Happy Mother’s Day!
Dear Friends,
Happy Mother's Day! I hope that all my fellow moms at Beth Chai are having a lovely and loving day. I want to share two blessings for Mother's Day, written by colleagues. I hope that you find meaning and inspiration in them.
With hopes of peace,
Rabbi Debbie Cohen
For the Matriarch adapted from Alden Solovy
For our matriarch,
A song of strength and hope.
Guardian of generations,
Keeper of traditions,
Hand of guidance and love,
We are blessed by your wisdom and purpose,
Your work to bind us to our heritage,
Your dedication to peace in our homes
And joy in our lives.
You remind us to open our hearts to our brothers and sisters,
Fathers and mothers,
Daughters and sons.
You remind us to honor and cherish cousins of cousins of cousins,
And to live together, in harmony.
May our family know health.
And our matriarch with vision, endurance and hope.
May her devotion inspire us to live by our highest ideals,
Bless our lives with laughter
And our days with purpose,
So that we bring radiance and splendor to our family
And to the world.
For all Mothers, adapted from Rabbi David Wirtschafter
To mothers serving our country overseas while their children remain at home.
To mothers with children in the military, who pray for their children’s safe return.
To mothers who labor each day at jobs requiring tremendous empathy and patience.
To the teachers, nurses, doctors, police officers, EMTs, and therapists, who come home each night to children who need help with homework, a shoulder to cry on, and someone to whom their feelings matter.
To mothers in prison, jail, and detention centers whose interactions are relegated to visiting day, visitors’ hours, visitation rules, and monitored phone calls.
To every mother who worries about the water her children drink, the air they breathe, the school they attend, and the neighborhood they live in.
To every mother who has endured the loss of a child.
To widowed mothers, divorcees, single moms, welfare recipients, and Medicaid participants.
To “super-moms,” “tiger moms,” working moms, stepmoms, and self-doubting moms.
To mothers estranged from their children and to mothers who talk to them all the time.
To new mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers, happy and unhappy, perfectly content, and utterly exhausted.
To mothers rich and poor, straight, gay, bisexual, and trans, mothers of every religion and race.
Whoever you are, wherever you are, and whatever you do, please remember this:
We wouldn’t be anything, anyone, or anywhere without you.
Happy Mother’s Day from All Your Children.
