Sample B'nai Mitzvah Parent's Blessings

May you live to see your world fulfilled,
May your destiny be for worlds still to come,
And may you trust in generations past and
yet to be.

May your heart be filled with intuition
and your words be filled with insight.
May songs of praise ever be upon your tongue
and your vision be on a straight path before you.

May your eyes shine with the light of holy words
and your face reflect the brightness of the heavens.
May your lips speak wisdom
and your fulfillment be in righteousness
even as you ever yearn to hear the words
of the Holy Ancient One of Old.

Brachot 17a

May your eyes sparkle with the light of Torah,
and your ears hear the music of its words.
May the space between each letter of the scrolls
bring warmth and comfort to your soul.
May the syllables draw holiness from your heart,
and may this holiness be gentle and soothing
to you and all God’s creatures.

May your study be passionate,
and meanings bear more meanings
until Life itself arrays itself to you
as a dazzling wedding feast.
And may your conversation,
even of the commonplace,
be a blessing to all who listen to your words
and see the Torah glowing on your face.

Danny Siegel, based on Brachot 17a and Eruvin 54a

Wherever you journey, may your steps be firm
and may you walk in just paths and not be afraid.
Whenever you speak,
may your words be words of wisdom and friendship.
May your hands build and your heart preserve
what is good and beautiful in our world.
May the voices of the generations of our people move through you
and may the God of our ancestors be your God as well.
May you know that there is a people, a rich heritage, to which you belong
and from that sacred place you are connected to all who dwell on the earth.
May the stories of our people be upon your heart
and the grace of the Torah rhythm
dance in your soul.

Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

May use as basis of remarks:

Martin Buber wrote:

Every person born into this world represents some­thing new, something that never
existed before, something original and unique. It is the duty of every person in Israel to know and consider that he is unique in the world in his particular character, and that there has never been someone like him before. For if there had been someone like him before, there would be no need for him to be in the world. Every single person is a new thing in the world and is called upon to fulfill his particularity in the world.

For a daughter – 

Embrace this young woman with blessing, Holy One;
Draw her near to You with learning and faith.
May her life be filled with delight
Nurtured in wholeness, her family’s embrace.

Alert her to all Your world’s beauty,
Renewed before her eyes, flowering.
Inspire her with tales of her ancestors,
Enriched by her own good deeds.
Bless her with strength and goodness,
A life for Your honor and praise.

Adapted from Debbie Perlman

For a son –

Draw Your arms around this young man, Holy One,
Let Your blessings be abundant.
May his days be filled with learning,
With wonders and challenges, laughter and delight.

Anchor his life with family and friends,
Kindness his portion and gift;
Send him Your strength to grow and mature,
Keeping close to his strong heritage.
Embrace him with wholeness, with peace,
Ever praising Your name.

Adapted from Debbie Perlman

For a son – 

May you be as Ephraim and Menasheh
of whom we know nothing
but their names
and that they were Jews.
And may you be as all Jews
whose names are lost
as witnesses to God’s care,
love, and presence.
Remember them in your words,
and live Menschlich lives
as they lived Menschlich lives.

Danny Siegel, based on the traditional blessing
of parents to their children on Erev Shabbat

For a daughter-

May you be as Sarah, Rivka, Rachel, and Leah,
whose names and deeds
are our inheritance;
who bore us, raised us,
guided and taught us
that a touch
is a touch of Holiness,
and a laugh is prophecy;
that all that is ours,
is theirs;
that neither Man or Woman alone
lights the sparks of Life,
but only both together,
generating light and warmth
and singular humanity.

 Danny Siegel, based on the traditional blessing
of parents to their children on Erev Shabbat

We wish for our child a life of Torah,
of never-ending fascination with study and learning
With a book, he/she will never be alone.

We wish for our child an adulthood consecrated by chupah,
To never-ending growth as a human being
capable of giving and receiving love.
With a loving mate, he/she will never be alone.

We wish for our child a life of ma’asim tovim,
of never-ending concern for family 
and community, justice and charity.
If he/she cares for others, he/she will never be alone.

We pray for wisdom to help our child achieve these things,
To fulfill the needs of his/her mind and body,
May he/she be strong when he/she needs to be strong,
May he/she be gentle when he/she needs, to be gentle,
As our child grows to adulthood, we pledge to
always be there when he/she needs us.

source unknown

On this Shabbat when our child becomes Bar/Bat Mitzvah, we have come with him/her and our loved ones to join in worship and to offer our prayer of thanksgiving.

We are grateful for the privilege of passing along the gift of life which You gave us, thus sharing with You the miracle of creation. We are grateful for the years of nurturing this life, for the unnumbered joys and challenges which these years have brought us. Praise to You, God, for keeping us alive, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this day.

Bless him/her, O God; watch over, protect, and guide him/her. Help him/her continue to grow in body and mind, in soul and character.  Keep him/her loyal to our people and to the teachings of our Torah. May his/her life be rich and rewarding. May all his /her deeds bring pride and honor to the House of Israel. Amen.

Entrances to Holiness are Everywhere, (JCC of White Plains), 1993

The prophet Elijah said: “And all your children shall be taught about God, and great shall be the peace of Your children.”

We give thanks for this day, and for the years of growth and learning that have preceded it. Now as our child steps forth to affirm her/his commitment to the ideals and Mitzvot of our faith, our soul is joyful, our mind is at peace.

Ba-ruch a-ta Adonai,
Eh-lo-hei-nu meh-lech ha-o-lam,
sheh-heh-cheh-ya -nu, v’ki-y’ma–nu,
v’higi-a-nu la-z’man ha-zeh.

We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, for giving us life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this season.

We pray that this day’s service may long echo in our child’s memory. May it engrave on his/her heart the understanding that this day initiates a life more firmly dedicated to the study of Torah and the fulfillment of Mitzvot,to deeds of justice and kindness, to faithful membership in the Household of Israel.

AN INDIVIDUAL SAYS:

   O, God, make me a worthy example to my children. Let nothing estrange me from them and from You. Help me, too, again and again to renew my attachment to the Covenant of Israel, to walk hand in hand with my child in the ways of righteousness and truth. Amen.

A COUPLE  SAYS:

   O God, make each of us a worthy example to our children. Let nothing estrange us from them and from You. Help us, too, again and again to renew our attachment to the Covenant of Israel, to walk hand in hand with our child in the ways of righteousness and truth. Amen.

On the Doorposts of Your House (CCAR Press)

The days come and go. Imperceptibly our lives change. We grow older and are
hardly aware of it. Our children grow up and we hardly notice. Then, suddenly, we
come to this time and we realize that our sons and daughters are children no longer.
They have become young men and women, ready to take their first step into adulthood.

We are grateful that we have been able to bring them this far. We are thankful for the
strength to cope with the stresses and responsibilities of rearing them. And we give
thanks for the pleasure and pride we have had in them.

Now we realize they are children no longer. Only another year, two, three, and they
will begin to go from our homes to find their own way in the world.

We ask ourselves, have we truly prepared them for this? Have we done enough,
taught them enough? We are almost afraid to let them go.

Yet it was for this that we raised them, that they might grow up to take their places
in the world.

Kol HaNeshamah: Shabbat V’Chagim (1995)

O God, we have tendered
With hope this seed
of our youth.
We have watched
from springtime
the ripening and growth.
Now come the harvest days
And our child stands before You.
Bless this life with wisdom
To serve You with love.

A Jewish home opens its heart,
a child is born and its link
to the generations is proclaimed.

Today, that child, nearly grown,
is called to read from the Torah
and is welcomed into the congregation.

May this moment in time be blessed.

Vetahair Libaynu (1980)

Our God and God of all generations,
we are grateful for the gift of Your Torah,
that links one generation to another,
this generation to those which have come before,
and every generation to the generations of Abraham and Sarah.

We are thankful,
especially on this day,
for the blessing of children and family
for the meaning and happiness
which you have brought to our lives.

                  (Child’s name)                                                     ,
May you continue to grow
in health and in strength,
in wisdom and love, and with joy.
May your life be guided by the lessons of the Torah,
and may your life be filled with compassion for others,
and gemilut hasidim, acts of kindness.

Into our hands, O God, You have placed Your Torah, to be held high by parents and children, and taught by one generation to the next. Whatever has befallen us, our people have remained steadfast in loyalty to the Torah. It was carried into exile in the arms of parents that their children might not be deprived of their birthright.

And now I pray that           Child’s name        may always be worthy of this inheritance. Take its teaching into your heart, and in turn pass it on to your children and those who come after you. May you be a faithful Jew, searching for wisdom and truth, working for justice and peace. Thus will you be among those who labor to bring nearer the day when God shall be One, and God’s children shall be one.

May the God of our people, the God of all humankind, bless and keep you. May the One who has always been our guide inspire you to bring honor to our family and to the House of Israel.

Ba-ruch a-ta Adonai, Eh-lo-hei-nu meh-lech ha-o-lam,
sheh-heh-cheh- ya-nu v’k-y’ma-nu v’hi-gi-a-nu la-z’man ha-zeh.

We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, for giving us
life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this season.

Gates of Prayer for Shabbat and Weekdays (1994)