Father’s Day is Sunday. Not as popular as Mother’s Day. (More phone calls are made on Mother’s Day than any day of the year!). But it is a day dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating Dear Old Dad!
For some folks like me, I wish I could celebrate the day with my own father. But he has been dead for nearly 23 years now. But I remember him every single day. His smile. The sparkle in his blue eyes!
Many people have complex relationships with their fathers. Sometimes even painful ones. So I know how blessed and lucky I was to have a father who taught me how to give tzedakah (charity), a great work ethic, the value of family and relationship, and humor!
In advance of Father’s Day here is a prayer for our father’s I would like to share with you.
A Prayer for Father’s day
Tzur Yisrael, Rock of Israel, as Father’s Day nears we take this time to call to our fathers of old, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and David. We invoke their blessings upon our own fathers who bore us, nurtured us and raised us up. We give thanks for these men who guided us in Your ways. We pray that if they have already entered the Olam HaBah, the world to come, that their souls be at peace.
Some may have fallen short, were uncomfortable expressing love or worked too many hours but as you teach in our Torah-our mitzvah is Kibud Av v’Em-Honor your father and mother. And so on this father’s day weekend, we pray bless all who are fathers and step fathers, grandfathers and fathers in spirit. Bless the work of their hands. Give them strength for each day. Help them to be a blessing to family and community. And teach us to honor their lives and legacy. Amen: