Partners In Prayer - Siddur

Written by Machberes Avodas Hashem The Chafetz Chaim taught: "Every man enters this world with a certain endowment. It behooves him to make use of his endowment, for he will be held accountable regarding it (Michtevei haRav Chafetz Chaim, page 51)." "Because you did not serve God, your Lord, amid gladness and goodness of heart, when everything was abundant (Deuteronomy 28:47)." The Torah reminds us that one of the primary reasons for the exile and the suffering of the diaspora is that we do not properly appreciate our abundance and endowments. It is appropriate during the period of the Three Weeks to pay special attention to all of the abundance in our lives, especially focusing on our endowments, the gifts God has given us to achieve our potential. Make a list of your special talents and gifts and use that list when reciting the Modim - Thank You prayer in the Amidah.

Bareich Aleinu: Abundance Written by: Machberes Avodas Hashem The Ropshitzer was told that his master, the Rimanover, blessed a man, and that the man was becoming richer every day. He inquired why this man deserved to receive a blessing of such magnitude. The Rimanover replied, "I merely blessed him that he might enjoy a comfortable living. But the man gives away so much to charity that his fortune must be increased abundantly by Heaven, so that he may have sufficient for his personal comforts." (Ohel Naftali, page 35) "Bless this year for us, God, our Lord, and all its types of produce for good. Grant blessing on the face of the earth, and from its goodness satisfy us, blessing our year as the best of years." I often wonder how we can recite this prayer on Tisha B’Av, when Jerusalem was destroyed, we were sent into exile, and we had lost everything. Perhaps if we can say that we use the little we have to give to others, which is something that we have witnessed dur...

The Chatam Sofer said," We read in Pirkei Avot (3:21),' Where there is no knowledge there is no understanding.' Knowledge is acquired from a teacher, understanding from a person's own mind. Understanding, however, must be based upon knowledge to be correct. Very seldom are original ideas correct unless the thinker has learned the rules of logic and the laws of derivation formulated by experienced sages." (Chut ha-Meshulash) In the fourth blessing of the Amidah, when we pray for knowledge and understanding, we should insert a prayer for the part of Redemption that will restore our teachers of knowledge so that we will be able to fully use our understanding. By Machberes Avodas Hashem

In Tanna d'Bei Eliyahu Zuta 2, God's qualities are enumerated. One quality is satisfaction with His lot. We are taught that Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin asked his rebbi, the Vilna Gaon the meaning of this statement. The Gaon replied, "The statement means that God is satisfied with His people, Israel, no matter in what state He finds them. God still loves us, even though our state of holiness is far below that of our fathers." (Michtevei haRav Chafetz Chaim, page 47) The blessing immediately before the Shema, both in the morning and evening, declare God's love for us: "Who chooses His people Israel with love," and "Who loves His nation Israel." It is at this point when we declare God's love for lsrael, just before He demands, in the Shema, that we love Him, when we can say to God, "We have been taught that Your love for us is expressed in Your being satisfied with our state of holiness no matter how lacking we may be. We therefore request th...