Partners In Prayer - Siddur

The next blessing is the one we recite after going to the bathroom, known as Asher Yatzar. The basic kavanah is, “I honor the body that was designed to protect itself.” This is based on a halacha quoted in the Tur Shulchan Aruch, the son of Rabbeinu Asher, the Rosh. The Tur wonders that if we go to the bathroom and we have a bowel movement, then perhaps  it's not sufficient to just say the blessing of Asher Yatzar because if I had to clean myself, I also have to wash my hands, so perhaps I should also recite a blessing al netilat yadaim . Of course we don’t do this, but there is an appreciation of living, that to do anything in which we pay attention to protecting our bodies is, number one a mitzvah, and number two a way of honoring the body given to us by God, a way of honoring a body designed to protect itself from disease and from poisons. The act itself is a way of honoring our Creator, and this we could do with enhanced awareness. Once we started learning about the COVID virus...

"I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge God (Hosea 2:19-20)." The Abudirham associates the verses above with this blessing: we celebrate the unbreakable bond between God and Israel that is compared to the relationship between a   husband and wife. We raise our hands as if to show that we still carry the betrothal ring given to us at Sinai. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, neiro yair

"So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, ‘May your Lord, Whom you serve continually, rescue you!’ A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed.  Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep. At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your Lord, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?’ Daniel answered, ‘Oh king, live forever! My Lord sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in His sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, oh ...

I am not made to be a slave. Mental and Emotional enslavement show up in all sorts of places for all people. We must pay attention to how Covid and the after effects can cause us to feel enslaved.  The unknown of what is and what will be, the financial damage, all the many ways our lives are being affected - we are not made to become enslaved, we must pay attention to make sure that we are remaining free and empowered! By: Raizel Devorah

I am not made to live without aspiration. It is interesting that Chazal phrased this in the negative. Why not say I am made to live with aspiration?  There is a gentle warning/reminder here. Yes, we are made to live with aspiration, But be warned, life can eat away at your aspiration. Life can wear you down physically, emotionally, mentally.... This is especially prominent during times of major  distress such as the Covid chapter of the world. Make sure that you are living every day in a way that your aspiration is always within your grasp!  By: Raizel Devorah

I  realized, I can sing " Hallelujah ! in a whole new new way! After  I sing all these beautiful  attributes of  Hashem *** I experienced a sense of consolation, I can release the "Me" and allow for so much more.. He offers us the world literally as described by Dovid Hamelech. I cant' even begin to fathom His gifts.!. לא בִגְבוּרַת הַסּוּס יֶחְפָּץ. לא בְשׁוקֵי הָאִישׁ יִרְצֶה: רוצֶה הּ אֶת יְרֵאָיו. אֶת הַמְיַחֲלִים לְחַסְדּו He does not desire the might of horse, nor does He desire the "thigh" of "the man" I don't think He wants me to experience "all the world on MY shoulders".. It is not my job to control every detail..!! I understand this verse as saying ,  Hashem doesn't want this from me.. otherwise I have reduced His heavenly gifts  to the "might of horse", and the "thigh of the man", to basically bones, to "nothing" G-d forbid.  The way I understand it, is that He wants me to be a " Miy...

Rosh Chodesh Av By: Machberes Avodas Hashem   The Kabbalists use different verses to focus on the Name of God during the Mussaf – Additional prayer – on Rosh Chodesh – The New Month. They use the following verse on Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av:  ”Moses and the Cohanim, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying, Be Attentive and Hear O Israel.” (Deuteronomy 27:9) The Ibn Ezra explains that there are two steps, “be attentive”, and “hear”. He applies the steps of this verse to Shema: One must be attentive to what one hears in Shema. How does this reflect God’s attributes? How do we use this to concentrate on God’s Name in our Rosh Chodesh prayer? God speaks to us in layers. We must listen, as the people of Israel did not to the warning of the prophets before the destruction of Jerusalem. We must listen to and hear the messages God sends, even during a month of tragedy; the month of Av. Once we listen and ...