On Sunday, January 16th at 7:00 pm at the Dairy Center for the Arts, several of Boulder’s rabbis will participate in a panel called “Friending G-d: The Language of Prayer in the Digital Age.” Discussion will cover topics related to prayer and how it has changed over time, culminating in a generation in which talk really is cheap.

Free and open to the public.

Build a Prayer provides an online community space where Jews of all ages and backgrounds can connect on a deeply personal level with prayer and Shabbat. With Build a Prayer, you can create and customize a Shabbat service in a fun and interactive way that is relevant to you and your community; and then share that service with your community.

In addition to creating custom Shabbat services, community members will also be able to engage with meaningful educational content around Shabbat in the Resource Center. The Resource Center provides interactive and static content that will allow the Build a Prayer community to continue learning around Shabbat, its themes, philosophies, traditions, and prayers. The Resource Center will also provide you with engaging, dynamic content such as educational videos illustrating both the basics as well as the finer points of the Shabbat experience. The videos highlight home rituals, key points in the Shabbat services and educational commentary.

Participants on the site will be able to upload their own prayer content (poems, commentary, articles, readings, photos and images), alongside content provided by Rabbis and educators to the resource library; a space that with your help can become a wealth of knowledge and a key educational tool for our entire community.

The ultimate vision of Build a Prayer is to develop a value-added resource that will be useful throughout the Jewish community to multiple audiences and organizations across the pluralistic spectrum.

Kudos to BBYO on this nifty new tool! For those of us who remember BBYO services fondly (and wonder why all services aren’t like at camp), this is a great resource.  Perhaps not surprisingly, BBYO partnered with The Foundation for Jewish Camp and MyJewishLearning.com on this project.

We pray for Haiti.
Our hearts are breaking, God.
The human mind cannot grasp the enormity of the loss.
The cries echo through the universe.
Innocent blood is calling us
To rise up from our heartbreak and act.
We pray for Haiti.
Help us, God,
To understand that destruction can come in a moment
But healing may take a lifetime.
Teach us perseverance, teach us dedication.
We pray for Haiti.
God of the weak, God of the broken-hearted,
God of the living, God of the dead,
Send healing to Haiti.
Send hope to the children who are lost and alone,
Send strength and resilience to the wounded,
And comfort to the grieving.
Fill the leaders of Haiti with the wisdom to raise their country up.
Fill relief workers with resolve.
Bless the doctors and nurses with the power
And the skill to save as many lives as possible.
Open their eyes, steady their hands.
We pray for Haiti.
Bless us, God,
Work through us.
Remind us that every one of us is filled with the power to heal.
Do not let the passage of time lead us to indifference.
Open our hearts, open our hands.
We pray for Haiti.
Let all nations unite as one in a time of reconstruction and repair.
Raise up the people of Haiti, God, out of helplessness and despair.
Teach them to believe
That cities shall be rebuilt on their ruins
That the cries of the children will soon return to laughter.
Be with them, God, watch over them.
And gather the souls of the dead
Whose homes and schools became their graves
Into Your eternal shelter,
Let them find peace in Your presence, God.
We pray for Haiti.
Amen.