Partners In Prayer - Siddur

The main purpose of creation was that God wanted to do good to all His handiwork , and to satisfy the desires of each and every person .  This was to take place in a specific manner. When the desire is “aroused from below,”   and God’s people desire Him, then the Supernal Desire is also aroused to do good and gave to His people.   When something is not actually needed by the world, God’s sustenance is not given unless there is someone prepared to accept it. When there is preparation on the part of the recipient, the Beneficent Desire is aroused to do good. The entire purpose of creation was for the sake of the Torah. Our sages therefore say, “In the beginning, for the sake of the Torah, which is called a beginning (Bereishit Rabbah 1:4).” The Torah was not given to a earlier generations, however, since there was no generation that had both the preparation and the desire to accept the Torah as did the Generation of the Exodus. This generation declared, “All that God says,...

The 24th of Shevat is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Shaul Halevi Mortorah (Mortira), Av Beis Din of Amsterdam, author of Giva t  Shaul (1660).  It is the nature of all created beings to strive to continue to live, as we see when King Solomon  insists that a lazy person learn about work from an ant, and when King David speaks of the bird searching for a home and security.   However, more than all other living things, it is man who searches for eternal life because he has an intellect. He therefore find all sorts of means to extend his life, cures, many clothes, large homes, all sorts of things that will protect him from death and bring him a longer life. Even the righteous fear death. This can be because the righteous person worries for his children and his grandchildren and how they will continue to live after he dies .  This can be because the righteous person wants to live as long as possible and increase his merit in the World to Come .   This can also be becaus...

The Sages taught that when one does Teshuva from fear, he could transform his deliberate sins into mistakes, which demand a lower level of forgiveness. However, when one returns to God in love and a desire to be close and repair any damage to the relationship, he actually transforms his deliberate sins into acts of merit. (Yoma 86b). The Half Shekel is explained as “Kofer Nafsho”- redemption of the soul. It can be used as an expression of a desire to restore the full relationship between the soul and its source – God. When someone offers his Half Shekel with the intention to restore the full power of the relationship with God, he can achieve Teshuva Mei Ahavah – Returning in Love – and thereby alter his sins into merits. (Kehillat Yaakov, Shekalim 2) This Mitzvah must be fulfilled with love and excitement that he has an opportunity to fully restore his relationship with God.   This is the intention the person must have when giving his Half Shekel on Purim. A person should use Shabb...

    Learn Torah with me,  says Hashem, the way you love a woman. That's the way!  And you can do anything you want!  You can pray for anything you want!  You can ask for anything.  You can bring rain , you can bring Parnassa (Sustenance) , you can bring healing as per the Tanei D'vei Eliyahu Rabba (18:2).* By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y * וכיון שלומד את התורה And since this person described learns Torah with the same love you have for a spouse. הרי זה מביא טובה לעולם ויכול הוא לבקש רחמים ולהתפלל לפני הקב"ה This kind of love brings good to the world and he is able to seek compassion, and mercy in his prayers before Hakadosh Baruch Hu (The Holy One Blessed be He)!  ויפקפק את הרקיע  And he can cause the Heavens to open up.  ויביא מטר לעולם And bring forth Parnassa (sustenance) to the world.   Tanei D'vei Eliyahu Rabba (18:2)