Hame'irah Video Release

Hame'irah - Coleen Dieker and Josh Warshawsky

HUM.

Dear Friends,
The universe began with a hum. A hum… and then a bang. And each day it grew larger and larger and contained more and more. We cannot live each new day in the same way we lived the last, for we have all of the experiences and memories of the previous day filed away in our internal memory bank. And so each day is created anew, filled with new opportunities. And each day, we have the potential to become partners with God in the act of creation, adding to the world in a way that only you can.

The words for this prayer are about creation. “The Holy One, who lights up the world and all of her inhabitants with mercy.” The key here is light. The first act of creation, mentioned first, and inherently interwoven with the divine attribute of mercy. And then this: “And in the Divine’s goodness, every single day, She renews the act of creation.” 

And in thinking about creation and rebirth, Coleen Dieker and I were immediately drawn to the feminine. Hebrew is a gendered language, and most of the time in liturgy the masculine suffix is used for God. But here, praying for rebirth and renewal, we wanted to sing to The Divine in the feminine, and so we changed the suffixes to reflect that: Hame’irah, Uv’tuvah, Mechadeshet. 

This week we begin the cycle of reading the Torah again. Now is the time for us to be partners with God again in creating a better world. As we enter this Shabbat, may we continue to merit to be partners with the Holy One. Grant us the capacity to value our friends and family, and to enrich the lives of those whom we love.

Change happens every day. Sometimes it’s hard to see and hear, like a hum, but if we all hum together, we can move mountains. 

Shabbat Shalom,
Josh

This track is sponsored by Susan and Marc Sacks