Prayer for Seeing the Good in Ourselves and Others, So We Can Give Birth and Foster Renewed Life

 Parashat Shemot

Prayer for Seeing the Good in Ourselves and Others,

so we Can Give Birth and Foster Renewed Life

New life is so pure and precious yet fragile.

Hashem, please help all midwives to be agile.

 

Like the midwives let us not dread any mortal king!

May we fear no one but You and continue to sing!

 

All of us can be both a midwife and a mother.

Help us give birth to ourselves and each other!

 

Like Yocheved who saw that her son was good,

we all need our good hearts to be understood.

 

Help me see the good points in everyone,

so that all their bad can become undone!

 

Let me see the sun behind the cloud,

giving everyone the benefit of the doubt!

After seeing the good in us all and thereby giving birth,

let me continue to encourage, foster nurture and nurse.

Help me accept that there are some, who may break away,

while still praying that they won’t go completely astray.  

Help me to receive negativity criticism and blame, 

without being tempted to play that same old game!

Hashem, You are the only One Who can truly know.

Help me take refuge in You, so I can continue to grow. 

Only when we stand together can we become strong 

to defeat the enemy, who wants to prove us wrong.

Let us not allow the power of darkness to take us apart!

Isn’t it our Divine challenge to mend our broken shards? 

Please help us continue to trust in the power of love and care,

while strengthening our faith in You, and our courage to dare! 

Spare us from the worship of cruelty, darkness and death.

Help us survive evil schemes so we can live breath by breath.

Based on the Book of Shemot Chapter 1 verse 17-21 and Chapter 2 verse 2. 

ספר שמות פרק א

(יז) וַתִּירֶאןָ הַמְיַלְּדֹת אֶת הָאֱלֹהִים וְלֹא עָשׂוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֲלֵיהֶן מֶלֶךְ מִצְרָיִם וַתְּחַיֶּיןָ אֶת הַיְלָדִים:

(יח) וַיִּקְרָא מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם לַמְיַלְּדֹת וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶן מַדּוּעַ עֲשִׂיתֶן הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה וַתְּחַיֶּיןָ אֶת הַיְלָדִים:

(יט) וַתֹּאמַרְןָ הַמְיַלְּדֹת אֶל פַּרְעֹה כִּי לֹא כַנָּשִׁים הַמִּצְרִיֹּת הָעִבְרִיֹּת כִּי חָיוֹת הֵנָּה בְּטֶרֶם תָּבוֹא אֲלֵהֶן הַמְיַלֶּדֶת וְיָלָדוּ:

(כ) וַיֵּיטֶב אֱלֹהִים לַמְיַלְּדֹת וַיִּרֶב הָעָם וַיַּעַצְמוּ מְאֹד:

(כא) וַיְהִי כִּי יָרְאוּ הַמְיַלְּדֹת אֶת הָאֱלֹהִים וַיַּעַשׂ לָהֶם בָּתִּים:

“The midwives, however, feared G-d; so they did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them, but they enabled the boys to live. So, the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, ‘Why have you done this thing, that you have enabled the boys to live?’ Then the midwives said to Pharaoh, ‘Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are skilled as midwives; when the midwife has not yet come to them, they have [already] given birth.’ G-d benefited the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong. Now it took place when the midwives feared G-d, that He made houses for them” (Shemot 1:17-21).

 

ספר שמות פרק ב פסוק ב וַתַּהַר הָאִשָּׁה וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן וַתֵּרֶא אֹתוֹ כִּי טוֹב הוּא...

“The woman conceived and bore a son, and she saw him that he was good…” (Shemot 2:2). 

Every one of us is in a sense, a midwife! We are always opening gates for others, or ‘chas v’shalom’ closing them. Through looking at the ‘nekudot tovot’ – the good points in others as well as in ourselves we can give birth to their and our higher selves. When we focus on the good points, then we are placing others in a good space, from which they can grow. To enable birthing and positive growth, we need to see ourselves and others as being beautiful. We need to sing to them and with them, and we need to be sung to. It is this combination of Shifra, seeing the good points and making one beautiful, and Puah, singing and arousing the soul with beautiful voice and sound, which are the keys to spiritual midwifery (Based on R. Avraham Greenbaum, The Midwives - Spiritual Midwifery, based on Likutei Moharan teaching #282).