The following poem is written from the point of view of a woman blowing the shofar (ram’s horn), but it can speak just as strongly to those listening to the shofar. Reference is made in the poem to the biblical figures Shifra and Puah, the Egyptian midwives who defied Pharaoh’s orders and did not kill the male Israelite children. The poet uses the terms hutzpadik, meaning "nervy," Emainu, meaning "our mother," Hayot Hakodesh, meaning "celestial beings," and the phrase B’or paneha yehalayhun, meaning "They walk in the light of Your countenance" (Psalms 89:16). The poem is reprinted with permission from Journey, a journal of Jewish feminism published by Ma’yan: The Jewish Women’s Project.
At this awesome season
pregnant
with all possibility we pray today:
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By our choices and deeds,
with Divine Intervention,
Supernal Midwife of Israel
and of All Creation,
attend,
assist us
to birth as yet unknown wonders,
miracles of Life.
With an awesome fear of God,
I place this shofar to my lips.
May the breath
You breathe inside me momentarily,
now return to You
to be renewed and return again
to this world for Life, for Peace
May the birthcries of my shofar blasts
be pleasing to You,
as the words and deeds of Shifra
with fear of You, she
lovingly births Your People:
Freedom
to do Your Will.
Like Puah,
be hutzpadik
in Your advocacy
Encourage us toward Life
even when we ourselves may feel discouraged,
distressed in the midst
of life’s hard pangs.
Breathe life into us anew!
While others take us for dead.
Lest we face despair of lost hope,
even we,
may abandon ourselves.
In the name of Shifra, Puah,
Sara Emainu
Hana,
in the name of Rahel Emainu,
let her tears for her children,
be of gladness and joy.
In the name of God that is Birth,
let the joy of becoming, of hearing
sounds from this birthing shofar
overcome and become us all.
God, cleanse us of our sins
like the midwife
who cleanses the newborn infant.
Wrap us in the beautiful garments
of the Soul.
Bathe us in Your Light
so our Divine nature may shine
even as we walk joyously in Your Light –
B’or paneha yehalayhun!
May the breath of my being
blown into this shofar
hearken us
back to the shofar
that is Shifra
and the breath
that is Puah.
Deliver us from the narrows
of, God Forbid, an evil decree,
into the breadth of sound.
Signal in us an expansion.
Together God
may we birth this coming year!
God,
Supernal Midwife,
send me no angel, no seraph, not even
Be Thou my Midwife!
Be Thou my angel!
Be Thou My Self!
Birth me yet again anew,
renewed for this coming year.
shofar
Pronounced: sho-FAR or SHO-far, Origin: Hebrew, a ram’s horn that is sounded during the month of Elul, on Rosh Hashanah, and on Yom Kippur. It is mentioned numerous times in the Bible, in reference to its ceremonial use in the Temple and to its function as a signal-horn of war.
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