Sabbath people’,
who continue to be sustained
by Your grace and mercy,
and Your prophetic utterances
through your human mouthpieces,
not because they have successfully obeyed Your Torah,
but because You are faithful to Your declaration:
“You will be My people,
and I will be Your God.”
We are not of Israel,
but we count ourselves among Your people,
for we embrace You as our God,
O Creator, Revelator, God of Israel,
Who revealed Your Name as YHWH, the Eternal,
Who changes not, but will be as You choose to be.
We love Your Torah, we love Your chosen people,
We count ourselves truly blessed
to be counted among those who pray for them,
who pray for peace in Your land of promise,
for You have said,
“I will bless those
who bless you” . . . .
As these Sabbath lights
illuminate the darkness around us,
May we be as lamps for Your sake,
and for Your Torah,
by the very life we live,
which we rededicate to You,
on this culminating day of the week, the Sabbath.
O LIGHT of the world, YHWH,
Israel’s Adonai and Elohim,
God of the Nations,
Our LORD and our GOD.
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Psalm 33 [NIV]
1 Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
5 The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars[a];
he puts the deep into storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the world revere him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the Lord looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 We wait in hope for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
even as we put our hope in you.
strivingfortruth.com
Blessed are You,
O YHWH,
Creator of the universe,
the Source of all Joy in our lives.
For all the years we sought You,
the One True God,
Even as we did not know You
like we know You now,
Still the joy of seeking You
and serving You
and loving You
was always the purpose of our lives.
As we partake of this fruit of the vine
we drink to Your Life in us,
and Your Light that shines upon us,
and hopefully through us.
We drink this wine,
symbol of the sheer joy
of finally knowing You.
L’Chaim, to Life, Mabuhay!
Blessed are You, YHWH,
Adonai our Elohim,
for sustaining us all our years on this earth,
with the staff of life,
for food on our tables,
the nourishment of our bodies,
food for the soul, Your Torah,
the true nourishment of our spirit.
[OriginalTune: ‘Give Thanks’/revised lyrics]
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to Yahuwah God,
Give thanks because He’s given
His TRUE WORD, His TRUE WAY,
Give thanks for the LIFE we live,
Give thanks for the LOVE He gives,
Give thanks for His provisions
every moment, every day—
And now, may we give back to our Lord,
all that He requires from us,
to simply live His Life, His Torah life,
Make known, Who He is, declare His Name,
so that all might come to know,
how He revealed Himself to Israel,
Give Him thanks . . . heartfelt thanks . . .
endless thanks.
[Lift up in prayer your loved ones — name them one by one, remembering those who have moved on from this life — parents, spouse, siblings, children, extended kin, friends, special people, co-workers, etc.]
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Image from Beth Moshe Congregation
HAVDALAH
As we each go our separate ways
looking forward to celebrating
the next Sabbath in seven days,
May the Light of YHWH,
the light of Israel,
and the lamp of Torah
illuminate our way
throughout our continuing spiritual pilgrimage
on the one true pathway toward Sinai,
the Mountain of Revelation
the Site of the One and Only Covenant,
the Source of Torah Light. . .
Toward YHWH,
the True LIGHT of the world,
the One and Only True God.
Amen.
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Shabbat Shalom
In behalf of Sinai 6000 Core Community,
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