Last weekend, I had the good fortune of spending Shabbat with our always sold out Sinai Temple Religious School Shabbaton. Before we took out the Torah, a young student read a prayer she composed.

Thank you, God, for giving us the privilege of spending this Shabbat at Camp Ramah with such amazing people, family, and friends.

Help us to reach our goals that we aspire to and always make the right decisions in our lives.

Bless us with good health, happiness, and contentment with the blessings we have.

God, bless us with the serenity to accept the things we cannot change. The strength to change the things we can and the wisdom to know the difference.

There are two types of prayer: Keva, the fixed words of our liturgy, and kavana, the words from our heart.

This prayer consists of both. For the last two weeks, we learned the exquisite details of how to build the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. This week, we will begin reading the book of Vayikra, also called Torah Kohanim, which details the holiness code; now that we have built our buildings, we must fill them with sacred acts.

As we continue our story as a people, may we have the words of this young Sinai student in our hearts, creating a holy community.