This Rosh Hashanah ritual offers you an opportunity to express your own thoughts and feelings as holy prayers. It includes a hand washing ritual and an opportunity for writing.  For this ritual you will need a bowl of water, a cup, a pen, and a journal/notebook. You may want to perform this ritual in a peaceful, quiet place where you are alone and free from distractions. 

The Rosh Hashanah Services are so abundant with prayers that Rosh Hashanah even has its own separate prayer book called a machzor. This machzor is filled with liturgical writing that expresses a plethora of thoughts and wishes for the upcoming year. There are words that express praise, thanksgiving, requests, and phrases that mark the holiness of the day.  

However, as beautiful as the machzor might be, it was not written by you. What would it feel like for you to recite a prayer that you wrote yourself and expressed your own thoughts and feelings? 

This ritual will guide you toward creating a prayer that is personal and expresses what you are feeling in this given moment.  Throughout this process, think about this in whatever way works best for you.  If you feel like directing your prayer toward God, then do so. If you prefer for your prayer to serve more as an expression of your thoughts aloud to yourself, feel encouraged to do so.  If there is another way you would like to approach this prayer, please feel free to do so.

To begin, gather your bowl of water, cup, and towel.  Have your notebook and pen nearby.

You may want to play inspiring or calming music in the background.     

Take a few relaxing breaths and allow your gaze to rest gently on the water.  When you feel ready, take your cup and begin to scoop up some water and gradually pour it back into the bowl.  Keep repeating this movement until you no longer need to think about it, and your body begins doing it naturally.  Start thinking about what is deep in your heart right now and what you are feeling.  If the water that you are pouring over and over were coming from inside your soul, what words would be floating in the water?  What emotions would be flowing from your cup? 

Read, chant, or sing the following words from the book of Lamentations:
שִׁפְכִי כַמַּיִם לִבֵּךְ, נֹכַח פְּנֵי אֲדֹ-נָי
Shifchi ka’mayim libech, nochach pinei Ado-nai

Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord
(Lamentations 2:19) 

Take a break from pouring the water and spend some time writing and pouring out your soul. Write whatever comes to mind. If you feel it would benefit you to have writing prompts, use the questions below.

*What stage have you reached in your present journey?
*What are you grateful for at this moment?
*What challenges are you facing at this moment?
*What are you praying for, and what do you expect will be granted? 
*What causes your blood to boil and your anger to flare?
*What causes your throat to tighten and your tears to fall?

Take as long as you would like to write.  You do not need to edit or try to create a perfect piece of prose.  Focus on pouring out your heart and just letting whatever comes flow from your heart onto the page. 

When you feel like you have written all there is to write, you may want to recite the following words to conclude your prayer. 

יִהְיוּ לְרָצון אִמְרֵי פִי וְהֶגְיון לִבִּי לְפָנֶיךָ. ה' צוּרִי וְגואֲלִי:

Yihiyu le’ratzon imrei fi ve’higyone libi lefanecha Ado-nai tzuri ve’go’ali.

May the words of my mouth and the rumination of my heart be acceptable in front of You, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Now, think about what you want to do with this prayer. Do you want to bring it with you and recite it at synagogue?  Recite it every night before you go to bed or each morning as you start the day?  Or, perhaps this was something you were called to write in this moment, but is not a prayer you would want to recite again.  

May each coming day bring new words and fresh ideas that you can pour out like water. 


Booklet Section: Introduction