It is hard to believe that the High Holidays are here once again. This holiday, I am very fortunate to have all my daughters home along with a houseful of friends and family to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. My favorite moment was lighting the holiday candles to start the evening off and then with many voices joined in singing the blessings over the bread and the wine. My husband then reminded us all that we must finish this portion of the evening by chanting a final blessing called the "Shehechyanu" prayer. We include this blessing tonight in honor of Rosh Hashanah, the holiday that commemorates the start of a new year.
In fact, this prayer is chanted frequently during a religious service. When and where it is said during a religious service, whether for daily prayer, Shabbat or holidays, offers clues to the importance the meaning of the words. Jews say the "Shehechyanu" prayer, from the Talmud (Berachot 54a, Pesakhim 7b, Sukkah 46a, etc.), as part of a holy prayer set called the Kaddish. Kaddish is a form of the word Kadosh which is translated to mean "Holy". Jews have been saying this prayer for over 2000 years. When the "Shehechyanu" prayer is said at the end of a list of prayers it is considered the period to the end of a sentence. Since prayer is a form of thanks, or an acknowledgement of a gift we've received, the "Shehechyanu" prayer expresses of our greatest thanks to G-d.
There are many prayers available to thank G-d for creating the world, our being in this world and everything else that is connected, but when memory fails to recall the unique individual blessings to give thanks, there is always the "Shehechyanu" prayer to fill in the empty spaces. Years ago a Cantor at my synagogue joked with me that this prayer was an all purpose prayer. Anytime something new enters your life or if you feel blessed or rewarded and you feel grateful or happy this is the prayer to cover all bases.
Here are the words in Hebrew, English and transliterated Hebrew. It is easy enough to memorize and will make you feel good every time you say this prayer.
Hebrew[1]
English[2]
Transliteration[3]
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ
Blessed are You, Lord
Baruch atta Adonai
אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הַעוֹלָם
our God, Ruler of the
Universe,
Eloheinu melekh ha'olam
שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ
who has granted us life, sustained us
she-ecḥeyanu ve'qi'eh'manu
וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה׃
and
enabled us to reach this occasion.
va'higiy'anu laz'man hazeh.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shehecheyanu
