Prayers Before Departing

Brooklyn at Dusk

Dear friends, 

This week I was asked for some prayers that can be spoken before a person departs this world. Nowadays, as some countries and states allowing people with certain terminal medical conditions to end their lives, prayers for these occasions are needed. These actions, since they are usually forbidden by the strict interpretation of Jewish law, open a space for creating and defining new prayers. 

There are some traditional prayers in use for moments before death, so I first looked there. The Psalms are a treasure trove of magical poetry that applies to these moments. Songs of Rising Up, in Hebrew Shirey Hama’alot are often recited to ease the final period of life and soften the transition from earthly life into the rising that comes next.  

“Our feet stood at the entry-gate to Jerusalem:
Jerusalem, perfectly built,
like a city whose different sides
have been brought together as one.” 

Upon death the traditional prayer is called Vidui, or confession. It begins with the words: Modeh Ani, I give thanks.  We hope to be in a deep state of gratitude when we depart. And when a person chooses to depart before their body fails, they are at times offered an opportunity to consciously connect with that sense of gratitude. 

Piecing together verses from the Vidui with other verse-fragments from the Psalms and the Siddur, I offered the following prayer to be spoken by the departing person: 

Modeh ani lefanecha, mekor habrachah, al kol brachah uvrachah shenafla bechelki. Al hakol, Todah. Al hachayim, Todah. Al moti, Todah. Baruch atah mekor chayim le'olam va'ed. 

I give thanks before you, Source of blessings, for each and every blessing that came my way. For all of it, thanks. For life, thanks. For my death, thanks. Blessed are you, Source of life, forever. 

With the gratitude, we also hold the wish for a gentle departure. For this a traditional prayer exists in the Vidui, so I offered it as well:  

Ribono shel olam, yehi ratzon milfanecha sheyeheyeh shalom menuchati. 

Master of the universe, may it be Your will that my coming to rest be in peace. 
 
I feel blessed to be engaged in such beautiful questions as what one might speak to conclude their time in this unbelievably marvelous space we call life. Contemplating such questions brings us in touch with the beauty of it all, and connects us to the deeper purpose and truth that lies beyond the anxieties, worries and ups and downs of the day-to-day. 

May we all merit a deep sense of gratitude in our final moments, and may not only our coming to rest, but our days and nights on the path toward it be in peace. 

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Misha