May everyone who shares in a Jewish life feel welcome and integrated. We lovingly acknowledge the diversity of our community and are deeply grateful for the love and support you provide by opening your heart to Judaism, no matter how big or small a part it is in your day. Your presence at this Jewish experience is valued. It is not taken for granted because not everyone in this broken world will sit at a Shabbat dinner or attend a Passover Seder. We are a very small people and history has made us smaller. As we once again see a rise in hatred and hear fear in the voices of our community, we are grateful for your presence. We pray with all our hearts that all you give to the Jewish people will come back to you and fill your life with joy. Amen.

Add When Reading To A Family Raising Kids:

We offer special thanks to those who are raising their sons and daughters with Jewish identity. Our children mean hope, life and future. With all our hearts, we want to thank you for your love and willingness in giving the ultimate gift to the Jewish people. Amen.
-Inspired by Rabbi Janet Marder

Many of you have made the historic and unprecedented decision to raise Jewish children. We will vow never to take this for granted. You come to services, even when it feels strange and confusing at first. You hum along to the Hebrew prayers, and some of you learn to read our ancient language. We know that some of you have paid a personal price for the generous decision you made to raise Jewish children, and giving up the joy of sharing your own spiritual beliefs and passing your own religious traditions down to your kids. Your presence here honors us. Your presence here makes us stronger and wiser.
-Rabbi Daniel Zemel

Here with you our friends, we feel so greatly blessed.
We link hands for a moment and feel the warmth of this community.
We are blessed to be surrounded by friends and loved ones here today from near and far.
From years past and from yesterday.
Months go by before we speak to some, others we see daily.
Some share blood or politics and some share experiences and some just a sense of humor and opinions.
The energy that brings people together is a mystery and a gift.
We thank God for our friends and community who have phones that they answer, emails that they respond to, shoulders to lean on and hands to hold.
May we always remember the exquisite value of friendship and community and be good friends in return. Amen.
-A JewBelong Original

We hope that this child draws inspiration from the examples of her foremothers. From Eve, the first Chava, the hope to choose life and sustain it after Paradise is lost. From Noah’s wife the nurturing qualities and patience to be a steward for earth’s creatures. From Sarah the faith to follow a dream into wilderness and to believe the impossible is possible. From Rebecca the wisdom to overcome the dead hand of custom. From Leah endurance and perseverance in the face of loneliness.

From Rachel the compassion and love for her sister that spared Leah pain and anguish. From Dina the ability to take risks to break out of confinement to seek friendship with other women. From the midwives Shifrah and Puah the courage to defy death to rescue the next generation. From Miriam the ability to be outspoken in her views even when they are unpopular. From Deborah the self-esteem that enabled her to rally and lead resistance and to take pride in her achievements. And from Ya’el the courage to do what she knows she must do.
-Author Unknown

As you travel along the path that will be your life, may you walk on firm ground, with the wind at your back and the sun shining gently on your face.

May your mind, body and hands be strong, and may their work be guided by both the wisdom of your soul and the compassion of your heart.

May you draw from the strength and wisdom of our tradition, and those who came before you, and make them your own.

May you have beautiful dreams which inspire you, and may your pursuit of those dreams be fulfilling.

May your successes be many, and when you don’t succeed, may you learn and grow from the experience, and go on.

May you always give yourself the gift of learning something new.

May you have the courage of conviction and patience to fight for what you know to be right.

May you laugh often.

May you always go to sleep at night with that feeling of satisfaction that comes from a day well lived.

May you always have peace in your home and in your heart.

May you know unbridled joy, and may your sorrows be few and far between.

May you find true, enduring love, and may you be blessed with children as wonderful as you.

May you always have good friends.

May you always feel the love of family and friends as you take your place among the Jewish people of your generation.

May you live a long, healthy, happy, and peaceful life, and may you be the change you want to see in the world.
-Shelley Niceley Groff

Listen to the mustn’ts, child, listen to the don’ts.
Listen to the shouldn’ts, The impossibles, the won’ts.
Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me.
Anything can happen child, anything can be.
-Shel Silverstein

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done, but he with a chuckle replied that “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one who wouldn’t say so till he tried. So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin on his face. If he worried, he hid it. He started to sing as he tackled the thing that couldn’t be done, and he did it. Somebody scoffed, “Oh, you’ll never do that, at least no one ever has done it”. But he took off his coat and he took off his hat, and the first thing we knew he’d begun it. With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin, without any doubting or quitting, he started to sing as he tackled the thing that couldn’t be done, and he did it. There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done. There are thousands to prophesy failure. There are thousands to point out to you, one by one, the dangers that wait to assail you, but just buckle in with a bit of a grin. Just take off your coat and go to it. Just start to sing as you tackle the thing that “cannot be done” and you’ll do it.
-Edgar A. Guest

In the garden there’s a tree planted by someone who only imagined me.
What love, what vision.
I marvel at the gift.
No fruit could be sweeter than this.
I’m standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before me.
As my people went from land to land, something passed from hand to hand, and it isn’t just eh words and stories.
Of the ancient laws and golden glories, it’s the way we study the book we study, it’s the way we study the way.
I’m standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before me.
Today my life is full of choice because a young man raised his voice.
Because a young girl took a chance, I am freedom’s inheritance.
Years ago they crossed the sea and they made a life that’s come to me.
I’m standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before me so in the garden I’ll plant a seed, a tree of life for you to read.
The fruit will ripen in the sun.
The words will sound when I am gone.
These are the things I pass along, the fruit, the book and the song.
I’m standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before me.
-Doug Cotler

There was once a man who stood before God, his heart breaking from the pain and injustice in the world. “Dear God,” he cried out, “look at all the suffering, the anguish and distress in your world. Why don’t you send help?” God responded, “I did, I sent you.”
-Rabbi David J. Wolpe

Do not imagine that character is determined at birth. We have been given free will. Any person can become as righteous as Moses or as wicked as Jeroboam. We ourselves learned or ignorant, compassionate or cruel, generous or miserly. No one forces us, no one decides for us, no one drags us along one path or another. We, ourselves, by our own volition, choose our own way!
-Moses Maimonides

I wish for you to be a person of character. Strong, but not tough. Gentle, but not weak.
I wish for you to be righteous, but not self-righteous. Honest, but not unforgiving.
Wherever you journey, may your steps be firm and may you walk in just paths and not be afraid.
Whenever you speak, may your words be words of wisdom and friendship.
May your hands build and your heart preserve what is good and beautiful in our world.
May the voices of generations of our people move through you and may the God of our ancestors be your God as well.
May you know that there is a people, a rich heritage, to which you belong and from that sacred place you are connected to all who dwell on the earth.
May the stories of our people be upon your heart and grace of the Torah rhythm and dance in your soul.
-Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

May a kind word, a reassuring touch, and a warm smile be yours every day of your life, and may you give these gifts as well as receive them.
Remember the sunshine when the storm seems unending. Teach love to those who know hate, and let that love embrace you as you go into the world.
May you not become too concerned with material matters, but instead place immeasurable value on the goodness in your heart.
Find time in each day to see beauty and love in the world around you. Realize that each person has limitless abilities, but each of us is different in our own way.
What you may feel you lack in one regard may be more than compensated for in another.
What you feel you lack in the present may become one of your strengths in the future.
May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility.
May you find enough inner strength to determine your own worth by yourself, and not be dependent on another’s judgment of your accomplishments.
May you always feel loved.
-Sandra Sturtz Hauss

When Israel stood to receive the Torah, God said to them: “I am giving you my Torah. Give to me good guarantors that will guard it, and I shall give it to you.”
They said: “Our ancestors are our guarantors.”
God said: “Your ancestors are not sufficient guarantors. Yet bring me good guarantors, and I shall give you the Torah.”
They said: “Ruler of the Universe, our prophets are our guarantors.”
God said: “The prophets are not sufficient guarantors. Yet bring me good guarantors, and I shall give you the Torah.”
They said: “Here, our children are our guarantors.”
God said: “They are certainly good guarantors. For the sake of your children, I give you the Torah.”
-Author Unknown

Your Children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself.
They come through you, but not from you.
You may give them your love, but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies, but not their souls.
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
-Kahlil Gibran

Dearest one,
I wish you the strength to face challenges with confidence along with the wisdom to choose your battles carefully. I wish you adventure on your journey and may you always stop to help someone along the way. Listen to your heart and take risks carefully. Remember how much you are loved. I am so proud of you!
-Patsy Gaut