Tashlic

It is time
to go to the water, place of all beginnings,
sustainer of all life, embracing many worlds,
place of transformation.
She flows through the earth, through your body,
renewer, restorer.

And there, at water's side,
your soul calls yet again upon the name of God,
HaYotzeir,
Shaper of this Universe.


HaYotzeir,
You Who speaks all into being,
You have taught me to go and learn from the water,
for she holds lessons that I need.

HaYotzeir,
You Who imaged us at the Beginning,
You have told me to go to the water, and as I toss in my crumbs,
casting off deeds which diminish me, You say, bend low and watch the fish rise.
They rise to feed and sometimes are caught,
just as I become snared, trapped, consumed, in the nets of life,
the nets I weave for myself.

HaYotzeir,
You Who shape the earth and her wonders,
You have told me, go and learn from the water,
for she contains within her remnants of primeval floods, waters of chaos,
and mirrors the layers I hold within myself,
that rise and swell, rise and swell, forces of shadow that struggle to dim the forces of light,
and You urge me this day, to claim the light.

HaYotzeir,
You Who whispers secrets into the universe,
You have told me go and learn from the water,
for she fills me and I reflect her.
Go to the water which lives You say,
which are replenished by rain, which flow to the ocean, which shift in the wind.
Go, see her movement, for she teaches
that staying in one place without replenishment bears stagnation, slow death.
She teaches that I too need move, be added to, change, transform,
to like her, be fluid.

HaYotzeir,
You Who dreams the universe alive, You Who fashions marvels,
You have told me, go and learn from the water.
For just as the waves dance with the shore and are drawn by the moon's beckoning,
so too do I dance with spirit,
drawn by You.

So I come to water's edge and cast away that which weighs me down,
releasing it to the water, which will carry it away,
that I might leave the shore lighter, cleansed, kissed by water's lips.
A step close to You, HaYotzeir,
You Who gave me breath,
You Who gives me life.