Partners In Prayer - Siddur

Prayer as Protection. The Mizbayach according to the Pisikta Rabbasi   Os Hay , says that the Mizbeach is the komea, amulet. The Mizbayach is the amulet HaShem gives us to protect us from the spectacular display of our having the riches and the blessings of Torah. So obviously anybody who looks at a Jew who has an opportunity to study HaShem’s Torah looks with envy, right? Don't you notice everyone turning green? All the time, right? I don't know if it's my eyes or it's reality. But everyone is turning green with envy when we live with the sense of the spectacular. of what's available to us when we have Torah! So the Mizbeach  , which for us is Davening because the pasuk  in Hosheah says Unishalma Pharim Sifaseinu . , that since I'm creating a reality for you,  promises the Navi and this that even when you don't have Pharim,  a Mizayach  on which to offer animals , Sifaseinu , our lips will suffice.  So our Davening is considered a komea , an amulet...

Rabbi Tanchum bar Hanilai said: If the Torah were given cut and dry, a decisor would not have a leg to stand on. But now that the Torah was not given cut and dry, if he declares something unclean, others can be found   who declare analogous things unclean, and if he declares something clean, others can be found who declare analogous things clean.   Rabbi Yanai said: The Torah that God gave to Moshe included forty-nine arguments in favor of declaring a given object clean, and forty-nine arguments in favor of declaring a given object unclean. Moshe said to God: “What should be done?” God said to him, “If those who rule unclean are the majority, it is unclean; if those who rule clean are the majority, it is clean. (Pesikta Rabbati) Hachodesh reminds us that the Torah was not given cut and dry, but fresh and challenging with numerous ways to argue both sides of an issue. Our challenge of HaChodesh is to engage in this exciting and fresh process. Amidah-Restore Our Judges : “Restor...

Although no one after Moshe was his equal, this is only with regard to his ability to perceive things visually and immediately. Any innovations to be made in the future by pupils, including Rabbi Akiva, were revealed to   Moshe as well. However, everything was revealed to him via prophetic vision and not via his intellect.   In the days when the Divine Spirit was present in Israel, all guidance for that time was via prophecy. (Rav Tzaddok haCohen of Lublin, Resisei Laila) All that we were taught by Moshe, which was revealed to him through prophecy, we are to use our power of Chiddush, via our intellect, construct and new ideas and worlds. Morning Blessings-Blessings of Torah:  “Please, God, our Lord, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouth and in the mouth of Your people, the House of Israel. May we and our offspring and our offspring’s offspring…all of us, know Your Name and study Your Torah for its own sake. ” Please sweeten our mouths with the power of ongoing Chi...

Once I was walking on the road and a man encountered me and accosted me in a heretical way. He had knowledge of the Bible, but not of the Mishnah. He said to me, “The Bible was given to us at Sinai, but the Mishnah   was not.”   I said to him, “My son, both the Bible and the Mishnah were spoken by the Almighty. What then is the difference between the Bible and the Mishnah? Here is a parable: A King had two servants whom he dearly loved. He gave each one of them a small amount of wheat and a bundle of flax. What did the wise servant do? He took the flax and wove it into a tablecloth. He took the wheat and made flour out of it, which he then sifted, ground, kneaded, and baked. Then he spread the tablecloth upon the table and placed the bread on it. He left it that way until the king came to visit. The foolish servant did not do anything. Eventually, the king entered his home and said to his servants, ” My sons, bring me what I gave you.” The wise servant brought out the loaves o...

This spiritual attainment of the Tzaddik comes about only through the people of Israel. When Jews, God forbid, indulge in the secular wisdom of the nations, then the tzaddik falls from his level of perception, and his vision   is covered and obscured. But when Jews leave the wisdom of the nations, then the tzaddik is, “As a bridegroom coming out of his chamber ( Psalms   19:6),” the tzaddik emerges from his concealment which he had experienced before this.  Then, “he rejoices as a strong man to run his course,” for the tzaddik is like a hero in doing and obeying the word of God; indeed, it requires strength to run this course, which one must traverse at the time that Israel is in a state of rebuke, and upon which course one can now run with great speed (Likkutei Moharan I, 49:7).   The theme of the Commandments in  Hachodesh  is to demand of us the great strength necessary, especially at the time when Israel was in a state of rebuke.  The people who fu...

The Ari, of blessed memory, speaks of the separation and elevation of the Holy Sparks. These Sparks fell at the time when God “build universes and destroyed them.”   One must separate these Sparks and elevate them step-by-step, from the inanimate to the domain of plants, animals, and humans. These Holy Sparks are in the Husks of Evil, and must be elevated. This is the goal of the observance of the Torah and Commandments (Etz Chaim, Sha’ar MaN U’MaD 2). This is also the concept of eating: It is known that each Spark, even in the inanimate and plant domains, has a complete structure, with 248 limbs and 365 vessels. As long as it is in these lower domains, it is imprisoned. In this state, it cannot stretch out its hands and feet or speak. This is alluded to in the verse of Parshat Hachodesh , “Its head is on its knees, on its insides (Exodus 12:9).” When, while eating with his good thoughts and intentions, a person elevates the Holy Spark from the plant realm to the animal and human, ...