Become Beautiful

The Shofar Helps Us Become Beautiful

The Hebrew word for “beautiful,” shafra, is related to “shofar.” When Moses ascended Mt. Sinai during Elul, the Jews in the desert blew the shofar to remind themselves that in order to receive the Second Tablets of the Covenant they would have to beautify themselves before God.

The shofar inspires us to think, speak and act in ways that make us more beautiful to God.

By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y

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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: ...

PRAYER TOOLS: FROM NEFESH TO NESHAMA

The ability to transcend the desire of the Nefesh into the reality of the Neshama by way of the Ruach (clear articulation) is in fact the process that allows us to glimpse through God’s “mirror”. But more than that… When, for instance, I go from “I want to cope well” to picturing myself at my best, I have aligned the mirrors as in “K’mayim HaPanim L’Panim”; it’s not two different mirrors, it becomes one. As the Baal Shem Tov describes; the closer one gets to our reflection in the water, the less of a reflection it becomes, to the point where it becomes as one. By training oneself to articulate and bridge the gap between Nefesh and Neshama, it is this unity that we seek to achieve. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y

Partners In Prayer - Siddur

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