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Celebration of the Animals Service
by Rabbi Michael Beals.........................................
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Celebration of the Animals Parshat Noah a creative service Created by Rabbi Michael Beals Edited by "Rosh" Roland Roth The Shehechiyanu blessing is for all new or special experiences. It is a prayer of thanks to God for sustaining our lives. English Text: "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has created us, and sustained us, and enabled us to reach this day." Artwork by Mickie Caspi I WANT YOU TO MEET MY FAMILY (MISHPACHA) I want you to meet my family In Hebrew we call it mishpacha (mishpacha!) We all live in a bayit (a bayit) That's the house of my ma and pa There's my mother, that's eema, say eema (eema!) There's my father, that's abba, say abba (abba!) Chorus: And these are the members of my family My family, yes, my family My family, yes, my family I want you to meet my family In Hebrew we call it mishpacha (mishpacha!) We all live in a bayit (a bayit) That's the house of my ma and pa There's my brother, that's ach, say ach (ach!) There's my sister, that's achot, say achot (achot!) Chorus I want you to meet my family In Hebrew we call it mishpacha (mishpacha!) We all live in a bayit (a bayit) That's the house of my ma and pa There's my dog, that's kelev, say kelev (kelev!) There's my cat, that's hatool, say hatool (hatool!) There's my fish, that's dag, say dag (dag!) Chorus Reader One (from Genesis Chapter 6: Parshat Noah) "For my part, I am about to bring the Flood -- waters upon this earth -- to destroy all flesh under the sky in which there is breath of life: everything on earth shall perish. But I will establish My covenant with you, Noah, and you shall enter the ark which you shall build, with your sons, your wife, and your son's wives. And all that lives, of all flesh, you shall take two of each into the ark to keep alive with you: they shall be male and female. From birds of every kind, cattle of every kind, every kind of creeping thing on earth, two of each shall come to you to stay alive. For your part, take of everything that is eaten and store it away, to serve as food for you and for them." Noah did so, just as God had commanded him, so he did. Reader Two (from Isaiah, Chapter 11) God caused a flood because the world needed to be cleansed of all things that was rotten. But God, with Noah's help, saved the animals. The prophet Isaiah looks to the animal world for a view of what the messianic era will look like. Let us read responsively: And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb And the leopard shall lie down with the baby goat And the calf and the young lion shall eat together; And a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; Their young ones shall lie down together. And the lion shall eat straw like the ox, And the suckling child shall play at the hole of the snake. And the weaned child shall put his hands on the scorpion's den. Leader We come here today, on the week where we read the Torah portion which tells the story of Noah, so we can have the opportunity to celebrate our animals. We refer to them as our friends, our pets, and for some, as our children. In the Torah we read: And Adonai our God formed them out of the earth and all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky and brought them to the humans to see what He would call them and whatever the humans called each living creature, that would be their name. And the man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and all the wild beasts. And we have been doing it ever since! Reader Three (excerpt from Psalm 148 -- we read responsively) Halleluyah! Praise Adonai from the heavens, praise God on high. Praise Adonai, you who are on earth All sea monsters and ocean depths All wild and tamed beasts Creeping things and winged birds All rulers and peoples of the earth Old and young together Let them praise the name of Adonai, for God's name, God alone, is sublime; God's splendor covers heaven and earth. Let us now go around the circle and introduce our pets to each other, sharing special names we have given to each of our families' special members. Reader Four (responsively) (from Exodus Raba) Exodus 3:1 "Now Moses, tending the flock of his fatherin- law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, drove the flock into the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire out of the bush." A lamb once ran away from the flock, and Moshe followed until the lamb reached some bushes near a pond of water. There it halted and began to drink. Moses said "I didn't know you ran all this way because you were thirsty; you must be tired." Moses lifted the lamb onto his shoulders and carried it back to the flock. God said: "You who tend the sheep with such mercy will be a compassionate leader for My sheep, the People Israel." Reader Five (from Exodus Raba) David was tested as a shepherd and passed the trial. He used to protect the small sheep from the attacks of the larger ones and would make sure that each animal received the food best suited for it. First he gave the little lambs the most tender grass, then he fed the old sheep good, soft grass while he let the strong young sheep chew the tough stalks. Said God, "The man who exerts himself to cater to each sheep's individual needs will certainly take good care of my people, Israel!" God therefore designated David as the future king. Leader We each have special stories to share about our animals, just like the Torah has special stories to share about animals. Many of these stories can teach us important lessons about how we are supposed to treat our fellow human beings, like the stories we just heard about Moses and David. Let us take some time, now, to share a special story about our own special animals. THE CAT CAME BACK by Sonny James Now old Uncle John had troubles of his own. He had an ol' yellow cat that wouldn't leave home. He tried everything he knew to keep the cat away - even gave it to a preacher an' he told it for to stay, but Chorus: the cat came back, the very next day, the cat came back, I thought he was a goner but the cat came back -'cause he wouldn't stay away. Now the cat was a terror and he thought it was best - to give it to a fella who was headin' out west. The train went around the corner an' it hit a broken rail --- Not a soul aboard the train lived to tell the tale, but Chorus He gave the ol' cat to the man in a balloon. He told him to leave it with the man in the moon. The balloon it bursted and everybody said - Ten miles away, they picked the man up dead, but Chorus Now the farmer on the corner's gonna kill the cat on site - he's loaded up his gun full of nails an' dynamite - He waited in the garden til' the cat came 'round - Seven little pieces of the man was all they found, but Chorus PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON Words based on the poem by Leonard Lipton Lyrics made famous by Peter, Paul, & Mary Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called honah lee, Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal puff, And brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff. oh! Chorus: Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called honah lee, Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called honah lee. Together they would travel on a boat with billowed sail Jackie kept a lookout perched on puffs gigantic tail, Noble kings and princes would bow whenever they came, Pirate ships would lower their flag when puff roared out his name. oh! Chorus A dragon lives forever but not so little boys Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys. One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more And puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar. His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain, Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane. Without his life-long friend, puff could not be brave, So puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave. oh! Chorus DONA, DONA Translation by Kevess & Schwartz On a wagon bound for market There's a calf with a mournful eye. High above him there's a swallow Winging swiftly through the sky. Chorus: How the winds are laughing They laugh with all their might Laugh and laugh the whole day through And half the summer's night. Dona, dona, dona... "Stop complaining," said the farmer, "Who told you a calf to be? Why don't you have wings to fly with Like the swallow so proud and free?" Chorus Calves are easily bound and slaughtered Never knowing the reason why. But whoever treasures freedom, Like the swallow has learned to fly. Chorus THE UNICORN SONG Words and music by Shel Silverstein A long time ago, when the Earth was green There was more kinds of animals than you've ever seen They'd run around free while the Earth was being born And the loveliest of all was the unicorn Chorus: There was green alligators and long-necked geese Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born, The loveliest of all was the unicorn The Lord seen some sinning and it gave Him pain And He says, "Stand back, I'm going to make it rain" He says, "Hey Noah, I'll tell you what to do Build me a floating zoo, and take some of those... (Chorus) And Noah looked out through the driving rain Them unicorns were hiding, playing silly games Kicking and splashing while the rain was falling Oh, them silly unicorns (Chorus) The ark started moving, it drifted with the tide The unicorns looked up from the rocks and they cried And the waters came down and sort of floated them away That's why you never see unicorns to this very day (Chorus) RISE AND SHINE Chorus: Rise and shine And give God the glory, glory Rise and shine And give God the glory, glory Rise and shine And (clap) give God the glory, glory Children of the Lord The Lord said to Noah: There's gonna be a floody, floody The Lord said to Noah: There's gonna be a floody, floody Get those children out of the muddy, muddy Children of the Lord So Noah, he built them, he built them an arky, arky Built it out of gopher barky, barky Children of the Lord The animals, the animals, They came in by twosie, twosies The animals, the animals, They came in by twosie, twosies Elephants and (clap) kangaroosie, roosies Children of the Lord Chorus It rained and poured For forty daysie, daysies It rained and poured For forty daysie, daysies Nearly drove those (clap) animals crazy, crazy, Children of the Lord Chorus The sun came out and dried up the landy landy The sun came out and dried up the landy landy Everything was fine and dandy, dandy Children of the Lord Chorus The animals they came off They came off by three-sies three-sies Animals they came off They came off by three-sies three-sies Grizzly bears and (clap) chimpanzee-sies zee-sies Children of the Lord Chorus That is the end of, The end of the story, story That is the end of, The end of my story, story Everything is hunky dory, dory Children of the Lord Chorus Thank you for joining us as we celebrate our animals! Thinking questions: How does what we do in our community affect animals that live in our community, wild animals, like rabbits, snakes, squirrels, and deer? What are some things we can do to show our pets that we love them? Where can we give tzedakah (commanded charity) in our community to help homeless animals and injured animals? What can children do to show adults that they care about animals? What can adults do to show children they care about animals? How does the Jewish value of tikkun olam (repairing the world) relate t o the way human beings treat animals? Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel 1107 E. Linden Ave. St. Louis, MO 63117 www.e-bski.org 314-725-6230 Quality, Family-Friendly, Animal-Loving Programming... It's Happening at BSKI! |
Comments would be appreciated by the author, Rabbi Michael Beals
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