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It has been 11 years since Rabbi Janet Marder first offered her Yom Kippur blessing for the non-Jews in her synagogue, Congregation Beth Am of Los Altos Hills.

Rabbi Janet Marder

“The reaction to the blessing that followed — an outpouring of emotion and gratitude — surprised Marder,” reports Religion News Service.

News spread, and the blessing became a mainstay at many Reform congregations that wished to honor non-Jewish spouses on the most important day of the Jewish year.

“I hope that you will not be embarrassed or upset that I am singling you out in this way. The last thing I want is to make you feel uncomfortable. What I do want is to tell you how much you matter to our congregation, and how very grateful we are for what you have done,” Marder said in introducing the blessing.

Here, in part, is the blessing:

“You are the moms and dads who drive the Hebrew school carpool and bring the refreshments to Shabbaton. You help explain to your kids why it’s important to get up on Sunday morning and to learn to be a Jew. You take classes and read Jewish books to deepen your own understanding, so you can help to make a Jewish home. You learn to make kugel and latkes; you try to like gefilte fish; you learn to put on a Seder; you learn to put up a Sukkah. You join your spouse at the Shabbat table – maybe you even set that Shabbat table and make it beautiful.

“You come to services, even when it feels strange and confusing at first. You hum along to those Hebrew songs, and some of you even learn to read that difficult language. You stand on the bima and pass the Torah to your children on the day of their Bar or Bat Mitzvah, and tell them how proud you are and how much you love them, and how glad you are to see them grow into young Jewish men and women.”

Read the rest of the blessing at urj.org.