Oter Yisrael B'Tifara

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם. עוטֵר יִשרָאֵל בְּתִפְאָרָה

Blessed are you G-d, King of the universe, who crowns Israel with glory

Thank you Hashem for crowning Israel with glory,
Let's understand this blessing with a story,
There was once a great Rabbi that went on a journey,
To collect money for Charity.

To travel alone no one would dare,
Especially through a desert so bare,
A caravan to join, the Rabbi did find,
But because of Shabbat, he was in a bind.

To the caravan leader, the Rabbi explained his tradition,
To rest on Shabbat, he asked permission,
The leader said that for the right price,
They would all stop for Shabbat and be very nice.

A large sum of money, the Rabbi did pay,
The caravan left that day,
The leader's memory quickly did fade,
He forgot about the promise that he made.

As Shabbat drew near, the Rabbi did fear,
That to keep his promise, the leader didn't care,
When the caravan leader laughed in his face,
In Hashem, his trust, the Rabbi did place.

The Rabbi stood alone in the desert for a minute or two,

When suddenly a lion came roaring into view,

The lion was the Rabbi's Shabbat guest,

To protect the Rabbi, so he could rest.

When Shabbat was done,

Through the desert the lion did run,

The caravan leader was so surprised to see,

The Rabbi sitting on the lion's back so calmly.

The Rabbi's faith in Hashem is not a mystery,

This blessing holds the key,

Hashem crowns Israel with glory,

Hashem gives us a crown of divine energy.

With this crown we have the power,

To believe in Hashem every hour,

When a king wears his crown, he looks his best,

It shows that he is above the rest.

Our spiritual crown does symbolize,

That for Hashem, above logic we can rise,

Our connection to Hashem is above explanation,

This is unique to the Jewish nation.

Our commitment to Hashem is very strong,

Even when things seem to be going wrong,

In order to remember a crown so spiritual,

We wear a head covering that is physical.

A Kippah, Jewish men and boys wear,

Jewish married women can cover their hair,

We wear our headgear like a crown with pride,

Our Jewish identity we will never hide.

Our head coverings remind us that Hashem is above,

We serve Hashem with fear and love,

The other nations wear

 a head covering for protection,

Jewish people wear a head covering

 to show their connection.

Souvenir: crown toy