This beautiful prayer
my Mother would say
at the end of Shabbat
so many years ago.

Composed by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev
in the Yiddish tongue
a language
many Jewish children today do not know.

Several years ago
while checking out a new prayer-book
I came upon my Mother's prayer.

Reading it’s powerful words,
immediately I knew,
these were the words I wanted to say
at the end of Shabbat
and to start the new week.

G‑d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
protect your people Israel
is the first sentence of this prayer.

The Tefillah (prayer) continues to ask
the holy One, blessed be He,
that the coming week bring
perfect faith, love and attachment
to the Creator, friends and scholars.

We request at the end of the prayer
that the coming week should bring
kindness, good fortune, success,
good health, wealth, honor,
children, life and sustenance
for us and all Israel.

So ladies, don’t delay
when the Shabbat ends,
before we enter the week,
take a few minutes
and recite this prayer three times.

You will see,
you will feel
a special warmth
and a new meaning
to the start of a new week.