​The Seven Blessings (Sheva Brachot) are a beautiful and meaningful part of the Jewish wedding ceremony. Traditionally chanted in Hebrew, these blessings celebrate love, joy, creation, and community. Many couples today choose to personalize this ritual in ways that reflect their values, relationships, and the diversity of their communities.

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Here are some ways couples have chosen to incorporate the Sheva Brachot into their ceremony:

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• Traditional Hebrew & English: The blessings are recited in Hebrew and read in English by the officiant or loved ones.

• Honoring Guests: Seven friends or family members each recite one blessing, either from the traditional text or an alternative interpretation.

• Creative Blessings: Some couples invite guests to write their own blessings based on the themes of the originals—love, companionship, gratitude, joy, and community.

• Community Involvement: All guests are invited to read the blessings aloud from a printed program or to join in a call-and-response format.

• Inclusive Language: There are many beautiful English versions of the Sheva Brachot that use gender-neutral or feminine God-language, or more poetic, non-theistic interpretations.

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The most important part of this ritual is that it’s done in the presence of community—bringing in the voices of those who love and support you.

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What are the blessings about?

 

The First Blessing is “Kiddush”–sanctification of God’s name over the wine.

The Second and Third Blessings celebrate the theme of creation in a sequence that builds to the blessing of marriage.

The Fourth Blessing is a challenge to fulfill the potential for creativity, blessing, and peace.

The Fifth Blessing affirms that the couple’s marriage is made up of both passion and friendship.

The Sixth Blessing blesses the couple separately. Their relationship as beloved companions requires that each be able to stand alone even as they come together, bringing individual gifts to the marriage.

The Seventh Blessing brings the couple to rejoice together, united in gladness, surrounded by 10 shades of joy and a chorus of jubilant voices.

 

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The traditional English translation of the blessings with Hebrew transliteration:

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1. Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.
   Phonetic Hebrew transliteration: Baruch Atah AdonaiEloheinu Melech Ha-Olam, boreh p’ri ha-gafen.

2. Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Ruler of the universe, Who has created everything for your glory.
   Phonetic Hebrew transliteration: Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha-Olam, she-hakol barah lichvodo.

3. Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Ruler of the universe, Creator of Human Beings.
   Phonetic Hebrew transliteration: Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha-Olam, yotzer ha-adam.

4. Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Ruler of the universe, Who has fashioned human beings in your image, according to your likeness and has fashioned from it a lasting mold. Blessed are You Adonai, Creator of Human Beings.
   Phonetic Hebrew transliteration: Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha-Olam, asher yatzar et ha-adam betzalmo, b’tzelem dmut tavnito, vehitkon lo mimenu binyan adei ad. Baruch Atah Adonai yotzer ha-adam.

5. Bring intense joy and exultation through the ingathering of Her children (Jerusalem). Blessed are You, Adonai, are the One who gladdens Zion (Israel) through Her children’s return.
   Phonetic Hebrew transliteration: Sos tasis v’tagel ha-akarah, b’kibbutz bane’ha letocha b’simchaa. Baruch Atah Adonai, mesame’ach tzion b’vaneha.

6. Gladden the beloved companions as You gladdened Your creatures in the garden of Eden. Blessed are You, Adonai, Who gladdens this couple.
   Phonetic Hebrew transliteration: Sameach te-samach re’im ahuvim, k’samechacha yetzircha b’Gan Eden mi-kedem. Baruch Atah Adonai,mesame’ach chatan v’kalah.

7. Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Ruler of the universe, Who created joy and gladness, loving couples, mirth, glad song, pleasure, delight, love, loving communities, peace, and companionship. Adonai, our God, let there soon be heard in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the loving couple, the sound of the their jubilance from their canopies and of the youths from their song-filled feasts. Blessed are You Who causes the couple to rejoice, one with the other.
   Phonetic Hebrew transliteration: Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha-Olam, asher barah sasson v’simcha, chatan v’kalah, gila rina, ditza v’chedva, ahava v’achava, v’shalom v’re’ut. Me-hera Adonai Eloheinu yishama b’arei yehudah u’vchutzot yerushalayim, kol sasson v’eKol simcha, kol chatan v’ekol kalah, kol mitzhalot chatanim me-chupatam, u’nearim mimishte neginatam. Baruch Atah Adonai mesame’ach chatan im hakalah

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Alternative translations and interpretations:

 

author unknown: 

1.  Blessed are you, God, who created life.

2.  Blessed are you, God, who created loving people.
3.  Blessed are you, God, who unites loving couples.
4.  Bless these two who stand before you as you blessed the first couple in the Garden of Eden.
5.  Blessed are you, God, who grants the joy of marriage.
6.  May we all see the day when the world will echo with the sounds of feasting and singing. Praised is love, blessed be this union.

7.  This cup of wine is symbolic of the cup of life. As you share this cup of wine, you promise to share all that the future may bring. As you drink from this cup, so may you draw contentment, comfort and happiness from your own cup of life. May you find life’s joys heightened, its bitterness sweetened, and all things hallowed by true respect, companionship and love.

 

 

1.  May you be generous and giving with each other.
2.  May your sense of humor and playful spirit always continue to enliven your relationship.
3.  May you always respect the diversity of humankind.
4.  May you act with compassion to those less fortunate and with responsibility to the communities of which you are a part.
5.  May you appreciate and complement each other’s differences.
6.  May you always share yourselves openly with your friends and family.
7.  May your home be a haven of blessing and peace.

 

 

New translation by Gilah Langner

At celebrations after the wedding ceremony, the first blessing is recited last.

1. Blessed are you, God, who brings forth fruit from the vine.

2. Blessed are you, God who shapes the universe. All things created speak of your glory.

3. Blessed are you, Holy One, who fashions each person.

4. We bless you, God, for forming each person in your image. You have planted within us a vision of you and given us the means that we may flourish through time. Blessed are you, Creator of humanity.

5. May Israel, once bereft of her children, now delight as they gather together in joy. Blessed are you, God, who lets Zion rejoice with her children.

6. Let these loving friends taste of the bliss you gave to the first man and woman in the Garden of Eden in the days of old. Blessed are you, the Presence who dwells with bride and groom in delight.

Blessed are You, who lights the world with happiness and contentment, love and companionship, peace and friendship, bridegroom and bride. Let the mountains of Israel dance! Let the gates of Jerusalem ring with the sounds of joy, song, merriment, and delight — the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the happy shouts of their friends and companions. We bless you, God, who brings bride and groom together to rejoice in each other.

 

The Seven Blessings Adapted from Deena Metzger

A translation by Rabbi Joshua Bolton

1. May the life you share together be as sweet as this wine you drink today. Blessed is the Source of Life, who created the fruit of the vine.

2. May your love for one another always be a source of inspiration and happiness. Blessed is the Source of Joy, who creates a wonderful, brilliant world.

3. May your journey together be blessed with generosity and forgiveness. May you enable each other to fulfill your dreams, and may you be committed to the paths of courage and hope. Blessed is the Source of Generosity who created such good, remarkable people…you two!

4. Wherever you travel, and wherever life takes you, may the love of your family and friends always echo in your hearts…even across great distances and times. Blessed is the Source of Love who supports the edifice of love.

5. With the strength of your relationship, may you help transform the world in big ways and small ways. May your love for each other be a source of warmth and inspiration for your community. Blessed is the Source of Healing who brings wellbeing to the world through Her children.

6. May you always find a refuge tucked within your love – a place to hide out, and a place to reflect. Blessed is the Source of Safety, who brings joy to the couple.

7. Blessed is the Source of Life, who creates wonder, pleasure, song, and delight! May this couple be filled with gladness, and rejoicing, love, harmony, and companionship. And may they be blessed with lots and lots of peace! Blessed is the Source of Life, who is the Source of Peace.

 

Humanist Sheva Berachot by Matt Lowe

1. We are blessed by the fruit of the vine, by which we mark and share our joy together.

2. Glorious is each thing, for “all things are beautiful in their time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

3. We are blessed by the serendipitous creativity of evolution that produced humans among an almost-infinite variety of creatures.

4. We are blessed by the generational chain of human life, by which we receive and pass on our life and our values. We are blessed by the serendipitous creativity of evolution that produced humans among an almost-infinite variety of creatures.

5. May humanity rejoice in its work to make the world safer for all children. We are blessed by the work that transforms the world and expresses our hope for future generations.

6. Let us gladden the loving couple, so they may enjoy gladness like the legendary gladness of paradise. Praised be the ones who gladden the loving partners.*

7. Praised be those who increase joy and gladness, loving partners, exultation, song, pleasure and delight, love and great-love compassion, peace and friendship. May we work and hope for the day when, all over the world, all people regardless of religion, race, class, gender and orientation will hear the voices of joy and gladness, voices of loving partners, the jubilant voices of those joined together in love, the voices of young people feasting and singing. Praised be the ones who cause loving partners to be glad together.*

*#6-7 Written by Rabbi David Gruber with edits by Matt Lowe

 

 

Have 7 Friends offer 7 Blessings based on A Creative Explanation of the themes of the 7 blessings

• The First Blessing is “Kiddush”–sanctification of God’s name over the wine.

• The Second and Third Blessings celebrate the theme of creation in a sequence that build to the blessing of marriage.

• The Fourth Blessing is a challenge to fulfill the potential for creativity, blessing, and peace.

• The Fifth Blessing affirms that the couple’s marriage is made up of both passion and friendship.

• The Sixth Blessing blesses the couple separately. Their relationship as beloved companions requires that each be able to stand alone even as they come together, bringing individual gifts to the marriage.

• The Seventh Blessing brings the couple to rejoice together, united in gladness, surrounded by 10 shades of joy and a chorus of jubilant voices.

 

Multiple Authors

1. 1. Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement…to get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed. – Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

2. Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new. -Ursula LeGuin

3. Listen. To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know. -Barbara Kingsolver

4. Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction. -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

5. In the flush of love’s light

we dare to be brave

And suddenly we see

that love costs all we are

and will ever be.

Yet it is only love

which sets us free -Maya Angelou

   6. Let the vow of this day keep itself wildly and wholly

Spoken and silent, surprise you inside your ears

Sleeping and waking, unfold itself inside your eyes

Let its fierceness and tenderness hold you

Let its vastness be undisguised in all your days -Jane Hirshfield

   7. Blessed be joy and gladness, lover and beloved, mirth, glad song, pleasure, delight, love, celebration, friendship, peace, and companionship. Let us soon hear in the streets of the cities and paths of the fields the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the lover and the voice of the beloved, the cheers of the couple from their canopy and of the youths from their song-filled feasts. Blessed is the gladness of the couple, rejoicing together -Translation of traditional 7th blessing

 

Or Have 7 Friends offer 7 Blessings on themes/values of your choosing. They may use quotes, poems, verses of write their own.

1. Blessed is the one who created the fruit of the vine. Bless the two of you who come out of long traditions of struggling to find out what it is to be human. May you be full of the wine of life. May the life force and the knowledge of the human heart always be with you.

2. Blessed is the One. All creation mirrors your splendor and reflects your radiance. Bless the two of you. May the two of you know that all beauty comes from the Great Heart, and may you always live in its radiance.

3. Blessed is the one who created human beings. Bless the two of you. May you know it all–joy and struggle, beauty and sorrow, sweat, tears, solitude, companionship, laughter and ecstasy. May your marriage be strong enough to support you to experience whatever you must as you come to know yourselves and each other and to discover the entire range of your humanity in the process of soul making.

4. Blessed is the one who created Woman and Man in the divine image, so we may live, love and perpetuate life. Bless the two of you. May you delight in the wonder and impossibility of the fact that you are so similar and so different–may the difficulty and enormous pleasure of being a man and woman continually fascinate and engage you and be the source of your bonding.

5. Blessed is the one who brings people together and unites the divided. In joy we have come to witness this marriage of many cultures. It is said that everyone gets married at a wedding. Bless the two of you who bring us together through your union today.

6. Blessed is the one who rejoices that the love between this woman and this man is as the very first love in the Garden. Bless the two of you who recreate the world for us and for yourselves. May your love be as old and as new as the first love, and may you also bring new life, in all its forms, into the world.

7. Blessed is the creation of joy and celebration, lover and beloved, gladness and jubilation, pleasure and delight, love and solidarity, friendship and peace. Soon may we hear in the streets of the city and the paths of the fields the voice of joy, the voice of gladness, the voice of lover, the voice of beloved, the triumphant voice of lovers from the canopy and the voice of youths from their feasts of song. Blessed is the joy of lovers, one with another.

    

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