As We Pray

Blessed Oneness!
If they come at us
As we pray:

We pray and place ourselves in front of the fear, 

We pray and we place ourselves in front of the anger, 

We pray and place ourselves in front of the grief.

 

We pray and delight in our memories. 

We pray and delight in each other.

We pray and delight in our prayers.  

 

We pray and pledge ourselves to justice, 

We pray and pledge ourselves against hate, 

We pray and pledge ourselves to the long repair of all broken hearts.

As we pray.

Amen

A Blueberry On The Seder Plate

I had a student,
He was on the autism spectrum
And he came up with this idea 
Of a blueberry on the Seder plate
For people like him.  

On the outside a blueberry is blue, 
On the inside it’s green,
And  if you cook  it,
Sometimes it is purple.  

You can’t tell what a blueberry is
Or can be 
Just by looking at it.

PLACE YOURSELF, First Review!

By Alden Solovy, on Ritualwell.org

Go HERE

PLACE YOURSELF, NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDERS

PLACE YOURSELF:  WORDS OF PRAYER AND INTENTION

BY TRISHA ARLIN

ART BY MIKE COCKRILL

FOREWORD BY RABBI JILL HAMMER

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDERS
Published by Dimus Parrhesia Press

Hardbound, Color inside  $36.00 plus $4.00 s/h

Paperback, B/W inside, $18.00 plus $4.00 s/h

“Place yourself in front of the fear. 

You will be judged, you will die.

Place yourself in the center of the universe

You earned that spot simply by existing.

Place yourself under obligation to God

However you understand or don’t understand God.

Place yourself on the path of holiness and truth.

Bless and be blessed by HaMakom, the Place where we find ourselves.”

---from Place Yourself, an Unataneh Tokef by Trisha Arlin

PLACE YOURSELF, by Trisha Arlin, with a Foreword by Rabbi Jill Hammer and original artwork by Mike Cockrill,  is a book of original prayer, kavannot and liturgical poems.  Written in clear language that is meant to be experienced in real time as part of a service or ritual event, or to be used for personal spiritual explorations, Arlin’s work is fresh,challenging, useful and very modern.

“How does a contemporary person engage Jewish prayer and make any sense of the words? How do we reconcile what we know about the messy, uncertain, often painful and unjust world with the God the prayerbook describes? Conversely, how do we express the awe we feel at the beauty of the universe when we are immersed in a culture of cynicism, materialism, and doubt? In her by turns whimsical, incisive, and vulnerable prayer-poetry, Trisha Arlin offers a bold answer to these questions…

[Trisha Arlin’s) prayers make space for the things we thought we couldn’t say. If you want prayers for the Sabbath, holidays, and other occasions that speak to the heart and don’t discount your head, Arlin’s work is for you. If you’re ready to be honest and vulnerable, reverent and heretical, mystical and down-to-earth, you’ve come to the right place. You can use these words as a resource for enhancing your Jewish prayer practice, or you can use them to re-enter Jewish prayers you left behind forever. However you place yourself, may you find this book to be a blessing.”---Rabbi Jill Hammer, Foreword

Trisha Arlin's Place Yourself invites us to experience prayer with powerful metaphor, a modern sensitivity and a deep love that at once refreshes the act of prayer and simultaneously invites us back into the Siddur to explore the texts of generations past. -- Alden Solovy, Liturgist and Author, This Grateful Heart and This Joyous Soul

Trisha Arlin's liturgical poetry breathes with authenticity, honesty, and a spiritual sensibility informed by the dissonance of real life. Her contemporary theology offers a necessary respite from the lofty and flowery, and we have much to learn from her wisdom. -- Amy Gottlieb, author of The Beautiful Possible

“"Thanks to Trisha Arlin we observe Rosh Hodesh Elul with prayers and blessings for animals. Her extended blessing focusing on the smallest of animals - the bugs and even smaller - was astonishing: funny, deep, thought-provoking. It connected us all to the Divine in a completely new way." ---Rabbi Ellen Lippmann, Kolot Chayeinu/Voices of Our Lives

"Trisha Arlin’s prayers create worlds of spiritual space that invoke a worshipful tone. Then they puncture complacency and boldly ask, badger, and provoke. They awaken us. And then they restore the spiritual space, but we’re a bit more comfortable in it because like us, the prayers are faithful and faithless, hopeful and hopeless, serious and playful. The overall affect is a prayer spot wherein moderns who yearn may find comfort, solace, and a smile." --Rabbi Jeff Hoffman, D.H.L., Rabbi-In-Residence and Director of Institutional Assessment, The Academy for Jewish Religion

"In my congregation are published authors and readers of professional quality as well as students and just plain folk. They relish the opportunity to read one of Trisha's kavvanot aloud during services. The rhythms of her poetry awaken our hearts on the High Holy Days and her words, real, alive and down to earth enhance our Shabbat worship experience throughout the rest of the Jewish calendar year." --Rabbi Peg Kershenbaum, Congregation B'nai Harim, Pocono Pines, PA.

 About The Author

Trisha Arlin is a liturgist and very part-time rabbinic student at the Academy of Jewish religion; 2014 Liturgist-In-Residence at the National Havurah Summer Institute; the editor of RAISING MY VOICE, The Selected Writings of Rabbi Ellen Lippmann and VOICES, the Kolot Chayeinu Journal; and creator of the Writing Personal Prayer workshops. 

Individual prayers and kavannot have been or will soon be published in the JOURNAL OF FEMINIST STUDIES IN RELGION (2019); RENEW OUR HEARTS: A SIDDUR FOR SHABBAT  DAY,  Bayit and Ben Yehuda Press, (2019);  BESIDE STILL WATERS, A JOURNAL OF COMFORT AND RENEWAL, 2018, Bayit and Ben Yehuda Press;  A POET'S SIDDUR, Ain't Got No Press, 2017; and STUDIES IN JUDAISM AND PLURALISM, Ben Yehuda Press 2016 and her work can be found online on Ritualwell.org, the OpenSiddur.org and on her blog, Trisha Arlin: Words of Prayer and Intention www.triganza.blogspot.com.  

Trisha's liturgy has been used at services and ritual occasions at venues of many denominations around the country, including Kolot Chayeinu and Union Temple (Brooklyn, NY) , Makor (Long Island, NY), Bnai Keshet (Montclair, NJ), Lev Matanot (Toronto, CA), Beth Israel-West Temple (Cleveland, OH), NHI Summer Institute, Adath Shalom (Morris Plains, NJ), Temple Chai (Phoenix, AZ), Moishe House website, Sinai Free Synagogue (Mt. Vernon, NY), Congregation Ner Shalom (Woodbridge, VA), Temple Emanuel (Franklin Lakes, NJ), Temple Isaiah (Palm Springs, CA), Addison County Jewish Congregation (Middlebury, VT), Columbus OH JCC, First Unitarian Church (Wilmington, DL), Kol Hai (New Paltz, NY), Congregation Kol HaNeshema (Sarasota, FL)

About The Artist

Mike Cockrill is an artist whose diverse body of work has been widely exhibited in both the US and abroad. After decades of participation in Jewish life, Mike, who was raised Catholic, completed his conversion to Judaism in 2017. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.

Learn Shabbat Liturgy with Trisha Arlin

Our Shabbat Liturgy – (From Barchu to Emet)

Starting this Fall, liturgist, part-time rabbinic student and longtime Kolot member, Trisha Arlin, will teach six-week classes on sections the Kolot Shabbat Morning Service, where, along with learning some history, traditional meanings and ritual moves of the prayers and service, we will explore what each prayer can mean personally and to the community.  

First six-week class:  The blessings from the Barchu to the Shma (the Kriat Shma section).  No Hebrew Necessary.

Dates, times and locations TBD based on participants.  Can do day and/or evening class.  Cost is $300/per six week session, due the start of the class with each student entitled to one individual make up session if a class is missed.  Minimum 3 students per class.    References to previous students available upon request. 

Also available:  Individual tutoring for the entire service (or individual components), going at your own pace,  $75 a session.   Also, Drash Writing, tutoring and/or editing.  Also happy to start up another Personal Prayer Writing cohort if there is interest.

Contact Trisha at trisha.arlin@gmail.com

BIO

Trisha Arlin is a liturgist and very part-time rabbinic student at the Academy of Jewish religion; 2014 Liturgist-In-Residence at the National Havurah Summer Institute; the editor of RAISING MY VOICE, The Selected Writings of Rabbi Ellen Lippmann and VOICES, the Kolot Chayeinu Journal; creator of the Writing Personal Prayer workshops. 

Publications

A collection of her work, PLACE YOURSELF, with a foreword by Rabbi Jill Hammer and cover and inside art by Mike Cockrill, will be published in the Fall of 2018 by Dimus Parrhesia Press and will soon be available for pre-orders.   Individual prayers and kavannot have been or will soon be published in the JOURNAL OF FEMINIST STUDIES IN RELGION (2019); RENEW OUR HEARTS: A SIDDUR FOR SHABBAT  DAY,  Bayit and Ben Yehuda Press, (2019);  BESIDE STILL WATERS, A JOURNAL OF COMFORT AND RENEWAL, 2018, Bayit and Ben Yehuda Press;  A POET'S SIDDUR, Ain't Got No Press, 2017; and STUDIES IN JUDAISM AND PLURALISM, Ben Yehuda Press 2016 and her work can be found online on Ritualwell.org, the OpenSiddur.org and on her blog, Trisha Arlin: Words of Prayer and Intention www.triganza.blogspot.com.  

Liturgy Use

Trisha's liturgy has been used at services and ritual occasions at venues of many denominations around the country, including Kolot Chayeinu and Union Temple (Brooklyn, NY) , Makor (Long Island, NY), Bnai Keshet (Montclair, NJ), Lev Matanot (Toronto, CA), Beth Israel-West Temple (Cleveland, OH), NHI Summer Institute, Adath Shalom (Morris Plains, NJ), Temple Chai (Phoenix, AZ), Moishe House website, Sinai Free Synagogue (Mt. Vernon, NY), Congregation Ner Shalom (Woodbridge, VA), Temple Emanuel (Franklin Lakes, NJ), Temple Isaiah (Palm Springs, CA), Addison County Jewish Congregation (Middlebury, VT), Columbus OH JCC, First Unitarian Church (Wilmington, DL), Kol Hai (New Paltz, NY), Congregation Kol HaNeshema (Sarasota, FL)

Blessings for The Election

May the good people win and the bad people lose.

May we contribute all that we can contribute and not punish ourselves for what we couldn’t do. And may all of us who volunteered or donated be blessed with happy endings.

May we not eat or drink too much crap while we wait for results. However, may it be good crap.

May we be able to watch as many kitten and puppy videos as we need to so that we can stay calm.

May we have friends to celebrate and commiserate with on Zoom, by text, and maybe even in person.

May we get a good night’s sleep tonight and all this week, we will need it.

May the line on Tuesday get long as soon as we have voted and may it be filled with first time voters.

And may democracy, however imperfect, survive and flourish.

And let us say, Amen

For Pittsburgh

Blessed One-ness,
Though we are afraid
Help us imagine possibilities
Within our fear
And our fury,
Of safety
Of healing
Of clarity
Of action.
Amen.

All Our Grudges: An Alternative Kol Nidrei

All grudges, resentments, and vows of vengence and bitterness, 

All undying hatreds or annoyances that we may hold onto

Or talk endlessly about, boring our friends,

Or lose sleep obsessing over

Or write bad poetry about

Or bring up at family dinners to the consternation of all present;

From the previous Day of Atonement until this Day of Atonement

For the benefit of our mental health

And the peace of mind of all who surround us;

Regarding all of this that we have refused to let go,

Despite the fact that they are long past

Or pointless

Or one-sided

Or ridiculous

Or destructive of the innocent

Or hurting ourselves more than anyone else;

Regarding all of them, these intrusions on the Holy Wholeness,
we repudiate them.

All of them, we let them go,

Give up

Wave away

Acknowledge as stupid

Declare null and void
Because we are done.

Our grudges are no longer our grudges,

Our silent resentments are no longer silent,

Our eternal vows of vengence are no more.

The entire community acknowledges and takes action

So that everyone we have been angry at is forgiven,

Every hurt we did not speak about will be dealt with,

Every relative will be loved for who they are rather than who they are not,

Every change in the world that needs to be made will be made rather than contemplated.

Holy Wholeness!

We need help to step back into connection with the One.

We look for the compassion and mercy

That is always there

If we but pay attention.

Yes, there it is.
We are forgiven?

Blessed be the One-ness, 

Creator, Created, Creating.

Amen

Art by Mike Cockrill