I have been wanting to make Rosh Hashanah blessing and prayer cards for my own home for a few years now.
The recitation of the Rosh Hashanah blessing and prayer cards is a special experience. All the elements are there – tasting healthy apples, eating honey, lighting candles, reciting a prayer for renewal, reciting a prayer of gratitude. Despite all these meaningful elements, to me it feels like there is still room for us to make this a more beautiful experience.
Shouldn’t the Rosh Hashanah Blessings and Prayers Feel Significant?
Every year, reciting the Rosh Hashanah blessing and prayer cards feels rushed and less significant than it should feel. After all, Rosh Hashanah only happens once per year and blessings and prayers set the stage for the 10 days of awe that follow before Yom Kippur.
Creating a Special Moment
Creating this special moment relies on well organised and executed logistics. Setting up the plates of apples and bowls of honey and the (all too often last minute) search for the blessings and prayers for Rosh Hashanah usually involves these unideal experiences:
- Having only one lousy photocopy of the blessings;
- Not having enough prayers and blessings for every person
- Wishing (silently) that you were more organized to print enough copies of transliteration and English translations of the blessings for Jewish and non-Jewish guests.
Don’t get me wrong, reading blessings from the Siddur certainly feels authentic but I have wondered for years if the Siddur and holiday prayers and blessings are the best match for the holidays.
Might there be a better way to present the Rosh Hashanah blessings and prayers?
Rosh Hashanah Prayer and Blessing Cards Design
I really appreciate that the Rosh Hashanah blessings are already available on-line. Of course you can use these versions to improvise, cut and paste the blessings into a new document or perhaps print them as they come. Sometimes you can actually find a plain print-ready PDF download of the blessings. Both solutions feel like a design letdown and definitely do not add to any “special” holiday ambiance for Rosh Hashanah. Might there be a more aesthetically pleasing design solution for the Rosh Hashanah blessings and prayers? I think so!
Actually Beautiful Rosh Hashanah Blessing and Prayer Cards
Last year I again felt a pang of disappointment that I was not more organized and had not prepared individual blessing cards for everyone in our family and for our guests.
This year, I did it. I created the modern, beautiful and useful printable Rosh Hashanah prayers blessings that I have been wanting.
The Design of these Rosh Hashanah Blessing and Prayer Cards
These blessing cards offer simplistic design with natural elements. The apples and honey illustration comes from this annual Jewish holiday calendar that I create. You can print them on heavy stock paper or a thicker paper with a texture that enhances the design. I laminate mine. Either way, we can use these prayer and blessing cards for Rosh Hashanah for years to come.
These Rosh Hashanah blessings and prayer cards are available for immediate download and come in a high quality (300 dpi) PDF file for ease of printing. When you download the file you will receive one PDF that contains two Rosh Hashanah blessings and prayer cards.
How to make the cards
These printable Rosh Hashanah blessings and prayer are simple to put together.
You need:
- A4 white card stock (or another paper of your choice)
- scissors
- Black and white or color printer (a home printer works fine for these and going to your local print shop is also a good option)
You can make these alone and also enlist your children to help.
I hope you enjoy using these blessing cards for Rosh Hashanah.
If you like these, you might also enjoy these resources
Passover-at-a-glance cheat sheets
Your turn: Once you download these and print them for your Rosh Hashanah, take a photo and post it on Facebook or Instagram and remember to tag #jewishfoodhero.
Chag Sameach.