Partners In Prayer - Siddur

This spiritual attainment of the Tzaddik comes about only through the people of Israel. When Jews, God forbid, indulge in the secular wisdom of the nations, then the tzaddik falls from his level of perception, and his vision   is covered and obscured. But when Jews leave the wisdom of the nations, then the tzaddik is, “As a bridegroom coming out of his chamber ( Psalms   19:6),” the tzaddik emerges from his concealment which he had experienced before this.  Then, “he rejoices as a strong man to run his course,” for the tzaddik is like a hero in doing and obeying the word of God; indeed, it requires strength to run this course, which one must traverse at the time that Israel is in a state of rebuke, and upon which course one can now run with great speed (Likkutei Moharan I, 49:7).   The theme of the Commandments in  Hachodesh  is to demand of us the great strength necessary, especially at the time when Israel was in a state of rebuke.  The people who fu...

The 1st of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Emanuel Chai (ben Avraham) Riki [or Reiki] (1688-1743). Kabbalist; author of Mishnas Chassidim. He received semicha from Rav Chaim Abulafia in Tzefas. He is buried in Zento, Italy.   He also wrote a commentary on Tehillim entitled Chozeh Tzion, and Yosher Leivav.   “Before the mountains were born and You had not yet fashioned the earth and the inhabited land, and from the remotest past and to the most distant future, You are God (Psalms 90:2).”  “Before the mountains were born,” refers to the Patriarchs who are referred to as “mountains,” as taught by the sages on the verse, “Leaps over the mountains (Song of Songs 2).” Before the patriarchs were born no one recognized Your Lordship in the world. It was Abraham the first of the patriarchs who recognized God as Lord and called out God’s Presence beforer all the people of the world. It was not only before the patriarchs were born, but even before, “You had not yet fashioned the earth ...

2 Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Moshe (ben Yehuda) Schwab (1918-1979). Born in Frankfurt-am-Mein, he was the younger brother of Rav Shimon and Rav Mordechai. He was sent to learn in Kaminetz under Rav Baruch Ber Leibowitz   and in Baronovich under Rav Elchonon Wasserman. In 1938, he moved to England and accepted a position at the Kollel in Gateshead. In 1942, he married Rochel Baddiel, daughter of Rav Dovid Baddiel, one of the founding members of the Gateshead kehilla. In 1946, he joined the  Yeshiva as mashgiach and became very close to Rav Dessler. He authored Ma’archei  Lev on the Yomim Tovim. “To relate Your kindness in the dawn, and Your faith in the nights.” Morning, with its light and promise of hope, is a period of Chesed.  The night, when all is dark and Chesed is not obvious, is a time when we rely on faith. Our main job is at night; in this world, which is as night compared to the light of the World to Come. Our job in this world is to use our bodies, our p...

  “God will have reigned, He will have donned grandeur.” When a person accepts the Yoke of Heaven to the point of being willing to give his entire spirtual being to God; he creates a Holy Garment so to speak, in which God robes Himself as He sits on His Throne.   If you take the first letter of each Hebrew word of, “Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad,” “Shin” = 300, “Yud” = 10, “Yud” = 10, “Aleph” = 1, “Yud” = 10, “Aleph” = 1, the total is 332, which is the gematria of “Lavesh”: “Lamed” = 30, “Vet” = 2, and “Shin” = 300.  This is to remind us that if we recite the Shema with proper Kavanah to accept the Yoke of Heaven and to love God with our entire Soul, we create a “Levush,” a garment for God. Divrei Shmuel – Rabbi Shmuel Weinberg of Slonim Psalm of the Day – Friday:  We enter Shabbat having transformed all our actions into Royal Garments for God. Kabbalat Shabbat : Our Shabbat clothes reflect the Beautiful Garments we made for God with our acceptance of S...