Partners In Prayer - Siddur

Prayer as Protection. The Mizbayach according to the Pisikta Rabbasi   Os Hay , says that the Mizbeach is the komea, amulet. The Mizbayach is the amulet HaShem gives us to protect us from the spectacular display of our having the riches and the blessings of Torah. So obviously anybody who looks at a Jew who has an opportunity to study HaShem’s Torah looks with envy, right? Don't you notice everyone turning green? All the time, right? I don't know if it's my eyes or it's reality. But everyone is turning green with envy when we live with the sense of the spectacular. of what's available to us when we have Torah! So the Mizbeach  , which for us is Davening because the pasuk  in Hosheah says Unishalma Pharim Sifaseinu . , that since I'm creating a reality for you,  promises the Navi and this that even when you don't have Pharim,  a Mizayach  on which to offer animals , Sifaseinu , our lips will suffice.  So our Davening is considered a komea , an amulet...

  The 29th of Shevat is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Chananya Yom Tov Lipa (ben Yekusiel Yehuda) Teitelbaum (1836-1904), author of Kedushas Yom Tov. Born in Stropkov, Slovakia, to the Yital Lev, who was a grandson of Rav Moshe Teitelbaum,   the Yismach Moshe. Rav Chananya’s primary teachers were Rav Chaim of Sanz and Rav Yitzchak Eizik of Ziditchov. At the age of 28, he became Rav of the small town of Tesh, a position he held for 19 years. After his father’s petira in 1883, he succeeded him in Sighet, Hungary. Rav Chananya had no children with his first wife, a marriage that lasted 14 years. He remained childless for many years with his second wife as well, until Rav Chaim of Sanz gave him a bracha. Indeed, he had two sons, Rav Chaim Tzvi of Sighet, and Rav Yoel, the Rebbe of Satmar. By 1941, 10,144 Jews lived in Sighet, comprising 39% of the town. The town was liquidated via deportation to Auschwitz. But, the community lives on in America and Israel.   “Speak to the Children of ...

  The Chiddushei ha-Rim says in the name of the Ari HaKadosh that each Shabbat we regain the crowns of “Na’aseh V’Nishma,” that we lost after the sin of the Golden Calf.  This means that on Shabbat we have the opportunity   to study Torah with God as our study partner , “ Panim el Panim.,” Face to Face, as did Moshe, and as we did at Revelation !   If so, asks the Chiddushei ha-Rim, why do we not experience this? He answers, either because we do not want it enough, or because we do not feel pain over its absence during the week, or we don’t expect it.   I thought that perhaps that perhaps the Kavanot we find in the Siddur before performing certain mitzvot are not just to prepare our minds to fulfill the midsole with proper intentions, but to allow us to create expectations that the mitzvah will be great; we will experience the most wonderful tefillin of our lives, the most powerful Shabbat, the greatest prayer. I find that Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat immediately...

It is written, “I am God, I do not change (Malachi 3:6).”  With regard to the wicked, however, God does change, but He conceals Himself with many covers. Such individuals are empty and desolate. With respect to such people,   it is written, “I will hide My face from them (Deuteronomy 32:20).” [Tikkunei Zohar 26–71b]   When a person fears God and is aware of His presence, then God never changes . Any changes merely involve the many garments and concealment’s with which God covers Himself. I heard from my master, the Baal Shem Tov, that if a person realizes that God is hidden, He is really not hidden. It is thus written, “All the workers of iniquity shall crumble (Psalms 92:10),” for all barriers of evil crumble before such an individual. It is therefore written, “ I will hide My face (Deuteronomy 31:18).” That is, God will be hidden so that they do not even know that He is there. The important rule is that nothing can separate a person from God when he prays and studies To...

  “Bless God, O my soul! God, my Lord, You are very great, You have donned majesty and splendor, cloaked in light, as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a curtain.” (Psalm 104: 1-2) The sweet singer of Israel, as he poured his soul before God, wanted us to stand with him in the light of Torah, which illuminates the entire world, the light we merit to absorb each time we immerse ourselves in Torah. Hod, or majesty, describes the essence of something or someone.  Hadar, or splendor, refers to that which embellishes and enhances the person, such as beautiful clothing. Torah reflects both the Hod and Hadar, the majesty and splendor of God: It is the expression of God’s essence and Being, and it is also considered a garment, as each story, law, word and letter, actually serves as a layer above a deeper level of truth. Only the person who approaches Torah with an appreciation of its Hod and Hadar, internal and external beauty, can merit standing in its light and absorbi...

  “I will sing to God while I live, I will sing praises to my Lord while I endure.” (Psalms 104:33)  A Torah scholar who has a broad mind able to connect different parts of the Torah, one to the other, must add to the  blessing recited by all who merit to study Torah each day:  “Thank you for placing me among those who sit in the Beit Midrash,” with a special blessing for the gift of his mind and ability to discover new ideas. So too, a person who is blessed with a great awareness of God and can therefore attain a higher level of Awe of God, must express his gratitude each day for this gift. Application: “I will sing to God while I live,” refers to singing our gratitude for our spritual gifts, each person focusing on his special strengths. “I will sing praises to my Lord while I endure,” refers to singing our thanks for our physical gifts. (Rabbi Ephraim Yitzchak of Parmishlan – Mishna Rishona) By:  Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y

  “I will sing to God while I live; I will sing praises to my Lord while I endure.’ (Psalms 104:33)  A person who is blessed with great success in learning must thank God beyond the Blessings of Torah and the Prayers we  recite thanking God for Torah.  He must express his thanks for his “extra” gift in Torah. So too, one who is blessed with extra perception in his spiritual development must find ways to thank God for this gift in a special manner that reflects his extra portion. “I will sing to God while I live,” refers to singing for my extra spiritual gifts.  “I will sing praises to my Lord while I endure,’ refers to extra physical gifts.  Rabbi Ephraim of Parmishlan – Mishna Rishona By:  Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y

Another principle through which a person can know if his prayers have been answered is this. If he is happy after praying, he will be answered. The opposite is true if he is depressed.   Based on this, the Baal Shem Tov, gave the following explanation: The Talmud tells us that, “One day Rav Bruna said the blessing of redemption immediately before the Amidah and did not stop laughing all day (Berachot 9b).” The difficulty here is obvious. It is certain that Rav Bruna said the blessing of redemption before the Amidah every day, since this is the regular order of prayer. Since this is so, what was the special occasion that caused him to rejoice and laugh all day? The Talmud means that he never knew if he had accomplished anything by doing this. On that particular day, however, he said the blessing of redemption before the Amidah, and did not stop laughing all day. He therefore knew that he had accomplished a unification on high, and this is why his heart was happy. (Toledot Yaakov Yos...

  A “Broken heart,” and sadness are not the same at all. Sadness is expressed in anger and irritability, whereas broken-heartedness is like a son cleansing himself before his father, or a child crying and complaining that he has been   set far from his father.   The latter type is dearly beloved by God. It would be best for man to experience such a broken heart all day long. But, because most people would easily be led from a broken heart to sadness, which is exceedingly injurious, one ought to set aside some period during the day to pray with a broken heart, restricting his broken heartedness to that period alone, while the rest of the day is spent in joy. (Likkutei Eitzot, Hitbodedut #23) “I am wearied with my sigh, every night I drench my bed, with my tears I soak my couch (Psalm 6 – Tachanun).” Use the Tachanun as the period set aside for broken heartedness, using your broken heart as part of prayer, transforming it into good, so that you can experience joy. By: ...

The 28th of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Mordechai Kastelanitz   of Lecovitz, the father of the Slonim Chassidic dynasty: “Sorrow is a poor piece of merchandise, both in this world and in the Next; ‘ Shechorah is a  shlechte sechorah .” (Ohr Yesharim, page 10)   A lumber dealer shipped a load of wood down the river and much of it was lost. He expressed his grief to the Rebbe, Rav Mordechai of Lecovitz. “Do you not know that the Divine Presence participates in everyone’s sorrows? Is it then worthy of you to bring sorrow to the Divine Presence for the loss of some lumber? (miDor Dor, page 251). By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y

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,...