Chaverah Havdalah Prayer – 1/17/2026

Nefesh 

Chaverah Havdalah Prayer – 1/17/2026 

Preceding the New Moon and the Day of the Thunderbird 

Thank you all for being here. This is our first Havdalah together and the beginning of a beautiful community being born. We gather in a time of struggle — with heartache behind us and uncertainty ahead, with the rise of racism and hatred across the land. Yet here, in this moment of candle‑lighting, may we find refuge in one another: in community, in humanity, and in family. 

We will now begin our prayer. 

Instructions 

Please stand for Havdalah, but prepare a seat nearby, as you will sit before drinking the wine. 

The Havdalah ritual traditionally begins with verses of hope and strength — words that set the tone for a week filled with courage, joy, and renewal. The leader reads the introduction aloud. 

Introduction (English Only) 

“Indeed, God is my deliverance; I am confident and shall not fear, for God is my strength and my song, and has been a help to me. 

You shall draw water with joy from the wellsprings of deliverance. 

Deliverance belongs to God; may blessing rest upon the people forever. 

The Eternal is with us; the One who guided Jacob is our everlasting stronghold. 

Happy are those who trust in the Eternal. 

God, deliver us; may the Sovereign answer us on the day we call.” 

Call and Response 

Community: 

“For our ancestors there was light, joy, gladness, and honor — so may it be for us.” 

Leader: 

“I will lift the cup of deliverance and call upon the name of the Eternal.” 

Blessings 

Blessing Over the Wine 

Raise the cup slightly and say: 

“Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.” 

Everyone responds: Amen. 

Blessing Over the Spices 

Set down the wine, lift the spices, and say: 

“Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of the universe, who creates diverse kinds of spices.” 

Everyone responds: Amen. 

All smell the spices and take in their sweetness. 

Blessing Over the Flame 

The leader says: 

“Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of the universe, who creates the lights of fire.” 

Everyone responds: Amen. 

Look at the flame and enjoy its glow. It is customary to raise your fingertips toward the light. 

Main Havdalah Blessing 

Lift the cup again and say: 

“Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of the universe, who distinguishes between sacred and ordinary, between light and darkness, between one people and another, between the seventh day and the six days of labor. Blessed are You who makes a distinction between sacred and ordinary.” 

Closing the Ritual 

Please be seated. Drink at least a small amount of wine. 

Use the remaining wine to extinguish the flame. 

Dip your fingertips lightly into the wine and wish one another: 

“A good week!” 

Afterward 

If you drank more than a small cup, recite the appropriate after‑blessing. 

It is customary to read Ve‑yiten Lecha, a collection of blessings from across scripture blessings of Jacob, Moses, David, and others. Traditionally, two people read from the same book to symbolize that the greatest blessing is the ability to share blessing with another. 

After Havdalah, we hold a small farewell gathering for the “Shabbat Queen.” This is usually a light meal accompanied by songs and stories of the righteous  a gentle transition back into the week. 

Motzaei Shabbat, the hours after Shabbat ends, are bittersweet: we feel the sadness of departure, but also the lingering joy and peace Shabbat leaves behind. Hold onto that feeling as you slowly re‑enter the rhythm of the week. 

(Nefesh Lesson on the Thunderbird) 

The Thunderbird was spoken about by many Indigenous peoples, including in the stories passed down from my grandmother, Rose Trojillo, who passed away long ago. The Thunderbird is a powerful bird, like an eagle, with feathers shining in the colors of the rainbow and the blooming flowers of spring. When it flaps its wings, you hear the cracking of thunder and feel the ground tremble. It is a mighty and wise protector of nature. 

There was once a people living in the land of Gila, in what is now southern New Mexico. A small river ran through their home, and beside that river was a lake. In that lake lived a great serpent. The serpent was wise and intelligent, and it spoke to the people. 

The serpent said, “Hello, great people of the hills. May we live in peace. I can make the water flow to your irrigation fields, but I need the stones removed from the sides of the river.” 

So the people did as the serpent asked. They removed the stones from the riverbank, and the serpent called upon the water, sending it to nourish the people’s corn and beans. 

The serpent then said, “Thank you for this. Now please remove the trees from the side of the river.” 

Again, the people obeyed, and again the serpent blessed them with rain and water for their crops. 

Then the serpent said, “Please remove the animals and wildlife from around you. We must be safe.” 

So the people did as the serpent asked, and in return they were granted fish and water for their horses. 

But once everything had been removed stones, trees, animals the serpent flooded the village. With no roots, no vegetation, and no stone to hold the water back, the land could not protect them. 

The serpent declared, “You people of the hills shall serve me and my interests.” 

The people cried and wailed. They did not understand what they had done. They believed that removing nature would keep them safe, but instead they had cut themselves off from the earth. 

Then clouds gathered, and thunder cracked across the sky. A bird as fiery as the sun, with feathers like the rainbow, descended. The Thunderbird looked at the serpent and said, “What is this destruction I see?” 

The serpent replied, “I wish to make myself a sea here.” 

The Thunderbird answered, “You have enslaved a people through their labor and separated yourself from your own kind. You come from the ocean—why must you climb into the hills? Why do you hunger for more land and more servants? Is the ocean not vast enough for you?” 

The Thunderbird then battled the serpent. Storms of water and wind tore through the valley. Trees were destroyed, and the people fled back into the hills for refuge. 

When the storm ended, the serpent lay as a giant corpse, and the Thunderbird perched upon the cliffs, looking down at the people. 

It spoke: 

“Do not gamble with those who offer comfort in exchange for servitude. 

You are no more separate from nature than I am. 

The bear, the elk, the fish they live with you. 

They are you. 

You are the forest of the Black Hills, the wind in the air, the cactus in the desert. 

The moment you separate yourselves from nature is the moment corruption begins.”