their lips overflowed with milk & honey:

a new book of liberatory blessings

compiled by emily rogal




 Introduction
Ive been trying to learn what it means to talk to Gd. For most of my life, I have watched in
eager awe and frustration as people have bowed their heads and moved their bodies in
prayer. Did I have a faulty connection?

The day I began speaking to Gd, I was walking home from a bodega. It was evening, and the
streets of New York were as close to sleepy as the insomniac city could get. I was only a block
away from home when I realized that I was being followed home. A man, several yards behind
me, began purring and whistling.

I increased my pace, taking my phone from my pocket and dialing various numbers. No one
answered.

Alone on the street, I opened my phone and began writing a note to Gd.

This note, begging for protection and acknowledgement, love and care, became a b racha, a
blessing, that I aptly named The Bodega Bracha.

From this moment, I have learned to believe that to bless something is to lasso Gd into a
particular moment, to demand divine protection, to have your blood and bones
acknowledged.

How many other moments in the lives of people I loved needed to be transformed into
holiness? What liberation could the practice of writing blessings bring?

I am far from the first person in my tradition to ask this question. I am indebted to the rabbis
and teachers, such as Marcia Falk, Jill Hammer and others who have worked to expand the
network of voices and words offered to the Source of Life.

This project is the result of me inviting people I love to engage in a radical practice of
declaring our lives holy. This project attempts to locate and amplify the justice seeking, life
affirming, feminist embodying traditions already apart of the Jewish tradition. This project, I
think, is searching for Gd.

I am delighted to share these holy words.

blessing for the blood on the mattress by emily rogal

blessed is the source of life who makes itself known
in stains and splotches, on jeans and beds and chairs
blessed is the holiness that leaks out

my Gd is not blue liquid poured onto a maxi pad

my Gd is a streak of fire, a force so eager to be birthed it clots on the way out

my Gd is a blood that is renewed, renewed, renewed

shehecheyanu for taking plan b by jordana robyn

blessed are you Shekhinah who enabled me to reach this season with 20 euro for the
pharmacist and the guarantee of an empty uterus

blessed are you, source of life for sustaining within me a small blue pill
for giving me life
for giving me a way out of giving life.

blessing for full service sex workers by sarit frishman

May your client/trick be on time, well bathed, respectful of your boundaries, quick and may
he tip.

blessing for teachers by toby king

A blessing for our Teachers.
Blessed be the Universe, and the wellspring of all things, for bringing us the teachers that we
need, when we need them, whether we know it or not.
Instil in them the courage and heart to lead their students to their own Truths, and to tell
them proudly. Let them be not afraid.
Endow them with patience and devotion, the strength to kick our asses when they need to be
kicked, the courage to be gentle with us when we need gentleness and the wisdom to know
the difference. Help them inspire their students to be compassionate and implant within
them a love of justice. Help them balance the raging passion of revolution with the gentle
hand of empathy.
With all this, let our wonderful Teachers also know when to step back, when to care for
themselves.
Blessed be our Teachers, may we know them, my we love them and be loved by them. May we
carry their lessons through our lives.
And let us all say,
Amen

a feminist priestly blessing by evva starr

May every life form you encounter treat you with respect and love and may you do the same
for them.
May you create your own luck by using your intelligence and strength to the best of your
ability.
May you find and create peace in the world around you and the one within you.
So shall you repay your debt to the infinite line of women behind you, who did this for you,
and fulfill your obligation to the eternal line before you, who you do this for.

a blessing for carpe diem by nathan bernfield

Dont stop
Let your passion burn
Into your heart
And into theirs
Do it now
Whilst the words are there
There wont be another time
For this is the best time
Nothing but the spaces in between
And the beauty on your face
Quick
Now
Before the rust comes
Make the dust choke as it swallows us
And sing, not today! Not today!

the bodega bracha by emily rogal

Blessed are you
( El Shaddai, Gd of the mountains)
Who has lovingly me stitched into a body
With luscious and overflowing curves
Help me to rely on my legs, my Neshama
As firmly rooted in You as a
Palm tree in Lebanon
Forgive my tongue when it drips with venom
At the men who whistle and purr
Laugh and point
At the counter of the bodega
Their hands wandering my body without touch
As though I have approved this Union already
Draw me closer to you as I pull my jacket around my body -
So lovingly created by you to love and cry and pray and dance
To be mine and mine alone
Make your voice louder in my ears
Help me to find the holiness in this lost moment
Allow me to regain my breath
Root me in this moment
Within me, within You

a blessing for finding a community by rae harmon
Blessed are you
Galaxies, cosmos, expanding stars
For creating these people from your residuum
I am grateful to you for
Their holy touches
That shed light upon me,
That echo the stars that once were,
Which now comprise their hands and smiles.
In the way the sun bakes the sand dunes of the desert,
I am blanketed in their warmth
And I am home.
Thank you, moons and nebulas
For preserving your sacred energy
In the blood that runs through my loved ones

a blessing on the eve of 25 sun rotations by arielle braude
Baruch at yah shechinah, eloheinu ruach haolam
Blessed are You, Mother Divine, Cosmic Energy of the Universe

Who has pushed me to ask hard questions about myself even when I don't want the answers
Who puts opportunities for growth at every turn
Who opens my eyes each morning to start anew
Who gave me a uterus to celebrate and grapple with
But, potentially most of all, every day, who has granted me with sisters and women who
support me in my times of numbness and deep, aching pain
And guided me in directions filled with joy and love.

blessing the moments that sting us by miri kaiser

For her, a blessing.
To pluck the stinger of those tasteless words that have lodged itself deep into the skin that
I've learned to grow thick.

Shall I bless that time, that first day of school when we walked single file through that hollow
auditorium. Knees and collarbones, knees and collar bones. That's what I was made of, knees
and collarbones. That's what they saw when they looked at me, as I looked at me. Was my
skirt long enough or would they send me home? The law was 4 inches below the knee. I know
from the ruler pressed against my shins to measure. Though I got suspended on a different
account of shrunken knee socks and refusing to buy the tights Mrs doretsky offered as my
only option.

Or shall I bless the time I was told that I wasn't "made" for studying Talmud. Us women, we
are great multi-taskers. A useful skill for juggling dinner, clean up, and diapers, I was told. And
Talmud, that takes a lot of focused concentration. Us men, we are really great at that.

Or maybe Ill bless the time when she had to sign a contract to get back into school because
she was seen walking down coldstream with a boy. They didnt like it that her brother was a
drug dealer either so he wasn't allowed to live at home. And she had to agree to let the
teacher come and proofread her wardrobe. Make sure no boys will follow her down
coldstream again in those jean skirts that weren't four inches below her knee.

Or that women shouldn't get drunk on purim.

Or that women shouldnt ride their bikes.
Or that a womens merit is earned through her husband.
Or that women, oh the women.

I guess I can bless those, but really, I don't want to. I believe there is a blessing that lurks
subtly, cunningly, in those ugly moments.
The blessing that taught me to be the blessing. For the stinger lodged too deeply in her skin,
so she runs her finger over it like any other part of her body. Like it is meant to be there. Like it
belongs. Like she deserves it.

a blessing for stretch marks by emily rogal

how great is the soul that You placed in me, i can see the marks on my skin where it has tried
to escape!

breishit begins with bet (a meditation) by tehilah eisenstat-fell

Oh, All-Knowing Creator
How different we are
Truly blessed are You
Chacham HaRazim, Knower of the Secrets

of 600,000 in a split second

I, have lived and will live in one body and mind my whole life,
And know not, all the secrets of the life Ive lived in my own daled amot

El Shaddai, wisdom from Mothers breast milk

You created this being to function
Veins, eyelids, cells, muscles in perfect harmony
Yet, sometimes my heart beats too fast and I know not why,
I am cold sometimes,
I cannot breathe - my collar or ring or belt or necklace or earrings - too tight,
my stomach cramps and I walk the earth tired and hungry

In truth, All-Knowing-Yah
There are scraps of memory that dont tie neatly
They run me in a labyrinth where I keep passing versions of myself
None of us can see the center, El Roi
I seek You
God of the untranscribable, lost name - Shem HaMiforash

Your cover name that points to Your Name

Was it 42 or 72 sacred letters?
I can share uncertainty with You
When Moshe, pleaded with You

Yourself me show /
His reward was the sight of You turning away...
I plead, show me...the missing pieces
Give me the whens and hows and whos
So that I may write new narratives
Or see Your back
Or embrace not knowing
And it can be enough

a blessing to my virginity by ari sabot

To My Virginity,
The magazines I read that target teenage girls said most people lose their virginity at the age
of seventeen or eighteen. Well that seems fitting; because consent can only come when were
of age. And who is most people? What average does this statistic emerge from? What the hell
is virginity anyway?

To My Virginity,
When I was thirteen years old, I shoved a plastic tube through the hole between my labia.
Then, I pushed, what seemed to be a syringe-like representation, a piece of cotton out of the
plastic tube and into my vaginal canal. A string hung down in between my legs. That was the
day some might say I lost my virginity.

To My Virginity,
If something is lost, then it can be found. The only things that have ever been inside of me are
tampons and myself. So I guess I havent really lost you yet, because here you are.

To My Virginity,
The first time I got wet I was watching an episode of Bad Girls Club on Oxygen. What did I lose
then aside from bodily fluid?

To My Virginity,
I waited so long for my first kiss. I was sixteen years old, halfway through my junior year of
high school. I subconsciously waited because of the abuse I had subscribed to from my first
relationship. I remember him telling me how glad he was that he never kissed me the day we
parted for vacation. We stood outside the Jr. High cafeteria and he towered over me. I stared
into his big, brown eyes and he had leaned in, but then he paused. This was his way of
controlling me. My mind furthermore associated the idea of a kiss with someones hand tight
around my wrist, a loud voice yelling at me over the phone, and dishonesty.

To My Virginity,
Do I lose anything from my first kiss?

To My Virginity,
Two and a half years after my first kiss and I still have you here. If I had to locate you on my
body, where would you be? Are you resting between my labia? Are you concealed next to my
clitoris? Or are you just in my head, put there by preconceived conceptions of sex and love?

To My Virginity,
I told him he could be my first and he still accepted me. He didnt care about my virginity; so
why would anyone? Hes not in my life anymore and he never had the chance to take what I
hoped to give him. If he had taken you, where would he keep you?

To My Virginity,
Im queer. What if my first sexual encounter is with a woman or someone without a penis? Is
virginity strictly regulated? If intercourse doesnt occur, is it not sex or do I get to keep my
virginity for a little bit longer?

To My Virginity,
The first time I had an orgasm I was alone. An orgasm cant steal my virginity.

To My Virginity,
I know Im only eighteen, but Im finally ready. So why am I still waiting? Ive never been
interested in random sex except Im not looking for the one.

To My Virginity,
Here you are, taunting me. No one ever told me women have temptations too. So what am I
supposed to do with these feelings?

To My Virginity,
Judaism taught me to love myself. Judaism teaches me to attend to my partners needs and
for them to attend to mine. I have some needs but no one is attending anything.

To My Virginity,
If I ever lose you, should I say afterwards?

To My Virginity,
Sometimes I dont think youre worth a prayer. Other times I want to bend at the waist and
bow to you. Im sorry society has put us in this dysfunctional relationship. One day I wont
think about you anymore; maybe that is what it means to lose my Virginity.

a blessing for being catcalled by davy ran
Its hard to write a blessing when Ive forgotten how to pray
Men with faith, our lives like night and day
They say God tells them to treat me like prey
Like a mere vessel, to dress up, to be their pedestal
That Im simply a part of them, the original whole

Is it the same god to whom we each bare our souls?

Hallowed ground harder than my soles can bear

My eyes water;
I tear them away
Eye contact-
running astray
a betrayal, my dismissal taken like foreplay
Foul play
committed to me by the faithful
I cant ever rest on the Lords day
Horseplay, boys will play, its okay
The Needs of the Collective
outweigh the needs of the few--

You
Your eyes,
Your smile

You
Your feminine wiles

You
The curves of your body a giveaway,
Meant to be given away
A payment; There will always be Hell to pay

So I ask you; why should I even bother to pray?


Still,
My soul seeks out blessings,
messily whispered in the backseat of a car.
Far from home, distressed, repressing
The mere space I take up a transgression
Acquiescence doesnt make my body any smaller
My mind, my heart, smarting and collared

One blessing, two, eagerly requesting

Determined to address, redress; finessing
But answered only by unwanted caresses,
A dressing-down,
Permissions for possession.

Ugly,
Objectification spreads like infection.
Instead of Holy connection I see only my wretched reflection

Apprehensive,
Caught in the amber resin of tension-
Is it that Ive just got faulty reception?
Lacking incentive, attention, intention?

Gods rejection is paired with garnering these mens acceptance

My independence made dependent as destined
Is it penance? Or vengeance?
I feel my ineptness, setting and septic
Is it all just a test?

From expectant to neglected,

Turning into a skeptic.
I struggle for hope after being rejected

A final shot, one last try-

A new Prayer,
One sentence
entitled
Coming to My Senses:

I ask the omnipresent
to help breathe to life my successes;
Hope to my prayers
(and perhaps to my hexes)
And, special VIP passes
to those who want to caress this

The best defense is a good offence,

And I dont want to be defenseless.
So, again, once more, I ask this:

Help me be myself,
Intense,
Pretenseless
Effective, progressive
And most of all--
Free from them, those men
Who would control and condemn--

God,
Dear God,
I just want to be
Self-Possessive.

a blessing for a road trip by emily rogal

a blessing for all ten of my toes, painted bubble gum pink, on the dashboard
a blessing for the pit of my stomach, as deep as the canyon below
a blessing for the acid that rises at recognizing my own smallness
a blessing for the soft lines of the pencil that traced me in the passenger seat
a blessing for the ways in which i became lost/found/lost/found/lost/found

they say that gd met/spoke to moses in the wilderness of the midbar,

i think i met You there, too; in those rolling yellow hills, did You see me?
i was the one trying to connect the sky with the horizon
i was the one laughing the sonic boom laugh with flowers in my hair

dont expect sex: a blessing for dating by beth hancock

I catch your eyes with a glimmer and warmth
That melts my smile upward
I feel a tingle within my core
As my heart pounds longing
Wanting to uncover more
I pray to GOD, let this be the one
Who finishes my thoughts
Who shares in my dreams

I feel the hunger of hearing your heart

Is it a sound that matches mine?
Has GOD sent you to me for love?
To make my dreams come true
To become a soul mate and partner
And flourish as a parent and human

Has GOD sent you to me for challenge

To strengthen my reserve
To become surer and closer
And find my true love

I sense your touch as a kindled match

A fire born from attraction
I feel a quiver inside myself
As my body longs for flame
Wanting completeness
I pray to GOD, let this be the one
Whom I can trust
Who will be devoted

I feel the hunger of knowing your body

Is it playing a rhythm that matches mine?

Has GOD sent you to me for loyalty

To grow with me and accept me
To become my faithful companion
And be my true counterpart

Has GOD sent you to me for sex?

To delight in my bodys outer beauty
To fill me within my precious gift
And question what is left

I sense the heat from your gaze

That sparks my curiosity forward
I feel a space within my core
As my heart pounds longing
Patient to wait for more
I pray to GOD, let this be the one
Who respects me
Who understands my worth
blessing for anxiety by dan weiss
Hashem Hashem Hashem
I dont make eye contact Because you are not there
I laugh at everything Because you are not there
I look at my phone Because you are not there
But you are there
Sitting next to me


Hashem
Save me
From the shock that hits me and constricts my neck
From the darkness and shame that fills my body

Where are you, Hashem

Wrap your arms around me
And whisper in my ear
That I can say
No


When I look back
I see G-dlessness
I see darkness
I see me
Hashem
Give me strength
Reveal to me light
The light which is concealed within the darkness

Blessed are you

Hashem
Who creates difference
Among all they call upon

Blessed are you

Hashem
Who guides us along
The long path
Which in the end
Is short

blessed are the stars by devon spier

Blessed are the stars
Not the ones we can see from Earth
Or even the ones in Olam Haba
But the ones who shimmer in the unseen places
Who reside in student ghettos
Hospital waiting rooms and bus stations.
Who linger behind front desks and in back rooms
And speak words like sweetheart
And I can help you fill that out, dear
The ones who make our coffees
Who remember our names, even when we met once
Years passed.
Who look beyond family or familiarity
And with the expanse of the galaxy
Dare to embrace us too.

bracha for the brokenhearted by dana levinson steiner
Blessed are you
The Knowing Being
That has made my body so full of holy water
That no flow of tears can turn me into a desert
But a site of renewal in bloom

Blessed are you
The Knowing Being
For embracing me as I fell deeply into the abyss
Plunging blindly into dark matter
With an outstretched hand You knew
That I would ultimately see
Light again

Blessed are you

The Knowing Being
For committing me to myself as the sole arbiter of my truth
My destiny
And my ability to love beyond the agony of loss

blessing for the silenced animals by naomi davis

Everyone is rejoicing, welcoming the Sabbath.
Blessings are said. Prayer. Hope. Togetherness. Gratitude.
Candles are glowing, and everyone is joyous.

But, something is not quite right.

Someone's voice has not been heard, her presence not even acknowledged.
She cries out for help, am I the only one who hears her?
My heart is pounding.
She is present at the table, dismembered and disrespected.
She is just skin and bone. Her desires are irrelevant.
She tastes so good. Everyone savors her flavor, with complete disregard that there is more to
her than consumption.
She has a story. She had a family.
She just wanted to live.
The table is celebrating. Her autonomy violated.
Why do we celebrate while participating in such violence?

I leave the table and take a few breaths.

I know what it feels like to be silenced. I know what it feels like to be unacknowledged.

This feels unholy.

Blessed are you who looks different than me.

Blessed are you whose life is taken for being born in a different body.

I pray for the chickens who died for Shabbat dinner tonight, whose exploitation is the
centerpiece of the meal.

Who will listen?

a blessing for the single woman by emma dorfman

Avinu Malkeinu,
Forgive me if I often contemplate love and marriage in Washington Square Park
Forgive me if I decide to take back a vow that was meant for matrimony
Because. I. Cant. Breathe.
Avinu Malkeinu,
Forgive me if I can no longer fathom the idea of a perfect union
And screw being fruitful and multiplying
For you see, if you know me, if you are my Father
That this is contrary to every facet of my being
You created me in your image
You are omniscient, universal, one
singular
single
alone
My name given by my ema and abba is Emma
Emma, meaning
universal, whole, one
And yet, my Hebrew name
Ema
is mother
If I am created in Your image, as I imagine myself to be, then how can I be both?
A bracha for mansplaining by madi slobin
Blessed are you, god of the mind;
Who has given me the desire for knowledge
Who lends me ideas and words to form thoughts, that bring me closer to truth
You bless me with an education and an ability to educate
Sanctify my exasperation, when men explain simplistic concepts to me
When they assume I have no expertise, no intelligence, no insight
Excuse my eyes as they roll back,
and my breath as I hurl the words:
"I am actually familiar with the concept of which you speak"
Give me the strength to continue on a journey of learning without doubting my contributions
Allow men to see that we have something to teach them,
that we know things that they do not
O god, tell all people that our experiences are holy
That our matriarchal knowledge is sacred and necessary

Amen

bracha for taking acyclovir/valtrex by phreddy wischusen

I am told, that despite the fact you're in fact consuming something that will have a tangible
physiological effect, there is no bracha said on taking medicine

Blessed are You, '', our rhythm of the cosmos, who in infinite mercy has given us mucous
membranes. The membranes teach us nothing in Creation - physical or spiritual - is every
totally isolated. May it please You that we feel with joy and security the intimacies we allow
through our thin spaces, and keep all diseases, ailments, mistrust, insatiability,
objectification and fear far from our porous softness. We thank you for eyes that see beyond,
and for the insight that fashioned this medicine that allows us to live with and cherish our
pasts without poisoning our futures, that allows us to be fearless and honest in the pursuit of
new intimacies and vulnerabilities. Blessed are You, '', Guardian of our softness.

a blessing for wombs by emily rogal

blessed are the wombs --
the places of growth, the site of pain
blessed are the people and places that grew me
the invisible umbilical cords that continue to nourish me
and help me grow / and grow / and grow / and grow

a blessing for connection by liv rogal

I need to sit by the sun
I need the rays to remind me
that i am alive
The mechanical energy that dances my fingers across the keyboard is the same that pours
from the the heavens
Reminding me that it is okay
To exist
That is is okay
To be alone
That you dont have to
Yell at yourself to be happy

The yellow energy dances through my white arms, incites my scarlet heart to pound, pulls up
the corners of my pink mouth
The unknowing spirit that nurtures the earth
Nurtured my supple body in the womb

Universally mothered
Ubiquitous in spirit

Sitting by a coffee shop window
The breaths of laughter making the flowers grow
The conversations about god
Not my god
Reminding me that death will come
But seeing the cogs spin
Moving us forward
Will not make it come faster

ptsd prayer by sheridan gayer

Holes (become) Holy, Whole.



hamakom the place by sheridan gayer
Heavenly Host who is called the Place,
Ive wondered why
for so long
Ive wandered, seeking Place
for so long

But when I needed to be healed

by the Source of Blessing
Who heals us

I heard whispers again

of The Place
The Place to go
to eliminate pain

You came to me from within,

the tool I needed most for recovery
The spot of pleasure.
The source of hormones inviting me
to be pain free

The Place.
The Place.
Right there.
Oh. God. Yes.
Thats the Place.
Right there.

Oh Heavenly Host
with your boundless Grace
I want to bless You too
for having taught me the Place

a blessing for being intact by juliana ossa

Thank you Lord,

Because even though a predator creeped
Into the bed of my childhood
I can still sleep at night

Thank you Lord,

Because although he stabbed the depths of my unborn intimacy
I am still intact

Thank you Lord,

Because although he stole and ruined my innocence,
I am not guilty

Thank you Lord,

Because although he ruined love for me,
I love

Thank you Lord,

Because although night after night I was almost damaged,
I am whole

Thank you Lord,

For giving me strength,
For teaching me peace,
For showing me joy
For keeping me sane.

a bracha for getting called out by aaron kay

a breathe for

my body

coiled to the stove top

a breathe for

blood

about to reach its boiling point

a breathe that

cools my veins

from hurt/ing to warm

a breathe that

holds my thoughts, rubbing circles on their backs

because

they are scared to be so new

blessed be by candace braude

Blessed be my acne scars.
Blessed be to the stretch marks that line my thighs and breast, to the ingrown hair that taunts
my legs.
Blessed be the dimples in my cheeks and chin that appear when Im laughing my hardest, and
the second chin that inevitably arrives with them.
Blessed be my round belly, my jiggly arms, and my flat butt.
Blessed be my painful period, the dark splotches of blood that have condemned countless
pairs
of panties. Blessed be the cramps that buckle me, the mood swings that destroy me. Blessed
be the marvelous pain.
Blessed be the things that the world told me are not beautiful, because god dammit, they
have
created me and I am the goddess of my own being. I am beautiful and so are they.
Blessed be the imperfections.
Blessed be the hardest moments in this life.
Blessed be the days after days where I have to swallow a dry Prozac and squeeze my eyes
tight and remember that this pill will help me by myself, not take me away. I am still here.
Blessed be the nights where I mourn for the dead and for those who are still alive, and the
mornings where my soul feels so tired that my body cant move. My legs will still swing out of
bed and my feet will still land on the floor.
Blessed be the moments of immense fear, where I am frozen in time and can feel my breath
more than I ever have before. This reminds me that I am alive.
Blessed be the countless doctors, the tearful realizations, and each and every dead end.
There
is immense beauty in frustration.
Blessed be the moments where I feel nothing at all, and the moments where I feel absolutely
everything.
Blessed be the butterflies, the glitter, the color pink. Blessed be sunny days, and the sound of
waves crashing. Blessed be a freshly made bed and the smell of downy. Blessed be beautiful
art and perfectly written hip-hop music. Blessed be warm chocolate chip cookies, new books,
and a new paycheck. Blessed be a good manicure and a long shower.
Blessed be my vivacious mother, my beautiful sister, my extraordinary best friends. Blessed
be
the women in my life who have taught me that sometimes a curse can be a blessing, and that
sometimes I am permitted to falter and count my blessings as a curse. And blessed be that
the
next day I can start again.
Blessed be my body, my heart, my soul. Blessed be me.