Partners In Prayer - Siddur

  Rabbi Nachman once spoke about those who are religious for it while and then fall away. He said that even the short time that they are religious is very dear to God, no matter what happens later.   It is written, “You have heartened Me with one of your eyes (Song of Songs 4:9).” God is speaking to the Jewish people, recalling the time they accepted the Torah. The Midrash asks why the verse says, “with  one  of your eyes.” It answers that the other eye was already on the Golden Calf (Shabbat 88b).  Even when Israel accepted the Torah, they already had plans to stray. Still, the short time they were close to God was very dear to Him. He therefore said, “You have heartened Me with one of your eyes.” [Sichot haRan 123] Many of us hesitate when reciting the blessing of repentance in the Amidah because we wonder how long our repentance will last. It is appropriate to recall the above lesson that even a short period of repentance is very dear to God. By: Rabbi Simcha...

Man’s excellence is to be found in, and achieved by means of, the very thing with which he is blemished. Thus, on the verse, “And they sewed fig leaves together (Genesis 3:7),” the Sages commented, “The very thing which brought   them ruin was the means for setting them right (Sanhedrin 70a).”   Similarly, our Sages state that “on the very day that the Temple was destroyed, the Messiah was born (Yerushalmi Berachot 2:4).” In this same vein they said, “Where in the Torah is the idea of the resurrection of the dead (Sanhedrin 91b)?” This also explains why the Red Heifer cleanses from the impurity caused by death. Our Sages commented, “Let the mother, and cleanse her son’s dirt (Bamidbar Rabbah 19:4).” The Heifer is the mother which gave birth to this; all comes from God; from Him all things emerged. Thus, the Red Heifer is the cleansing of the dirt. (Tzidkat HaTzaddik #70) The heifer, as stated, is the mother.  And in the Kabbalistic doctrine, the third Sefirah, Binah, is t...

“When a person repents, forgiveness is granted both to him and to the whole world (Yoma 86b).” How does one person’s repentance bring about forgiveness for the whole world? This happens because the penitent awakens thoughts   of Teshuvah in the hearts of others.   But not everyone has the capacity to be this one person. Such a person has not yet existed, for that unique person will only be the Messiah, the son of David. His soul must comprise all other souls. Otherwise a person’s thoughts of Teshuvah cannot evoke thoughts of Teshuvah in others who are unrelated to his soul. Moreover, it is necessary for the thought of repentance to affect all aspects of his soul. One who encompasses the entire world possesses the plenitude of powers of the entire world; and if he repents with only one power, he can arouse repentance only within those others who are dependent upon this one power. King David possessed a soul that encompassed all other souls, for he was the “Fourth leg of the Di...