Partners In Prayer - Siddur

There are two types of people who serve God. One serves God with great intensity, but remains by himself and does not attempt to bring others to serve the Creator. Such a person feels that it is enough if he himself worships God.   There is another type of person, however, who serves God, but also works to bring others to serve Him. Such a person emulates Abraham, who introduced people to believe in God. We find in the writings of the Ari that Noah was punished because he did not try to correct the people of his generation. He was therefore reborn as Moses, and it was for this reason that Moses constantly worked to correct all Israel (Shaar HaPesukim, Bereishit 6). Our sages speak of one who is “Good to heaven and good to people (Kiddushin 40a).” This refers to the person who serves God, but who also tries to bring the irreligious to serve Him. He is “good to heaven,” because he serves God, but he is also, “good to people,” because he brings them to serve the Creator. Noah, however...

Our sages teach us, “On the Red Sea, God appeared to them like a young boy, while at Sinai, He appeared like an old man.” At first thought, this is extremely difficult to understand, since it is written, “You have not seen   any image (To see Deuteronomy 4:15).” We can explain this with an example. When a parent loves his child, this great love causes the child’s image to be engraved on the parent’s mind. It is therefore as if the child were actually standing in the presence of the parent. When the child is young, he exists in his parent’s mind in the image of a small child. Later, when he grows, the image in the parent’s thoughts is that of an older person.   It is known that, “Israel rose first in thought.” This means that they are constantly engraved in the Supernal Thought, just as a child is in its parent’s mind. When a child acts properly and does what its parent wishes, this is the image that is engraved in its parent’s thoughts. The same is true when the child goes aga...