Shuva L'Shalom

As we stand on the first Shabbat of this new year…
We pray for return.
Such that for eternity…
The cycles of the year will always return to their beginnings…
And the cycles of the sun, moon, and stars
always return to their original place in the sky…
And the land, that encompasses all our hopes;
The land that encompasses all our dreams…
may return to her beginning as well…
Not the same, perhaps…
But stronger, safer, and more peaceful than ever before…
May the cycles of the year continue to illuminate our beloved land
with bright memories of generations past;
May the cycles of our year continue to illuminate our beloved land
With echoes of an even brighter future…
A new year has arrived…
And in this year, we pray, may she know peace, prosperity, and wholeness.

Hayinu K'cholmim

Every day, when the sun rises…
A new light shines upon Jerusalem…
And every night, when the moon glows…
A new light shines up Zion…
We pray that for eternity…
The sun will continue rise…
And the moon will continue glow…
On the land that is our hopes,
The land that is our dreams…
For hayinu k’cholmim, we were once like dreamers…
That there might someday be a land on which
The sun would shine, the moon could glow…
May the cycles of light continue to illuminate our beloved land;
May their rays cast warmth over all her inhabitants…
And may our prayers for peace cause even the dimmest stars to dazzle hopefully in the night sky…

A new year is upon us…
And may the light of our future shine endlessly upon Zion, and our holy city of Jerusalem…