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Endings & Beginnings

Our lives are shaped by a series of stories, each with its own narrative arc. We leave home and welcome people to our home; we enter our reproductive years and leave them; we end one piece of our life’s work and begin another. Endings and beginnings are bittersweet—we celebrate each with the awareness of the other. 

Photo by Jordan Cassway

A Ritual for Endings and Beginnings

By Elaine Moise | Complete Ceremony

A ritual for leaving a job and beginning another [more]

Found In: Endings & Beginnings

Tags: Siddur Kol Haneshamah

Ceremony for Affixing the Mezuzah

By Emanuel Banks | Complete Ceremony

Responsive reading and blessing for establishing a home and the mitzvah of affixing the mezuzah [more]

Found In: Endings & Beginnings

Tags: mezuzah

Hafradah: A Jewish Leavetaking Ritual

By Jane Litwoman | Complete Ceremony

A ritual for friends or lovers who will be separated from one another, temporarily or for a long time [more]

Found In: Traveling, Endings & Beginnings

Tags: friendship

Endings and Beginnings: A Modern Psalm

By Debbie Perlman, z"l | Reading

Wishes for hope, optimism, and new possibilities [more]

Found In: Endings & Beginnings, Healing & Hard Times

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

Shehehiyanu

By Ruth F. Brin, z”l | Prayer

A modern version in English of the traditional prayer for giving thanks [more]

Found In: Bar / Bat Mitzvah, Covenant & Naming Rituals, Daily Prayer & Mindfulness, Choosing & Affirming a Jewish Life, Endings & Beginnings

Tags: shehekheyanu

Shehecheyanu

Ritual Component

Conclusion of the service [more]

Found In: Endings & Beginnings

Tags: shehekheyanu

Ritual for Leaving, Arriving and Journeying

By Marcia Plumb | Complete Ceremony

A ritual for a group to bid farewell to someone moving away or leaving on a long journey. [more]

Found In: Traveling, Endings & Beginnings

Tags: Debbie Friedman

A Celebration of a Safe Return after a Year of Traveling

By Viviane Mercedes Topp | Complete Ceremony

A ceremony celebrating the author's safe return from a long journey [more]

Found In: Traveling, Endings & Beginnings

Tags: Debbie Friedman, el maley rakhamim, gomel, Marcia Falk, shehekheyanu