Choosing & Affirming a Jewish Life

Our world offers a dizzying array of options for constructing identity and making meaning. In this context, all Jews are Jews by choice. Whether choosing Judaism for the first time, or returning or affirming this path for yourself, the choice to live a Jewish life calls for ritual and communal celebration.

Ceremony of Tevilah

By Rabbi Jeffrey A. Marx | Reading

Words of welcome and blessing for the rabbi to say before the convert enters the mikveh [more]

Found In: Conversion

Tags: mikveh

Greeting a New Daughter of Israel

By Susan R. Schorr | Complete Ceremony

A synagogue welcomes a new convert [more]

Found In: Conversion

A Ritual for Returning to Judaism

By Rabbi Michael Ragozin | Complete Ceremony

A ritual for someone who has either left Judaism for another religion and returned, or is returning to Jewish life and practice after a time of absence. [more]

Found In: Choosing & Affirming a Jewish Life

Tags: mikveh

Kavanah for Mikveh

By Carol Rose | Ritual Component

A meditation for the mikveh invoking God's healing presence [more]

Found In: Conversion, Mikveh for Monthly Use: Niddah

Tags: mikveh

Prelude to Mikveh

By Cynthia Wallace | Poem

A kavanah for ritual immersion that focuses on the experience of mikveh as an experience of the Divine [more]

Found In: Mikveh for Monthly Use: Niddah, Choosing & Affirming a Jewish Life, Healing & Hard Times

Tags: mikveh

Blessing for Adult Milestones

By Rabbi Elliot Rose Kukla | Prayer

A Jewish way to mark life’s passages [more]

Found In: Becoming a Jewish Adult, Retirement, Gender & Sexual Identity, Choosing & Affirming a Jewish Life, Growing Older

Tags: mi sheberakh

Talmud Berachot 17a

By Lawrence Kushner, Translator | Reading

"May your eyes sparkle with the light of Torah and your ears hear the music of its words" — a prayer for our children based on a talmudic passage [more]

Found In: Bar / Bat Mitzvah, Covenant & Naming Rituals, Choosing & Affirming a Jewish Life

Transition Ritual

By Moon Mamas Rosh Chodesh Group in the Bay Area | Complete Ceremony

An opportunity to join with others and be witnessed in any life transition, both external and internal [more]

Found In: Month of Elul, Conversion, Gender Transitioning, Becoming a Jewish Adult, Endings & Beginnings

Tags: handwashing, LGBTIQ

Lechi Lach

Lyrics by Debbie Friedman, z"l & Savina Teubal (based on Genesis 12:1-2) | Song

"Lechi lach to a place that I will show you/Lech lecha to a land you do not know…" —song by Debbie Friedman, z"l based on God's words to Abraham to seek his destiny. [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals, Torah Portion: Parashah, Becoming a Jewish Adult, Traveling, Choosing & Affirming a Jewish Life, Endings & Beginnings, Growing Older, Everyday Holiness

Tags: Debbie Friedman, Lekh Lekha

World of Your Dreams (Andy’s Bar Mitzvah Song)

Lyrics and music by Debbie Friedman, z"l - based on Talmud Berachot 17a | Song

"May you live to see your world fulfilled"—song by Debbie Friedman, z"l - based on Talmud Berachot 17a [more]