Festivals, Prayer for Rain
חגים, תפילת גשם
פותחים הארון:
ברוך אתה וכו' עד ומושיע ומגן:
אַף בְּרִי אֻתַּת שֵׁם שר מָטָר.
לְהַעֲבִיב וּלְהַעֲנִין לְהָרִיק וּלְהַמְטַר.
מַיִם אִבִּים בָּם גֵּיא לַעֲטַר.
לְבַל יוּעֲצָרוּ בְּנִשְׁיון שְׁטַר.
אֱמוּנִים גְּנון בָּם שׁואֲלֵי מָטָר:
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' מָגֵן אַבְרָהָם:
אַתָּה גִבּור לְעולָם אֲדנָי. מְחַיֵּה מֵתִים אַתָּה רַב לְהושִׁיעַ:
יַטְרִיחַ לְפַלֵּג מִפֶּלֶג גֶּשֶׁם.
לְמוגֵג פְּנֵי נֶשִׁי בְּצַחות לֶשֶׁם.
מַיִם לְאַדְרָךְ כִּנִּיתָ בְּרֶשֶׁם.
לְהַרְגִיעַ בְּרַעֲפָם לִנְפוּחֵי נֶשֶׁם.
לְהַחֲיות מַזְכִּירִים גְּבוּרות הַגָּשֶׁם:
אֱלהֵינוּ וֵאלהֵי אֲבותֵינוּ:
זְכור אָב נִמְשַׁךְ אַחֲרֶיךָ כַּמַּיִם.
בֵּרַכְתּו כְּעֵץ שָׁתוּל עַל פַּלְגֵי מַיִם.
גְּנַנְתּו הִצַּלְתּו מֵאֵשׁ וּמִמַּיִם.
דְּרַשְׁתּו בְּזָרְעו עַל כָּל מָיִם:
בַּעֲבוּרו אַל תִּמְנַע מָיִם:
זְכור הַנּולָד בִּבְשורַת יֻקַּח נָא מְעַט מַיִם
וְשחְתָּ לְהורו לְשָׁחֲטו לִשְׁפּוךְ דָּמו כַּמַּיִם
זִהֵר גַּם הוּא לִשְׁפּוךְ לֵב כַּמַּיִם
חָפַר וּמָצָא בְּאֵרות מָיִם.
בְּצִדְקו חון חַשְׁרַת מָיִם.
זְכור טָעַן מַקְלו וְעָבַר יַרְדֵּן מַיִם
יִחַד לֵב וְגָל אֶבֶן מִפִּי בְאֵר מַיִם
כְּנֶאֱבַק לו שר בָּלוּל מֵאֵשׁ וּמִמַּיִם
לָכֵן הִבְטַחְתּו הֱיות עִמּו בָּאֵשׁ וּבַמָּיִם.
בַּעֲבוּרו אַל תִּמְנַע מָיִם.
זְכור מָשׁוּי בְּתֵיבַת גּומֶא מִן הַמַּיִם
נָמוּ דָלה דָלָה וְהִשְׁקָה צאן מַיִם
סְגוּלֶיךָ עֵת צָמְאוּ לְמַּיִם
עַל הַסֶּלַע הָךְ וַיֵּצְאוּ מָיִם.
בְּצִדְקו חון חַשְׁרַת מָיִם.
זְכור פְּקִיד שָׁתות טובֵל חָמֵשׁ טְבִילות בַּמַּיִם
צועֶה וּמַרְחִיץ כַּפָּיו בְּקִדּוּשׁ מַיִם
קורֵא וּמַזֶּה טָהֳרַת מַיִם
רוּחַק מֵעַם פַּחַז כַּמָּיִם.
בַּעֲבוּרו אַל תִּמְנַע מָיִם.
זְכור שְׁנֵים עָשר שְׁבָטִים שֶׁהֶעֱבַרְתָּ בְּגִזְרַת מַיִם
שֶׁהִמְתַּקְתָּ לָמו מְרִירוּת מַיִם
תּולְדותָם נִשְׁפַּךְ דָּמָם עָלֶיךָ כַּמַּיִם
תֵּפֶן כִּי נַפְשֵׁנוּ אָפְפוּ מָיִם.
בְּצִדְקָם חון חַשְׁרַת מָיִם:
חזן - שָׁאַתָּה הוּא ה' אֱלהֵינוּ מַשִּׁיב הָרוּחַ וּמורִיד הַגֶשֶׁם:
לִבְרָכָה וְלא לִקְלָלָה. אמן:
לְחַיִּים וְלא לַמָּוֶת. אמן:
לְשובַע וְלא לְרָזון. אמן:
מכלכל חיים וכו':
Our God and God of our ancestors:
Remember Abraham who flowed to You like water.
You blessed him like a tree planted by streams of water.
You rescued him from fire and water.
He passed Your test by planting good deeds by every source of water.
For Abraham’s sake, do not keep back water.
Remember Isaac, whose birth was foretold when Abraham offered the angels a little water.
You asked his father to spill his blood like water.
In the desert Isaac dug and found wells of water.
For Isaac’s sake, do not keep back water.
Remember Jacob, who crossed the Jordan’s water.
He bravely rolled the stone off the mouth of the well of water.
He wrestled with an angel made of fire and water,
And therefore You promised to be with him through fire and water.
For Jacob’s sake do not keep back water.
Remember Moses, who was drawn in a reed basket out of the Nile’s water.
Who helped Jethro’s daughters: He drew water and gave the sheep water.
He struck the rock and out came water.
For Moses’ sake do not hold back water!
Remember Aaron, the High Priest, who, on Yom Kippur, washed himself five times with water,
He prayed and was sprinkled with purifying water,
He kept apart from a people who were as unstable as water.
For Aaron’s sake do not hold back water.
Remember the Twelve Tribes whom
You brought through the divided waters;
For whom You sweetened bitter water;
Their descendants’ blood was spilled like water.
Turn to us, God, who are surrounded by troubles like water.
For the Jewish people’s sake, do not hold back water.
You are Adonai, our God
Who causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall.
For blessing and not for curse. Amen.
For life and not for death. Amen.
For plenty and not for lack. Amen.
Garden Song
Album Parallel Lives
Inch by inch, row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe
And a piece of fertile ground
Inch by inch, row by row
Someone bless these seeds I sow
Someone warm them from below
'Till the rain comes tumblin' down
Pullin' weeds and pickin' stones
Man is made of dreams and bones
Feel the need to grow my own
'Cause the time is close at hand
Grain for grain, sun and rain
Find my way in Nature's chain
Tune my body and my brain
To the music from the land
Plant your rows straight and long
Temper them with prayer and song
Mother Earth will make you strong
If you give her loving care
An old crow watching hungrily
From his perch in yonder tree
In my garden I'm as free
As that feathered thief up there
Posted on March 30, 2012
A Talmud Tale based on Ta'anit 23a
Told by Peninnah Schram
Honi the Wise One was also known as Honi the Circle Maker. By drawing a circle and stepping inside of it, he would recite special prayers for rain, sometimes even argue with God during a drought, and the rains would come. He was, indeed, a miracle maker. As wise as he was, Honi sometimes saw something that puzzled him. Then he would ask questions so he could unravel the mystery.
One day, Honi the Circle Maker was walking on the road and saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked the man, “How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?”
The man replied, “Seventy years.”
Honi then asked the man, “And do you think you will live another seventy years and eat the fruit of this tree?”
The man answered, “Perhaps not. However, when I was born into this world, I found many carob trees planted by my father and grandfather. Just as they planted trees for me, I am planting trees for my children and grandchildren so they will be able to eat the fruit of these trees.”
Commentary on:
Prodigal Son Eats Carob Pods
The parable of the lost son eating carob tree husks is in Luke 15:11-32.
Christ told the parable of the lost, or prodigal, son in response to the Pharisees and teachers of the law criticizing him for welcoming and eating with sinners. This parable was one of three parables that made the point that God searches for the lost, whether a lost sheep, coin, or person. The parable of the prodigal son goes like this:
A father had two sons. The younger asked his father for his inheritance. After receiving his share of the estate, the young man went into another country and squandered the money on wild living. After his money was spent, there was a severe famine in the entire country. With no money, the young man hired himself out to a citizen who sent him to the fields to feed pigs. The young man longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating; but no one gave him anything to eat.
Sometime later the young man came to his senses and determined to go home to his father. He planned to tell his father that he no longer deserved to be called a son; he would gladly be treated like a hired man.
From a far distance, the father saw his son returning home. He ran to his son and hugged and kissed him. The son confessed to his father that he sinned and was no longer worthy to be called a son. Before the son could asked his father to treat him like a hired hand, the father called servants to bring a robe, a ring for his son’s hand, and sandals for his feet. The father ordered a feast to celebrate the younger son’s return.
During the celebration, the older son came home from working in the field. He learned his younger brother returned home and his father ordered a celebration. The older son became angry and would not enter the house. When his father came out to him, the older son complained that he served his father year after year, never disobeying him; however, his father never gave him an animal to hold a celebration with his friends. Yet, the younger son who demanded then squandered his inheritance came home and is greeted with a party.
The father acknowledged the older son’s value saying you are always with me and everything I have is yours. At the same time, the father averred that they must celebrate the younger son’s return because “this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Matthew 15:32).
Carob Pods
The pods that the younger son longed to eat were carob pods, the fruit of the Ceratonia siliqua. Common names are carob tree, St. John’s bread, locust tree, and Egyptian fig. Although the carob tree grows to 55 feet in the United States, in Israel carob trees are smaller. After pollination, long (up to 12 inches by 1 inch) pods develop. Pods are filled with soft brown pulp and 10-13 flat, hard seeds. In May on Kibbutz Ketura in the southern Negev Desert, I gathered and ate a ripe carob pod. It tasted sweet and was fibrous. Carob pods are grounded into flour and used to make a cocoa (chocolate) substitute.
Symbolism: Substitute
The carob plant can be associated with several concepts. The genus name of the carob tree, Ceratonia, is comes from the Greek word keras (κερας) meaning “horn,” the shape of the carob pod. Called poor man’s bread, carob pods and flour are also associated with humility. Certainly both horn and humility make sense in the parable of the lost son; however, so does “substitute.”
https://godasagardener.com/2013/09/02/prodigal-son-eating-carob-pods/
Ceratonia siliqua, Carob, Locust, St. John's-Bread,
Egyptian fig, חרוב מצוי "Charuv", خروب "kharoub"
| Scientific name: | Ceratonia siliqua L. | |
| Common name: | Carob, St. John's-Bread | |
| Hebrew name: | חרוב מצוי "Charuv" | |
| Arabic name: | خروب "kharoub | |
| Plant Family: | Caesalpiniaceae, Senna Family, קסאלפיניים |
| Derivation of the botanical name: Ceratonia, keration (Greek), keras, "horn" and refers to the fruit of the carob. siliqua (Latin), alluding to the hardness and shape of the pod.
The term "carat", the unit by which diamond weight is measured, is derived from the Greek word keration, alluding to an ancient practice of people in the middle east weighing gold and gemstones against the seeds of the carob tree. The seeds of the fruit of the Carob tree weigh always between 197 and 216 milligram. Already in antiquity these seeds were used as a weight unit. Just at the beginning of the twentieth century the metric carat (see: carat) was determined internationally on 0.2 gram. Ceratonia siliqua, Carob, is often called the poor man's bread and it is regarded as a symbol of humility. The Carob Tree or Locust (the ´husks´ of which were fed to the swine -Luke.15:16), also known as St John's Bread (Mark 1:6). Legend says John the Baptist sustained himself on the Carob beans while travelling in the wilderness. This particular reference has been rather misunderstood. John the Baptist has been reported to survive during his time in the dessert eating locusts (insects). This reference has been confused with Locust Bean which is another word for carob. It is well known that in Biblical times wild (non cultivated) carobs were in abundance and it is not mentioned in the Old Testament; its Hebrew name haruv often appears in the Mishnah and the Talmud. Furthermore ancient Greeks recorded that the Egyptians called this particular tree the "Egyptian Fig". The Egyptians not only ate the pods raw but used the gum out of the seeds (LBG) to produce a liquid which they widely used in the mummification of their dead. The Carob tree together with the Mastic pistacia bush (Pistacia lentiscus) dominate a type of evergreen scrub forest, called the Carob and Mastic Pistacia Scrub Forest. It is common in the Coastal Plain and the adjacent foothills, and on the eastern slopes of Galilee and Samaria. The Carob tree is an leguminous evergreen shrub or tree of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), native to the Mediterranean region, cultivated for its edible seed pods. Although the carob is not mentioned in the bible, its seeds are. Bible resources:
|
Copyright © 2005-2019 Martha Modzelevich
http://www.flowersinisrael.com/Ceratoniasiliqua_page.htmFlowers in Israel
"The future of life on Earth depends on our ability to see the sacred where others see only the common" ~ John Denver
"Long live teachers of children, because they can show children how they can save the world." ~ Pete Seeger
"If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned or removed from production." ~ Pete Seeger
"Every time I'm in the woods, i feel like I'm in church." ~ Pete Seeger
"And there's a wonderful parable in the New Testament: The sower scatters seeds. Some seeds fall in the pathway and get stamped on, and they don't grow. Some fall on the rocks, and they don't grow. But some seeds fall on fallow ground, and they grow and multiply a thousandfold. Who knows where some good little thing that you've done may bring results years later that you never dreamed of?" ~ Pete Seeger
Questions for Discussion:
- What is the significance of rain in the three Abrahamic faiths?
- What is the significance of the number 70 to the three Abrahamic faiths?
- We will encourage participants to explore the personality of Honi:
What's it like being Honi?
How do others relate to him?
Do you know other "special" and "extreme" people?
What are they like?
Pete Seeger
John Denver