Partners In Prayer - Siddur

  The Shofar Helps Us Battle without Fear               Elul forces us to think ahead to the coming year, and we may fear what lies ahead, visualizing a constant battle. However, “we are prohibited from panicking and retreating during battle” ( Mishneh Torah : Hilchot Melachim Umilchamot ). The Torah demands that we go beyond courage to attain fearlessness. The blasts of the Elul shofar are a call to engage in battle without fear. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg

  Making Requests of God               Before Rosh Hashanah, a person should ask God to help him experience an infinite prayer on Rosh Hashanah, so that when he requests, “Remember us for life,” he will have an expansive awareness of what life is.             And he should also ask God to help him attain the fear of heaven. In particular, he should ask for the fear of heaven described by the Baal Shem Tov, in which a person’s relationship with God is so powerful that he is constantly concerned not to do anything that would damage that relationship. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y

  Our Sincere Prayers Help Us Hear the Message of the Shofar               “And he said to me, ‘Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all of the words that I speak to you’” ( Ezekiel 3:10). “Once you have heard what I say to you, take it to heart so that you will not forget” (Radak).             The best way to prepare to hear the shofar and take its message to heart is to listen carefully to the words of prayer during Elul, discerning its messages, and applying them in our lives. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg

  The Shofar Expresses God’s Friendship for Us               One of the sounds of the shofar is terua , which may be translated as “friendship.” In keeping with this meaning, a verse states, “The friendship [ terua ] of the King is with [the nation of Israel]” ( Numbers 23:21).             When we blow the shofar during Elul, we experience God’s friendship. The shofar represents God calling out to us. It is the way in which He declares, “I love you.”             My rebbe, [?], once said: Imagine two scenarios. In one, as you pass by a window, you hear someone call out, “Help!” In the other, as you pass by a window, you hear a scream.             The second scenario will move you more, because a scream is primal. It expresses a person’s essence. In sp...

  The Shofar Represents Our Dealing with What Is Broken               Sins are called “breaking” (Radak on Psalms 17). Every time a person sins, he breaks something ( Akeidas Yitzchak : Chapter 67, Parshat Shoftim ). In particular, he breaks his relationship with God.             Elul is the time for us to repair or replace the things in our lives that have broken away from God. That is why, during Elul, God gave Moses the second set of Tablets to replace the broken first set . And, the Shelah says, that is why there are a great number of laws discussing whether or not a person can use a shofar that is in some way broken. During Elul, we must deal with the matters in our lives that are broken. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y

  We Blow the Shofar with Positive Expectations               At the time of the splitting of the Red Sea, Miriam “took her drum in her hand, and all the women went forth after her with drums and circle dances” ( Exodus 15:20).             How was it that the women had musical instruments? Rashi explains that, when they saw God’s miracles in Egypt, they expected Him to perform yet more miracles after the Exodus. Therefore, they brought musical instruments along with which to accompany themselves when they would sing His praises in thanksgiving.             The word for “circle dance,” mecholah , is related to the word for “forgiveness,” mechilah . Those who see life through the eyes of positive expectation will be forgiven their misdeeds. As a result, they will be privileged to dance in the world-to-come....

  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

  The Shofar Leaves a Long-Lasting Impression               A verse states, “My people did not hear My voice, and Israel did not desire Me” ( Psalms 81:12). Because the Jews of the Exodus and the following generations did not properly desire God, they did not hear His voice in a way that left a lasting impression. And so immediately afterwards in the wilderness they refused to obey Him, and later on, in the days of the judges and during the reign of the kings, they neglected Him (Radak).             The way we hear the shofar of Elul and Rosh Hashanah is determined by the level of our desire to connect to God. If we desire to be completely attached to the Creator, we will receive a message from the shofar blowing that will make a lasting impression on us. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y

  The Shofar Helps Us Attain Simple Faith               In the verse, “God, your Lord, will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring” ( Deuteronomy 30:6), the acronym of the Hebrew phrase for “your heart and the heart of your offspring” is “Elul.”               The Holy One, blessed is He, searches for the truly righteous person who has achieved greatness through the application of his formidable intellect. God then takes a second look to see whether this person is able to let go of the intellect that successfully took him so far and use only his heart to search for God.             Binah L’Itim : Lecture 12               God uses the shofar of Elul to circumcise our hearts, to cut away everything but the simple faith with ...

  The Shofar Removes the Barriers between Us and God               “God, Lord of Hosts, how long will You smoke [with anger] at the prayers of Your nation?” ( Psalms 80:5). When God is angered, “smoke rises from His nostrils” ( Psalms 18:9) to form a barrier that bars the path of our prayers as they struggle upward (Alshich).             Every morning before shofar blowing during Elul, visualize this smoke blocking your prayers, hovering over you, in the same way that smoke hovered over the burning ruins of Jerusalem and the Temple. Then, as you hear the shofar blast, imagine it blowing away all of the smoke and clearing the way for your prayers to soar.             As you listen to the shofar, implore God, “Please allow the shofar blast and the feelings that it arouses in my heart to clear away all barrie...

Sheasani Kirtzono   Who made me in His Will  I desire a relationship with Hashem, by attaching to His Ratzon (desire). I want a reciprocal relationship, a back and forth of desiring. Pokeach Ivrim   Who opens the eyes of the blind. Open my eyes to this Ratzon (desire) Help me see how this type of  relationship is available to me . Malbish Arumim (Who dresses the naked) Who protects the "Ratzon" in the Relationship  Matir Asurim (Who releasese the Bound) Release anything that is still blocking me from connection of this "Ratzon" Zokef Kifufim Raise me up so I don't lose it (my Ratzon to attach to You) Give me the self-esteem so I can keep attached to this Ratzon.  Roka Haaretz Al Hamayim This "Ratzon" IS my support. It keeps me grounded and connected.  By: Malky Rosenberg

  ♦ Please, God, save us! Please, God, make us successful!             Psalms 118:25               As you recite the first phrase—“Please, God, save us!”—ask God to empower all of your efforts during the coming month to repair the past year and prepare you for Rosh Hashanah.             And as you recite the second phrase—“Please, God, make us successful!”—pray that you will complete the month with a powerful sense of success and enter Rosh Hashanah with joy and confidence (based on a teaching by Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein in Or Yechezkel ). By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg

  ♦ God is with me, I have no fear; what can a man do to me?             Psalms 118:6               The “man” mentioned in this verse represents exile.             In his dream of the ladder, Jacob saw this “man” in the form of an angel that ascended the ladder and seemingly did not come back down ( Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer 35). Jacob was terrified until God assured him, “Behold, I am with you” ( Genesis 28:15).             And the prophet Obadiah quoted God as addressing this man with the words, “Even if you raise your nest like an eagle or place your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there” ( Obadiah 1:4). Rabbi Yitzchak Eizek Chaver states that the verse from Hallel, “God is with me, I have no fear; what can a man do to me?” is ...

  ♦ For His kindness has overwhelmed us, and the truth of God is eternal, halleluyah!             Psalms 117:2               Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibovitz, the rosh yeshiva of Kaminetz, told the following story to my grandfather, Rav Ruderman (may his memory be for a blessing), when my grandfather was a young teenager.             In eighteenth century Lithuania, an aristocrat called Count Valentine Potocki converted to Judaism, in consequence of which he was sentenced to death. As he was awaiting execution, the Vilna Gaon visited him. Avraham ben Avraham (as Count Potocki was now called) was weeping, and the Vilna Gaon expressed surprise at his tears in light of the fact that he had the opportunity to sanctify God’s Name. Avraham ben Avraham replied, “I rejoice over this opportunity. But I am weeping because...

  ♦ May God increase you, you and your children!             Psalms 115:14               Rav Chaim Kanievsky states that this verse is referring to converts to Judaism ( Ta’ama DeKra ).             The Talmud teaches that “the Holy One, blessed be He, exiled Israel among the nations solely in order that proselytes might join them” ( Pesachim 87b). We must live with such sanctity and integrity that we will attract people of all nations to attach themselves to God.             We sing this verse on rosh chodesh Elul, the month of intense love between God and Israel, with a vision that this love will grow so clear that all of the people of the world will desire the same level of relationship with God.  

  ♦ Who turns the rock into a pond of water, the flint into a flowing mountain.             Psalms 114:8               When the Jews in the desert demanded water to drink, God created the miracle of water flowing from a rock that sufficed not only for them but for their animals as well ( Menachot 76b).             As we begin the month of Elul, the month of intense expression of God’s love for us and our love for Him, we celebrate the fact that He cares even for our money and possessions. No detail of our lives escapes His attention and concern.  By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg

  Hallel of Rosh Chodesh Elul               As on every rosh chodesh (new month), on rosh chodesh Elul we recite the psalms that constitute Hallel—this time with a focus on finding themes of Elul in the verses.   ♦ He transforms the barren wife into a glad mother of children, halleluyah!             Psalms 113:9             The Hebrew word for “transforms,” moshivi , is related to the words teshuvah and yeshiva , “being seated,” a term that denotes a stable and changeless state.             Elul, the month of teshuvah , is a period of intense and unchanging love between ourselves and God. As we recite this verse, we celebrate the fact that, despite the distance that may have developed between us and God since last Rosh Hashanah, when ...

  What am I waiting for? I want to hear the   sound of the “big Shofar” as a call to action to my   Neshama.   You created me to “do”, to overcome, to maximize, to grow, to achieve “ Gadlus ”.    I need you to relate to me in my greatness, hence “ Bishofar Gadol”. I can break down the walls using the sounds of the Shofar blowing.   Meaning when I respond to the alert of “ Tika Bishofar Gadol ”   with my action of blowing my Shofar by articulating what it is   I want , then Hashem responds in kind.     I want to articulate my “Want” from a place of greatness, from my highest self.. This hearing and responding with the sounds of the Neshama / Shofar is what I think is a prayer. Prayer allows me to be free!   לחרותינו  Prayer has no limits , as described in this Bracha of the gathering together of all the exiled nation of Israel. So I want to use this Bracha as my way of saying, “ I want to be “ Tefillah ” ( P...