In our work at Jewish Sacred Aging® we often are called on to do a session on New Rituals. Over the past few decades, Boomers have been among the leaders in creating new prayers and rituals that speak to new life stages that we are experiencing. One of the most fascinating of these new rituals is called the Simchat Chochmah, or a celebration of wisdom. What that is, is a prayer or meditation created by someone upon reaching a significant birthday, say 60 or 70, or 80 or 90 etc.
This ritual grew out of the Jewish Feminist movement. It sometimes has been done at an erev Shabbat service in front of the congregation or in private, say at home with just close friends and family in attendance. The person developing this very personal prayer often works with their clergy in crafting the statement. It is not an “ethical will”, rather it is a statement that really gives thanks for the life we have lived, the wisdom gained from the years of life experience and a wish for continued growth in the future.
One of the curious challenges in discussing this is that no congregation has institutionalized this program. What message could be sent to younger people to have elders in a community sharing their thanks for their own life and looking forward to a future. We hope that this piece may spark some conversation in your congregation or organization to develop such a program. The prayers are brief and personal, and we have posted one such description of a person’s celebration in our Kol Bo section. To give you a sense of what one of these prayers are like, here is a section of a Simchat Chochmah that was done several years ago by a woman on a Friday night erev Shabbat service before the entire congregation.
“River of light and truth, You have sustained me these many years and brought me to this place in my life’s journey. Let me look out with wisdom from the high ground of my years and experiences over the terrain of my life. Let me gaze out toward the past and the future with a heightened sense of Your presence as my guide. Let me see that growth is not reserved for any one season and that love and fulfillment are not the exclusive provinces of the young.
As today I celebrate my life’s continued unfolding, I am awestruck by the wonder of my being. And so I pray that kindness and compassion may be on my lips, that strength and courage may be with my in my comings and goings, and that I may continue to learn from and to teach those dear to me.”
What would you write if given the chance to say thank you for what has been and for what may yet be?
Shalom,
Rabbi Richard F. Address
Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min, is the Founder and Director of www.jewishsacredaging.com. Rabbi Address served for over three decades on staff of the Union for Reform Judaism; first as a Regional Director and then, beginning in 1997, as Founder and Director of the URJ’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns and served as a specialist and consultant for the North American Reform Movement in the areas of family related programming. Rabbi Address was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1972 and began his rabbinic career in Los Angeles congregations. He also served as a part time rabbi for Beth Hillel in Carmel, NJ while regional director and, after his URJ tenure, served as senior rabbi of Congregation M’kor Shalom in Cherry Hill, NJ from 2011-2014.
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