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Let There Be Love

TRANSLATION

Grant, O God, that we lie down in peace, and raise us up, our Guardian, to life renewed.

Blessed are You Adonai, Guardian of Israel, whose canopy of peace is spread over us, over all Your people Israel, and over Jerusalem.

INTENTION

Hashkiveinu is drawn from the first known Hebrew prayer book, Seder Rav Amram, in 860 C.E. The medieval rabbis lived and led without the benefit of modern science. When they were asked “what happens to us when we sleep?” they could not rely on sleep studies and neuroscience. They recognized the night as a time of great vulnerability, so they prayed that God would put a “sukkat shalom,” and “canopy of peace,” over us when we are unable to care for ourselves. Today, we say this prayer at night and also in moments of spiritual, emotional, and physical vulnerability.