Ashrei: Old and New
Each of the B'nai Mitzvah (children of the commandments) will lead the service on the day of his or her Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony. In addition to reading all or part of a Haftarah, and at least thee lines of the Torah, and delivering a D'var Torah ("sermon" or "Word about the Torah"), each young person will also be responsible for chanting certain prayers alone, or in call-and-response with the congregation. Of these prayers, the longest and wordiest is the Ashrei., which is made up of a line from Psalm 84, a line from Psalm 144, the whole of Psalm 145, and a line from Psalm 115. Psalm 145 is an acrostic — each line begins with a Hebrew letter in alphabetical order (with the exception of nun, which is nafal, dropped). It begins "Happy are they who sit in Your house and praise You forever!", and continues expressing extravagant joy and thanksgiving for all of G-d's works. A traditionally-observant Jew prays this prayer three times daily, as part of the morning, afternoon, and evening prayer services. It is said that if you pray the Ashrei three times a day you are guaranteed a place in the Olam HaBa — the World to Come! So that we could understand better what this long prayer is all about, we looked in class at how many of the words end in "cha," which means "yours." Then, each member of class picked a letter, randomly, and composed three or four lines in English starting with that letter.to express thanks or joy to G-d or some Larger Power. This is what they came up with. The class hopes you enjoy reading it as much as they enjoyed writing it.
Our Personal Ashrei—B'nai Mitzvah, Year 5770
Activities are awesome!
Bless You for food!
Caring about others, You are cool!
David, my twin brother, is delightful — thank You!
Everything we need to live is essential — thanks!
For snow, thank You!
Goodness from my heart I feel towards computers!
Having a good education — for this, thanks!
Irritation is bad to give G-d!
Jews that You for food for our community!
Kindness to others is good!
Love is important to give G-d!
Mothers are nice—thanks for creating them.
New idea for iPhone app will make those who buy it happy!
Oranges and other fruits taste good —thanks!
Praise You for life!
Quilts are good in the winter — thank you!
Rainy days and movies make me happy—thanks!
Sweet treats are wonderful—thanks!
Thank you, G-d, for food!
Universe is where our beautiful world is —thanks!
Vacations are relaxing time off of work —thank You!
Water and food: it's great I always have plenty!
Xylophone is the best instrument – thank You!
You should thank G-d for everything you have!
Zoologists help the world —thanks!
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