To help celebrate your child becoming Bat/Bar/B’Mitzvah, we invite you to offer words of blessing before the community at the end of the Torah service. At IKAR, we model our blessings after the Priestly Blessing in the Torah, which is traditionally said by parents to their children every Shabbat evening. You have two options for this blessing. 

OPTION 1: You are welcome to read the traditional Priestly Blessing: 

יְבָֽרֶכְךָ֥ ה‘ וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ 

יָאֵ֨ר ה‘ פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ 

יִשָּׂ֨א ה‘׀ פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֽוֹם 

Y’vare-khe-kha Adonai v’yish-me-rekha 

Ya’er Adonai pa-nav ei-lekha vi’hu-neka 

Yisa Adonai pa-nav ei-lekha v’ya-sem lekha shalom.

May God bless you, and keep you: 

May God’s face shine upon you, and be gracious to you: 

May God lift up God’s face to you and grant you peace. 

Or: 

May you be blessed and safe: 

May you be luminous and loved: 

May you be joyous and whole. 

(Numbers 6:22-27)

OPTION 2: You can choose to creatively interpret the traditional blessing by writing a more personal blessing of your own that unpacks the essence of each of the lines above. This blessing may only be three lines.  

יְבָֽרֶכְךָ֥ ה‘ וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ:  – What I/ we love about who you are 

יָאֵ֨ר ה‘ פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ:  – My/ our dreams for you 

יִשָּׂ֨א ה‘׀ פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֽוֹם:  – My/ our dreams for the world you’ll grow up in 

Separate and apart from the blessing you’ll offer before the whole community, we invite you to write a blessing for the B’Mitzvah booklet. That can be as long as you’d like, and in whatever format is most comfortable.