Individual Prayers before Yom Kippur
During the last service of Yom Kippur, Ne’ilah we provide the opportunity for congregants to come up to the open Ark to make personal prayers. This year I would like you to think about what prayers you might say ahead of time. Please feel free to offer your most personal prayers from the heart. If you’d like suggestions of words that can guide you, feel free to extrapolate from the examples below.
Gemar Chatimah Tovah – May we each be inscribed in the Book of Good – Rabbi Michael S. Jay
Hineni, by Rabbi Karyn Kedar
I am here. I am here.
I stand before the open Ark and
the eternal scrolls of our people
dressed in white light.
I stand ready to enter into the Holy Days,
to offer prayers that urge me
to live better, kinder,
ever present to the pain of others,
to become a compassionate vessel, trustworthy
holding hope in the midst of despair.
Hin’ni
I am here, I am here.
I stand on the edge between earth and heaven,
between what I know and what I can never understand,
between life and life everlasting.
Mortality hovers, a rippling presence,
always there, lingering, waiting, holding.
I am here.
Hin’ni
I am here
I stand resilient, determined,
though I have been taken down,
forced to live a different way.
The rhythm of life has been altered.
Time unfolds and morphs, expands and stands still.
I have been called to be present, to pay attention.
What have I learned?
What have I done with the time I have been given,
glorious time of never-ending possibility?
Have I squandered the beauty, the radiance of life,
an offering to my inner being?
Who am I?
Where have I gone astray?
Am I worthy to pray with my people?
May I be worthy to pray with my people.
Hear my plea, grant me the faith, courage and wisdom
to enter into cheshbon hanefesh:
the fragility and humility of self-examination.
Hin’ni,
I am here, I am here.
May this fractured heart, softened
and hold love and compassion,
in a way it never has before.
Hin’ni, I am here
Traditional Prayer for Holiday Torah Service:
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם מַלֵּא מִשְׁאֲלוֹת לִבִּי לְטוֹבָה וְהָפֵק רְצוֹנִי וְתֶן שְׁאֵלָתִי וּמְחוֹל לִי עַל כָּל־עֲוֹנוֹתַי וְעַל כָּל עֲוֹנוֹת אַנְשֵׁי בֵיתִי מְחִילָה בְחֶֽסֶד מְחִילָה בְרַחֲמִים וְטַהֲרֵֽנִי מֵחֲטָאַי וּמֵעֲוֹנוֹתַי וּמִפְּשָׁעַי. וְזָכְרֵֽנוּ בְּזִכָּרוֹן טוֹב לְפָנֶֽיךָ וּפָקְדֵֽנוּ בִּפְקֻדַּת יְשׁוּעָה וְרַחֲמִים וְזָכְרֵֽנוּ לְחַיִּים טוֹבִים וַאֲרוּכִים וּלְשָׁלוֹם לְפַרְנָסָה וְכַלְכָּלָה וְתֶן־לָֽנוּ לֶֽחֶם לֶאֱכוֹל וּבֶֽגֶד לִלְבּוֹשׁ וְעֽשֶׁר וְכָבוֹד וְאֹֽרֶךְ יָמִים לַהֲגוֹת בְּתוֹרָתֶֽךָ וּלְקַיֵּם מִצְוֹתֶֽיהָ וְשֵֽׂכֶל וּבִינָה לְהָבִין וּלְהַשְׂכִּיל עִמְקֵי סוֹדוֹתֶֽיהָ. וּשְׁלַח רְפוּאָה לְכָל־מַכְאוֹבֵֽינוּ וּתְבָרֵךְ אֶת כָּל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֵינוּ. וְתִגְזוֹר עָלֵינוּ גְזֵרוֹת טוֹבוֹת יְשׁוּעוֹת וְנֶחָמוֹת וּתְבַטֵּל מֵעָלֵֽינוּ כָּל־גְּזֵרוֹת קָשׁוֹת. וְתַטֶּה לֵב הַמַּלְכוּת וְיוֹעֲצֶֽיהָ וְשָׂרֶֽיהָ עָלֵֽינוּ לְטוֹבָה. אָמֵן וְכֵן יְהִי רָצוֹן: יִהְיוּ לְרָצוֹן אִמְרֵי פִי וְהֶגְיוֹן לִבִּי לְפָנֶֽיךָ יְהֹוָה צוּרִי וְגוֹאֲלִי:
Master of the universe! Fulfil my request for good, gratify my wishes and grant my request. Forgive all my iniquities, and all the iniquities of my family, with forgiveness of lovingkindness and compassion. Purify me of my sins, my iniquities and my transgressions. Remember us favorably before You, and be mindful of us for deliverance and compassion. Remember us for a good, long life of peace, of maintenance and sustenance. Give us bread to eat, clothes to wear, and wealth and honor; give us long life to meditate in Your Torah, and to fulfill its commandments; [give us] intelligence and understanding to understand and be intellectually creative in comprehending its profound concepts. Send healing for all our sorrows, and bless all the work of our hands. Ordain for us good decrees of deliverances and comforts, and remove from us all harsh decrees. Cause the hearts of government leaders, their advisors and officers, to be favorably inclined toward us. Amein! And may this be Your will. May the words of my mouth be acceptable and the thoughts of my heart — before You Adonoy, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Private Meditation
Avinu Malkeinu, bless my family with peace. Teach us to appreciate the treasure of our lives. Help us always to find contentment in one another. Save us from dissension and jealousy, shield us from pettiness and rivalry. May selfish pride not divide us; may pride in one another unite us. Help us to renew our love for one another continually. In the light of Your Torah grant us, the people Israel and all Your creatures everywhere, health and fulfillment, harmony, peace and joy. Amen.
Who by Fire, by Leonard Cohen
And who by fire, who by water,
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time,
Who by high ordeal, who by common trial,
Who in your merry merry month of may,
Who by very slow decay,
And who shall I say is calling?
And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate,
Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt,
And who by avalanche, who by powder,
Who for his greed, who for his hunger,
And who shall I say is calling?
And who by brave assent, who by accident,
Who in solitude, who in this mirror,
Who by his lady’s command, who by his own hand,
Who in mortal chains, who in power,
And who shall I say is calling?
