A life of sustenance

We acknowledge that we ate Your Manna and drank Your water from the rock even as we were rebelling against You with the Golden Calf. We disconnected from the Source of our sustenance. Please grant us an Elul in which we are constantly attuned to You as the Source of all our sustenance

By Rabbi Simcha Weinberg

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Pesukei d’Zimrah Baruch Sh’Amar

The Gra (Haggadah: Baruch HaMakom) explains that when we recite the words, “Blessed is He Who spoke, and the world came into being; blessed is He.” We are blessing both the revealed and the hidden. The specific praise of, “Who spoke, and the world came into being,” refers to the world we see and can comprehend. The praise, “Blessed is He,” refers to all that is hidden in the creation, and cannot be described. This idea of “Hidden and Revealed,” refers to the worlds of “Thought and Action.” We referred to what we see as Action, and to what we cannot see, as Thought. This teaches us that when singing this song of praise we must remember that there are two levels to each of the Ten (Explained by the Abudirham as corresponding to the Ten Statements with which the world was created) praises we recite; the Hidden–Thought, and the Revealed–Action. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y

Shekalim 1

Parent and Child: Rabbi Shlomo Kluger (Kehillat Yaakov; Shekalim 1) explains that when the Holy One, Blessed is He, created a person with a body and soul, He gave them as a gift to the person. We belong to ourselves, and God relates to us as independent children. However, when we rebel against God, it is considered as if we have stolen the gift of our lives from the Creator. A thief who cannot repay what he has stolen is sold into slavery to pay his debt. It is impossible for us to repay the Creator for the gift of life, and we are sold, so to speak, into slavery. When we offer the Half Shekel we are paying half the debt, the second half is forgiven by God, Who never completely lets go of the relationship of parent to child. The Half-Shekel is a statement that we are acting in partnership with God, our Father. One must have intention that he is giving his half of the shekel together with God. One should focus on God as a loving parent when giving the Half Shekel. By: Machberes Avod

A Prayer Of The Poor Person

The 26th of Shevat is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Dovid Halevi Segal, author of Turei Zahav (the Taz) (1586-1667), son-in-law of the Bach. Born in Cracow. Unofficial Rabbi of Posen 1619-~1640. Headed famous yeshiva at Ostro from 1643, escaped Cossacks 1648-49 to Lublin, then Moravia. Settled in Lemberg (Lvov). Lost 2 sons to violent deaths in Spring of 1664. Sent his son Yeshaya and son-in-law Aryeh Leib (later to be the Shaagas Aryeh) to investigate Shabsai Tzvi. He also wrote Divrei Dovid on Rashi al HaTorah. “When you lend money to My people, to the poor person who is with you, do not act toward him as a creditor.” (Exodus 22:24) The Talmud rules that if two people, a poor person and a wealthy man, approach you for a loan, you should first lend money to the poor person. While this may seem obvious, there is actually a reason we need this specific instruction: A wealthy man is usually hesitant to ask for a loan, which is not true about a poor person who is more desperate. We may therefore

Partners In Prayer - Siddur

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