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...

The 16th of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Pinchas Menachem (ben Avraham Mordechai) Alter, the Pnei Menachem of Ger (1926-1996). The fifth son of the Imrei Emes, Rav Pinchas   was born in the resort town of Palinitz, Poland when his father was 60 years old. Along with his father and other family members, he escaped to Erezt Yisrael during World War II. In 1946, he married his cousin, and two years later, his father passed away. Three of the Imrei Emes’ sons became Rebbe of Ger: Rav Yisrael (the Beis Yisrael, nifter 1977), Rav Simcha Bunim (the Lev Simcha, nifter 1992), and Rav Pinchas Menachem (the Pnei Menachem). However, Rav Pinchas Menachem was Rosh Yeshiva of Sefas Emes of Ger in Yerushalayim from the time he was 30, and was head of Agudas Yisrael after the petria of Rav Yitzchak Meir Levine. The Talmud teaches that God gives wisdom to those who are wise because the gift of wisdom would be misused if granted to one without an appreciation of wisdom. Wisdom must “land” in the righ...

The 19th of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Dovid (ben Tzvi Elimelech) of Dinov (1804-1874). Rav Dovid was the author of Tzemach Dovid and Divrei Dovid, and the son of the Bnei Yissoschar. He succeeded his father as Rebbe   in Dinov following the latter’s petira in 1841.   “This is the decree of the Torah, which God has commanded, saying, ‘ Speak to the Children of Israel, and they shall take to you a completely red cow’ (Numbers 19:2).” Since the secrets of the Red Cow are revealed only to you, therefore, “they shall take to you,” meaning, they should attach to you and trust in what you know and understand. (Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov; Iggra d’Kallah) Machberes Avodas Hashem : I’ve used this approach, of attaching myself to the wisdom of the teacher, when studying with my father zt”l, and, ybcl”c, my Rebbi shlit”a; I understand that they have access to wisdom far beyond mine, and attach to that wisdom so that I may tast of that higher wisdom. I also use this approach on ...

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...

The 21st of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of the Noam Elimelech: “This is the decree of the Torah, which God has commanded, saying, ‘ Speak to the Children of Israel, and they shall take to you a completely red cow’ (Numbers 19:2).”   It is incumbent on the righteous leaders of the generation, those who represent Moses in each generation, to transform the Attribute of Judgment, represented by the color, red, and make it whole, meaning, healed and healing for Israel. (Noam Elimelech) By:  Rabbi Weinberg, n''y 

The 23rd of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of the Divrei Binah of Bialah: “This is the decree of the Torah, which God has commanded (Numbers 19:2).”   Chukat , decree, but also used to describe a person’s portion of sustenance, is the Torah;   each of us must find our sustenance in and from the Torah. (Divrei Binah; Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov of Bialah)   “Help me find my portion of Torah, and help me derive my spiritual sustenance from my Torah study.” I also add this in the  Shabbat Prayer : in each Amidah when I say, “Give us our portion in Torah,”: We have our portion of Torah sustenance just as we have our portion of physical sustenance. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y

  “For the conductor, on the   Ayelet ha-Shachar .” “ Lamnatze-ach ,” also means, “To the victory,” of Esther and Mordechai over Haman, that led to a new covenant with Torah, which is “ Emet ,” truth, 441 in Gematria, as is “ Ayelet. ”   The “ Ayelet ” also refers to the Oral Law, which is the most powerful expression of the Shechina, also called “ Ayelet .” Esther and Mordechai did not celebrate the victory as their own, but as an opportunity to conquer more of this world, with the light of the Oral Law.  Each time we apply the Oral Law and allow Her light to be expressed in the world, we win a great victory. We often feel that we constantly lose in our battle with our Yetzer Harah; when we sing this Psalm of Esther, we should celebrate our victories, and pray that we are as victorious as Esther and Mordechai. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y