Add a Quote to your Ketubah or Design a piece of Blessing Art
Also see Hebrew Art by Nishima
- Song of Songs: Beloved
I am My Beloved’s and My Beloved is Mine.
אני לדודי ודודי לי
This quote is from King Solomon’s “Song of Songs”, one of the eight scrolls included in the Ketuvim, a holy section of the Tanakh (Jewish Bible).
- Song of Songs: Soul Delights
I have found the one in whom my soul delights
מצאתי את שאהבה נפשי
This quote is from King Solomon’s “Song of Songs”, one of the eight scrolls included in the Ketuvim, a holy section of the Tanakh (Jewish Bible).
- The Baal Shem Tov Quote
From every human being there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven. And when two souls that are destined to be together find each other, their streams of light flow together and a single, brighter light goes forth from their united single being.
מכל נפש עולה אור שמגיע לשמים. וכאשר שתי נשמות מיודעות אחת לשניה ואלו נשמות מוצאות אחת את השניה, קרני אור שלהם זורמים ביחד ואור יחיד ובהיר יותר זורם מהיחוד נפש שלהם.
- Apache Wedding Blessing
Now we will feel no rain,
for each of us will be shelter for the other.
Now we will feel no cold,
for each of us will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness,
for each of us will be companion to the other.
Now we are two persons,
but there is only one life before us.
עכשיו לא נרגיש גשם, כי ניתן מחסה אחד לשניה.
עכשיו לא נרגיש קור, כי ניתן חום אחד לשניה.
לא תהיה עוד בדידות כי נהיה רעים זו לזה.
אמנם אנו שניים אך אין אלא החיים המשותפים לפנינו.
- Irish Blessing
May the road rise up to meet us, may the wind be always at our backs
May the sun shine upon our faces, and the rains fall upon our fields
May God hold us in the palm of God’s hand.
הלואי שהדרך תבוא לקראתנו, הלואי שהרוח תהיה בגבינו הלואי שהזריחה תחמם את פנינו, והגשם יפול ברכות על שדותינו
- Take Time Blessing
Take time to dream it is your highway to the stars.
Take time to laugh it is the music of the heart.
Take time to play it is the secret of perpetual youth.
Take time to love it is nourishment for the soul.
קח זמן לחלום, זו הדרך לכוכבים
קח זמן לצחוק, זה המנגינה של הלב
קח זמן לשחק, זה מנציח את הנעורים
קח זמן לאהוב, זה מזין את הנשמה
- Home Blessing
Bless this Home and all the Souls Within
ברוך אתה בבאך
ברוך אתה בצאתך
A wonderful gift for a new Jewish couple on their wedding day, anniversary, and/or as a house-warming gift.
- Woman of Valour/ Aishet Chayil
A Woman of Valour, her worth is beyond rubies
אשת חיל מי ימצא ורחק מפנינים מכרה
Aishet Chayil, A Woman of Valor, is King Solomon’s song of praise to the Jewish woman (Proverbs 31). In this beautiful chapter, he extols her virtues as the foundation of the Jewish home. The twenty-two verses begin with the twenty-two letters of the hebrew Aleph-Bet.
This song is traditionally sung at the Sabbath meal, after the blessing of the children and before the Kiddush. Often the woman of the home is serenaded by her husband (and sometimes by her children). In modern families, men and women are serenaded by each other.
This song is a wonderful gift for a Jewish home. It can be placed near the Shabbat dining table or in places special to the woman/keeper(s) of the home.
- Parents’ Blessing
As you have blessed us with the precious gift of your love, so may you be blessed. As Our Loving Parents, you blessed us by creating a home filled with laughter, empathy, friendship, imagination and trust, a home in which our holidays and heritage are celebrated with companionship and joy. You gave us the gift of feeling nurtured and cherished. You taught us how to love and how to be loved. You comforted us through our troubles and rejoiced at our triumphs. You lovingly guided us in friendship and confidence to the threshold of our wedding canopy. We will endeavor to follow your path and create a home rich in heritage and dedicated to peace and harmony for all.
כפי שהתברכנו במתנת אהבתכם הכה יקרה, כן תבורכו. כהורים כה אוהבים, ברכתם אותנו ביצירת בית מלא בצחוק, חום, רעות, דמיון ואמון: בית שבו חגינו ומורשתנו נחוגו באחווה ובשמחה. הענקתם לנו תחושת פינוק ונהגתם בנו ברוך. לימדתם אותנו לאהוב ולקבל אהבה. ניחמתם אותנו ברגעי צער ושמחתם בהישגינו. באהבה הדרכתם אותנו, ברעות ובבטחון עד לסף חפתנו. אנו נשתדל ללכת בדרככם וליצור בית עשיר במורשת, באהבה ומוקדש לשלום ואחווה לכל.
A gift of the Parents’ Blessing is a wonderful way to show your love and appreciation for your parents at the time of your wedding, their anniversary, or any special occasion.
- Elohai Neshama
The Soul You placed in me God is pure
אלהי נשמה שנתת בי טהורה היא
This prayer is part of the Shacharit (morning) service. In many synagogues on Shabbat and holidays, congregants linger over this prayer with chants and kavannah (focus). Some kabbalistic meditations use this prayer to focus one’s attention on the holy gift of life in the human body.
- Priestly Blessing
May God bless you and protect you
May God be gracious to you
May God grant you peace
יברכך ה’ וישמרך
יאר ה’ פניו אליך ויחנך
ישא ה’ פניו אליך וישם לך שלום
Traditionally, parents bless their children on the Sabbath eve, after lighting the Shabbat candles. They place both hands on the head of the child, a symbol of transmitting the spirit of God.
This prayer is a wonderful addition to any Jewish home. It can be placed near the Shabbat candles or the dining table– the traditional places for blessing the children in the home on Sabbath eve– or in a children’s room. It also makes a beautiful gift for a child– a bar/bat mitzvah or for a newborn.
- Lawyer’s Blessing
Justice, justice, you shall pursue (Devarim 16:20)
צדק צדק תרדף
You shall do no injustice in judgment;
you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great,
but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.
(VaYikra 19:15)
About the Lawyer’s Blessing:
Biblical ethics are grounded in a sense of the profound nature of justice. Throughout the Pentatuech, mankind is commanded to pursue justice and to act with righteousness.
The Lawyer’s Blessing makes a perfect gift for someone who has recently graduated law school or for anyone in a legal profession.
- Doctor’s Blessing
תפילת הרופא
א-ל עליון! קודם שאני מתחיל בעבודתי הקדושה – לרפא את יצירי כפיך אני מפיל את תחינתי לפני כסא כבודך, שתתן לי אומץ רוח ומרץ רב לעשות את עבודתי באמונה, ושהשאיפה לצבור הון או טוב לא תעוור את עיני מראות נכחה, תוכני להביט על כל סובל הבא לשאול בעצתי כעל אדם, בלי הבדל בין עשיר ועני, ידיד ושונא, איש טוב ורע את האדם בצר לו – הראני רק את האדם.
“G-d before I begin the holy work of healing your creations, I pray before your throne of glory, that you grant me strength of spirit and the fortitude to faithfully execute my work. Let not the desire to amass wealth blind me from seeing truth. May I merit to see in the sufferer who seeks my advice, a person, neither rich or poor, friend or foe, good man or bad, when I see a man in distress let me see only a human being.”
About the Doctor’s Blessing:
The prayer was written by the Rambam. The most renowned Jewish physician in the Middle Ages, who was also a distinguished rabbi and philosopher, was Moses Maimonides (the Rambam, 1137-1204). Born in Cordoba, he fled to Fez. Later he went to Palestine and then to Cairo, where he became a physician at the court of Saladin and his sons. Maimonides had a prodigious literary output, including extensive writing on medical matters. These were written at the end of his life, after his monumental halakhic and philosophical works. Maimonides strongly believed in prophylactic medicine. In his Guide to the Perplexed he wrote: “Among a thousand persons only one dies a natural death: the rest succumb early in life owing to ignorant or irregular behavior.” Maimonides considered the study of medicine a very important factor of Jewish ethics. It helps to maintain the fitness of the body and enables the Jew to purify and raise his strength to an uplifted ethical plane.
This is a wonderful addition to physician’s office or as a gift for anyone in the medical field.
- Modeh Ani
I gratefully thank You O living and eternal King
for You have returned my soul within me
with compassion; abundant is Your faithfulness!
מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקים שהחזרת
בי נשמתי בחמלה רבה אמונתך
This prayer is the first prayer of each morning for the observant Jew.
- Shehechiyanu
Blessed are You, God our Lord, King of the universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.
ברוך אתה יהוה אלהינו מלך העולם, שהחינו וקימנו והגיענו לזמן הזה.
- Al Netilat Ya’dayim/ Washing the Hands
Blessed are You, God our Lord, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us regarding washing/waving the hands.
ברוך אתה יהוה אלהינו מלך העולם, אשר קדשנו במצותיו, וצונו על נטילת ידים.
This prayer over the ritual washing of the hands is one which observant Jews perform before eating bread at most meals. Many Jews include this ritual on Shabbat and other holidays (esp. at the Passover seder). Because the literal translation means “waving of the hands” rather than “washing the hands”, some people lift their hands as they say this prayer. This reminds them/us of the priests in the Temple.
This makes a perfect wedding gift for a couple setting up a Jewish home.
- Blessing over the Shabbat Candles
Blessed are You, God our Lord, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to light the Shabbat candles.
ברוך אתה יהוה אלהינו מלך העולם, אשר קדשנו במצותיו, וצונו להדליק נר של שבת.
- Tree of Life
אשרי אדם, מצא חכמה, ואדם, יפיק תבונה.
כי טוב סחרה, מסחר–כסף, ומחרוץ, תבואתה.
יקרה היא, מפניים, וכל חפציך לא ישוו–בה.
ארך ימים בימינה, בשמאלה עשר וכבוד.
דרכיה דרכי נעם, וכל נתיבותיה שלום.
אץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה, ותמכיה מאשר.
Happy is the one who finds Wisdom,
and the one who attains Understanding.
Her value in trade is better than silver,
Her yield, greater than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies;
all of your goods cannot equal her.
Length of days is in her right hand;
and in her left, riches and honor.
Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths, peaceful.
She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her:
and whoever holds on to her is happy.
Proverbs 3:13-18
