Blessing the children

Feb 9, 2021, 7:53 PM

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Parents place their hands on their children’s heads and recite:

For a daughter:

May you be as Sarah, Rivka, Rachel, and Leah,
whose names and deeds
are our inheritance;
who bore us, raised us,
guided and taught us
that a touch
is a touch of Holiness,
and a laugh is prophecy;
that all that is ours,
is theirs;
that neither Man or Woman alone
lights the sparks of Life,
but only both together,
generating light and warmth
and singular humanity.

For a son:

May you be as Ephraim and Menasheh
of whom we know nothing
but their names
and that they were Jews.
And may you be as all Jews
whose names are lost
as witnesses to God’s care,
love, and presence.
Remember them in your words,
and live Menschlich lives
as they lived Menschlich lives.

These poems appeared in my collection Unlocked Doors (1983) and have been republished in my new book Radiance: Creative Mitzvah Living (JPS, 2020)

About the Author

Danny Siegel is a well-known author, lecturer, and poet who has spoken in more than 500 North American Jewish communities on Tzedakah and Jewish values, besides reading from his own poetry. He is the author of 29 1/2 books on such topics as Mitzvah heroism practical and personalized Tzedakah, and Talmudic quotes about living the Jewish life well. Siegel has been referred to as "The World's Greatest Expert on Microphilanthropy", "The Pied Piper of Tzedakah", "A Pioneer Of Tzedakah", and "The Most Famous Unknown Jewish Poet in America."