Kagan Siddur

Maxwell Philip Kagan Bar Mitzvah

The Sabbath, Marc Chagall

dkln dilbe diyei oa xqi` Isar ben Yoshaiah v’Galya Malka January 30th, 2011 The Edison Ballroom, New York, NY

Order of the Service Presentation of the Tallit....................................................... 5 Shehechianu......................................................................... 6 Halleluyah............................................................................ 7 Sh’ma................................................................................... 9 The Meaning of Bar Mitzvah..........................................10-11 Torah Service.................................................................12-13 Priestly Blessing.................................................................. 14 Sanctuary Song ................................................................. 16 Mourner’s Kaddish .......................................................18-19 Aleynu . ............................................................................. 20 Adon Olam and Kiddush (Blessing over Wine) ................... 21 To Life! .............................................................................. 22

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Day by Day Day by day Day by day Oh Dear Lord Three things I pray: To see thee more clearly Love thee more dearly Follow thee more nearly Day by day —Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell

Tree of Life, Ethel Green 4

Grandparent’s Presentation of the Tallit A cord of three strands is not easily broken.

—Ecclesiastes 4:12

Ba-ruch A-tah Adonai E-lo-hei-nu me-lech ha-o-lam a-sher ki-d’-sha-nu b’-mitz-vo-tav v’tzi-va-nu l’-hit-a-tef ba-tzi-tzit.

Holy One of Blessing, Your Presence fills creation making us holy with Your commandments, teaching us to wrap ourselves in the fringed Tallit (prayer shawl).

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She’hech’ianu

Ba-ruch A-tah Adonai E-lo-hei-nu me-lech ha-o-lam she-he-chi-anu v’-ki-manu v’-hi-gi-anu la-z’man ha-zeh.

Let us bless the flow of life that revives us, sustains us, and brings us to this moment.

Joan Miró 6

Halleluyah Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord That David played, and it pleased the Lord But you don’t really care for music, do you?

It goes like this: the fourth, the fifth The minor fall, the major lift The baffled king composing Halleluyah Halleluyah, Halleluyah Halleluyah, Halleluyah I did my best, it wasn’t much I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you And even though it all went wrong I’ll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Halleluyah Halleluyah, Halleluyah Halleluyah, Halleluyah —Leonard Cohen

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The expansion of human power has hardly begun, and what we are going to do with our power may either save or destroy our planet.

The earth may be of small significance Within the infinite universe But if it is of some significance We hold the key to it.

In our own age we have been forced into the realization that there will be either one world, or no world. —Abraham Joshua Heschel

Sh’ma

Sh’-ma Yis-ra-eil Adonai E-Io-hei-nu A-donai e-chad Listen all people who struggle to connect to God, the Transformative Power of the Universe is the Force that Created All, and manifests through the Unity of All Being.

Jackson Pollock, Number 1A, 1948

“Jackson Pollock’s work has been seen as the epitome of freedom. Yet with all this great tumult, there is form. Look at the way the painting is held together by the four corners; there are black masses in each corner that contain everything in the painting, while the motion within is still pushing out.” —Lore Mariano 9

The Meaning of Bar Mitzvah BAR MITZVAH Of the many milestones in life, few combine the sense of tradition, achievement, responsibility and joy of a Bar Mitzvah. Becoming a “son of the commandments” signifies the choice of a child, at the age of 13, to accept the responsibility and teachings of a Jewish life.

At tonight’s Service, our Bar Mitzvah Maxwell exercises one of the new privileges and responsibilities of Jewish coming of age: reading from the Torah.

Torah The custom of public Torah readings had its beginnings with Ezra the Scribe after the return of the Jewish people from Babylonian exile in 444 B.C.E. Ultimately, the Torah was divided into 54 weekly portions, each called a sidra, that are read in every synagogue in the world according to the Hebrew calendar. Thus, this week every Bar or Bat Mitzvah in the world touches every person around the world reading from the same Torah portion.

The Torah is written as a continuous scroll consisting of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy — and is hand written on parchment with vegetable ink and a quill pen by trained scribes. The Hebrew calligraphy used to write these scrolls has been the same for more than 2,000 years. The text is chanted according to a prescribed method and pattern that has remained largely unchanged for more than 1,000 years. Since no vowels, punctuation, or musical symbols appear in the scroll, special study and training are required to be able to chant from it.

To be near the Torah is exhilarating, to hold the Torah is a great honor, and to read from it is both humbling and uplifting. No act symbolizes becoming a Bar Mitzvah more than reading from the Torah.

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The Torah Service The Torah is symbolically passed from generation to generation. The Bar Mitzvah then chants the Torah portion in Hebrew and introduces his thoughts on the meaning of the portion. After the reading, the Torah is Iifted — to show that the Torah is an open book and belongs to all the people. The Torah is then carried around to give congregants a chance to touch it as a mark of respect and love for its teachings.

Today, each time the Ark is opened or closed, we say the prayers that Moses chanted during the time of the Exodus from Egypt, prayers which were chanted each time the Israelites would pick up or put down the original Ark of the Covenant containing the tablets on which were inscribed the Ten Commandments given at Mount Sinai. Each time the Torah is taken out to be read, we reenact God giving the Torah to Moses.

Ki mi-Tzion teytzey Torah U’dvar Hashem mi Y’rushalayim Torah comes from Zion And these words from Jerusalem.

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Torah Service Reader calls...

...and the congregation responds...

Bar-chu et Adonai ham-vorach.

Ba-ruch Adonai ham-vorach ve-olam va-ed.

Let us praise God!

Praise God who is everywhere at all times!

Reader continues:

Ba-ruch Adonai ham-vorach ve-olam va-ed.

Ba-ruch A-tah Adonai E-lo-hei-nu me-lech ha-o-lam Asher bachar banu mi-kol ha-amim, ve-natan lanu et Torah-to, Ba-ruch A-tah Adonai, noten ha-Torah.

Praise God who is everywhere at all times!

Blessed are You, God, Source of Wisdom, Who blessed the world by giving the Jewish people His Torah, Blessed are You, Giver of Torah.

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Exodus 21:1-6

1 Now these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them. 2 If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. 3 If he come in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he be married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master give him a wife, and she bear him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. 5 But if the servant shall plainly say: I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free; 6 then his master shall bring him unto God, and shall bring him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever.

Blessing after the reading:

Ba-ruch A-tah Adonai E-lo-hei-nu me-lech ha-o-lam Asher natan la-nu Torat emet, ve’chayyei olam natah b’tocheinu Ba-ruch A-tah Adonai, noten ha-Torah.

Blessed are You, God, Source of Wisdom, Who gives us Torah and plants eternal life within each one of us, Blessed are You, Giver of Torah.

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Priestly Blessing The power of a blessing has been a religious tradition since antiquity. In the Jewish tradition, this was once the particular role of the priests, the cohanim who descended from Moses’ brother Aharon, and who served in the temple in Jeruselem in ancient times. What belonged to a select few, however, now belongs to each of us. We are all called upon to bless the people, events and things we wish to empower with energy, hope and gratitude, utilizing words and speech to heal and to build a more compassionate and loving world.

May God bless you and keep you; May God make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; May God lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more then we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. —Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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Aharon, Anton S. Kandinsky

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Sanctuary Song

O Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary Pure and holy, tried and true And in thanksgiving I’ll be a living Sanctuary for you

Ve’a’soo’li mikdash Ve’sho’chanti be’tocham Ve’anachnu ne’varech Yah May’atah ve’ad olam

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The Prayer, Shannon McCarthy

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Mourner’s Kaddish This prayer, although spoken as a prayer of memory, is throughout an affirmation of life and the glory that is God.

Yitgadal ve-yitkadash shemeh raba. (Amen) Be-alema di vera khir’uteh, ve-yamlikh malkhuteh, be-chayeikhon, uv-yomeikhon, uv-chayei de-khol beit Yisrael, ba-agala uvi-zman kariv, ve-imru Amen.

Yeheh shemeh rabba mevarakh le’alam ul-alemei alemaya.

Yitbarakh ve-yishtabach ve-yitpa’ar ve-yitromam ve-yitnaseh ve-yit-hadar ve-yit’aleh ve-yit-hallal shemeh dekudsha, berikh hu. Le-ela min kol birkhata ve-shirata tushbechata v’nechemata, da-amiran be-alema, ve-imru, Amen.

Yeheh shelama raba min shemaya ve-chayim aleinu ve-al kol Yisrael, ve-imru Amen.

Oseh shalom bim-romav, hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu, ve-al kol Yisrael, ve-imru Amen.

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Let us glorify, honor and praise that which made this unique natural and spiritual world.

May we fashion this world, our bodies, minds and souls into the joyful, peaceful, beautiful and healthy state they are designed to achieve.

May we appreciate and remember what is, and those who preceded us and where we are heading, each and every moment of every day.

May we do this sincerely and with the greatest passion we can summon.

May there be peace and love in all parts of this world and in ourselves and in any world in which we, our friends or enemies, or our children or ancestors may reside.

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Salaam (Od yavo shalom aleynu) Soon peace will come upon us....

Od yavo shalom aleynu (x3) v’al kulam.

Salaam... aleynu v’al kol ha’olam Salaam Shalom.

The Aleinu marks the end of the service.

It is a reminder that the world will ultimately sing God’s most sublime name: Peace.

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Adon Olam Adon olam, asher malach, b’terem kol y’tzir nivra.

L’et na’asah v’cheftzo kol, azai melech sh’mo nikra.

The Lord of the Universe who reigned before anything was created.

When all was made by his will He was acknowledged as King.

V’acharey kichlot hakol, l’vado yimloch nora.

V’hu haya, v’hu hoveh, v’hu yih’yeh b’tifara.

And when all shall end He still all alone shall reign.

He was, He is, and He shall be in glory.

V’hu echad, v’eyn sheni l’hamshil lo, l’hachbira.

B’li reishit, b’li tachlit, v’lo ha’oz v’hamisrah.

And He is one, and there’s no other, to compare or join Him. Without beginning, without end to Him belongs diminion & power.

V’hu Eli, v’chai go’ali, v’tzur chevli b’et tzarah.

V’hu nisi umanos li, m’nat kosi b’yom ekra.

And He is my God, my living God. to Him I flee in time of grief, and He is my miracle and my refuge, who answers the day I shall call.

B’yado afkid ruchi b’et ishan v’a’irah.

V’im ruchi g’viyati, Adonai li v’lo ira.

To Him I commit my spirit, in the time of sleep and awakening, even if my spirit leaves, God is with me, I shall not fear.

Kiddush (Blessing Over Wine) Ba-ruch A-tah Adonai E-lo-hei-nu me-lech ha-o-lam, borei p’ri ha’gafen.

Blessed are You, Soverign of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

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To Life!

To life, to life, l’chaim L’chaim, l’chaim, to life Life has a way of confusing us Blessing and bruising us Drink, l’chaim, to life God would like us to be joyful Even when our hearts lie panting on the floor How much more can we be joyful When there’s really something To be joyful for To life, to life, l’chaim L’chaim, l’chaim, to life it takes a simcha to make us say lets live another day drink l’chaim to life!

We’ll raise a glass and sip a drop of schnapps In honor of the great good luck That favored you We know that When good fortune favors a good young man It stands to reason we deserve it too To us and our good fortune Be happy, be healthy, long life And if our good fortune never comes Here’s to whatever comes Drink, l’chaim, to life To life, to life, l’chaim....

—Sheldon Harnick, Fiddler on the Roof

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Thank you all so much for joining us on this very special day in the life of Maxwell and our family. There are no words to express how truly blessed we feel.

Thank you Rabbi David Ingber for all the support and inspiration you have given us.

We are deeply grateful.to Shir Yaakov Feinstein-Feit, Romemu’s Musical Director, and musicians Jonathan Keren, Cordelia Hagmann and Nadav Lev for blessing us with song today.

With love, The Kagan Family