Daily Prayer 32

"Happy is the person who dwells in Your House, we praise You always." (Ashrei Prayer)

This opening verse of the Ashrei Prayer says it all to me. Ashrei can also be translated as 'testify', 'praise' 'bliss', 'acknowledge', etc. I realize that we all dwell in God's House because all the earth is the Lord's ( a title of one of Rabbi Heschel's books). I would like to retranslated this prayer to "Blissful is the person who dwells in Your House, we acknowledge You always." We have the opportunity to be in a state of Bliss because we live in God's world. This means that instead of serving ourselves, we need to be more aware of how we serve God. When the interests of others become our concerns, we serve God. When we live our unique passion and purpose, we serve God. When we stop comparing and competing, we serve God. When we live from our Divine Image/Soul we serve God.

The key for me is to acknowledge this Truth. I find myself forgetting to acknowledge the Blissful state I am in when I remember who's world this is. Acknowledging begets awareness on a deep level in my being. When I acknowledge I am dwelling in God's House, I am immersed in my life, your life and God's life.

1)    What are the ways I acknowledge that I live in God's House?

2)    How do serve God in my everyday living?

3)    What does it take for me to acknowledge the Blissfulness of my life? 

Daily Prayer 30

"A song of thanksgiving... Serve God with joy...Adonai is good, Adonai's kindness endures forever and God's faithfulness is for all time." (Psalm 100)

This Psalm is such a comfort to immerse ourselves in. It is so important to not just say this prayer, we have to be this prayer (and every prayer). The Truths contained in this prayer epitomize Rabbi Heschel's teaching that prayer can make us worthy of being saved to me. We are taught to experience serving God with joy. How do we serve God? By serving others, by living our authentic life script/calling. We can serve with joy whether we are appreciated or scorned. This is definitely a work in progress for me!

The ending of this Psalm teaches us, reminds us that God's Kindness endures forever. This is a Truth that I/we tend to forget easily. Nothing in this prayer says life is going to be smooth or easy, rather these words remind me how I experience life Is my choice. As I write this, I am overwhelmed by Rabbi Heschel's optimism in the face of pessimism. He truly lived this concept and appreciated God's Kindness even when humans weren't kind! The call of this Psalm to/for me is to be faithful from one experience to the next, no matter what the experience is, "good or bad".

1)    What are the ways I serve God/humans/entire world with Joy?

2)    How am I staying faithful to God/my authentic self?

Daily Prayer 27

"Give thanks to God, declare God's Name, sing to God, make music to God,.... Be joyful of heart, all who seek God." (Morning songs)

This prayer reminds us to be grateful and do something. 'Give' is an action verb. It is not enough to just say words of gratitude, according to this prayer, we have to do something. As with many of our Prayers and in our Holy Torah, the actions are outlined for us. Here, we are told to declare/call out God's name. I understand this action to be one of surrender. I have to call out/declare God's name so that I remember who is in charge, and it is not me.

Then we are called upon to sing, make music to God, and be joyful of heart. This action is for us to sing the song of our souls, our unique melody. As I was told by Rabbi Harold Schulweis, Rabbi Heschel used to ask his students:"What is the Niggun (melody) of your soul?". We are praying and looking inside of ourselves to find our music, sing our song and then be joyful that we have a song to sing and we are making music for God and other people around us. What an important message/reminder for us as we begin a new day of living.

1)    What are my actions of gratitude today and each day?

2)    How am I surrendering each day?

3)    What is the melody of my soul that I sing each day and how do I live with a joyful heart?

Daily Prayer 19

"You don't bring us into the hands of sin (of any kind)." (Continuation of 1st prayer after Morning Blessings).

I love this prayer because, when I immerse myself in it, I can set my entire day on the correct path. This part of the prayer teaches me that I always have choice as to my actions. It also reminds me that, even though I will make mistakes, I don't have to fall into the power of these mistakes. I do not have to be my mistakes. Food is a great example of this. I struggle with weight issues and have all my life. When I have a bad meal, this prayer teaches that I don't have to have a bad eating day! Also, this teaches me that God never wants me to fall into the power of error/sin/etc.

Some people ask me if my journey was God's Will, meaning that my actions were, somehow, part of God's plan. I believe this prayer is saying NO! This is an important issue for many people. We like to blame God when things go "wrong" for us. I understand this part of the prayer to be reminding us it is our choice to go further down the path of negativity, not God's plan! God is not 'controlling' us as if we are puppets, rather, God gives us the Mitzvot and The Torah(as said earlier in the prayer) as the roadmap and antidote to our straying from a life of decency and wholeness.

1)    What makes me 'give up' once I have made a mistake and ruin my entire day, week?

2)    When do I fall into the power of the negativity around me.

3)    How can I use prayer, Mitzvot, Torah (a program of recovery) to "do the next right action" even while in the midst of negativity?

Daily Prayer 18

"May it be Your Will, Adonai, our God, to make us accustom to Your Torah and have union with Your Mitzvot..." (Continuation of prayer following Morning Blessings)

I love this prayer. I have a different translation, It is my will, before You, Adonai our God to cause us to stand in Your Torah and have union with Your Mitzvot.  It doesn't make sense that we are calling upon God to use God's Will to have us be standing in Torah all the time, of course God wants us to live Torah, hence we will receive it, again, on Shavuot.

For me, the depth of this prayer is that I have got to make sure that my eyes are open and I am committing to a life rooted in Torah. Even when I err, I am still rooted in Torah because I do T'Shuvah and the only reason I know that I err is because I follow the Code of Torah.

This prayer, for me, is a daily reminder of the Revelation that happened at Mt. Sinai and my (our) response to it. Each day, I get to remember the moment of my accepting Torah as my way of living and stay loyal to this response. It means that I have to connect each day with my Soul and ensure that I am connecting with God and community. I have to remember that Living Torah and Revelation is a personal experience that can only happen in community! I get the opportunity to manifest the Love that God, significant other, family, friends and strangers have so freely given to me and use this Love to help move the world forward, one grain of sand at a time. I do this by living the Principles of justice, love, truth, kindness, righteousness and compassion for and with myself and everyone else.

1)    How am I standing in and guided by Torah in my daily affairs

2)    What are the ways I am deepening my connection to the Mitzvot/principles of Torah, i.e. Justice, love, truth, etc.?

3)    How do I stay loyal to the experience of Revelation from God? 

Daily Prayer 17

Blessed are You, Adonai, who removes sleep from eyes and slumber from my eyelids." (Prayer immediately following the morning Blessings)

This prayer makes no sense coming at this point in the Siddur (prayer book)! We have already been up for a while, we have wrapped ourselves in Talis and Tefillin, said a lot of prayers already, so it makes no logical sense to say this!! Yet, as I realized a long time ago, this prayer is so important. It makes me realize that there is a higher logic and higher truth. While my eyes are open, sometimes I sleep walk through the day. Sometimes my eyelids are so heavy with what I want that I fail to see what is. This is a "wake up" call to my Soul, to remind me that I have to stay alert to the Call of God and the call of my spirit. I acknowledge that without God's help, I will fall asleep during the day and become "Indifferent to the Sublime Wonder of living" as Rabbi Heschel teaches.

1)    What are the ways I go to sleep' during the day?

2)    How am I letting my eyelids get too heavy with my own desires/inauthentic needs?

3)    Where do I go to 'wake up' my soul/spirit? 

Daily Prayer 16

"Blessed are You, Adonai, who gives strength to the weary." (Morning Blessings)

This last of the morning Blessings is wonderful. It reminds/teaches me that living a full life, one of passion, purpose, strength and beauty is also, at times, very hard and I will feel depleted! I have to know that this is true and not feel lacking because I am feeling weary. For me, this is very hard. When I feel weary, my default is to find something wrong with myself or you😉! This prayer tells me that God knows the work is hard, long, impossible to finish and to not fall into despair when I am weary. Rather, I have to know that I must be doing all I can when I feel weary. Also, there is a place/entity I can go to for replenishment. That place is my soul/spirit/inner place of rest and the Entity is God. The challenge is to remember this teaching of our tradition when weariness hits.

1)    How do I not fall into despair when I feel weary?

2)    What do I do when weariness sets in?

3)    Where do I go to replenish my Soul? 

Daily Prayer 14

"Blessed are You, Adonai, who girds Israel with strength." (Morning Blessings)

While this prayer could be seen very narrowly, I realize that Israel is not just a descriptive word for Jewish, it is a state of being. Wrestling with ourselves, others and God is a state of being that signifies courage, growth, love and connection. We pray for strength because it takes great moral, emotional, intellectual and Spiritual strength to continue to wrestle rather than settle/know it all. I constantly need an extra ounce (maybe pounds) of strength to not give in to the baser instincts that I have. I need extra strength to not fold under the pressure of my inauthentic needs/desires. I need extra strength to hold fast to principles in the face of adversity. The strength I pray for is inner strength to not be so explosive that I alienate others. I pray for the inner strength to hear the Call of God, Ayecha, and be able to respond, Hineni, here I am.

1)    What strength do I need today?

2)    How am I seeing everyone as part of Israel, one who wrestles with self, another and God?

3)    How am I using my inner strength well today?

Daily Prayer 13

"Blessed are You, Adonai, who firms each person's footsteps." (Morning Blessings)

Building upon yesterday's Blessing, this one reminds me/teaches me that I don't have to lose my way/path. Each step I take, when I take it with deliberation and Kavanah (appreciating that I am living in a Covenant with God), gets firmer and firmer because God is with me. Realizing this truth and being grateful to and for God, allows me/obligates me to stay more rooted in the path of decency and service that God guides and assists me on. I also love that your steps are made firmer in your way and as you need. So, I never have to compare or compete with you- you are becoming more rooted in your paths and me in mine. What this does for all of us and the world is, as Rabbi Heschel teaches, give us room to sing the Niggun of our Soul. It causes us to be more aware of and engaged in "lending form to a Divine Theme" (from Rabbi Heschel) to all of our actions.

1)    How firmly am I rooted in my current life patterns?

2)    What do I need to do to allow God to firm my footsteps and path?

3)    When do I "lend form to a Divine Theme? 

Daily Prayer 12

"Blessed are You, Adonai, who provides for all my needs" (Morning Blessings)

This is one of the hardest prayers for me to live! While I know that all my needs are provided for, I mix up my wants with my needs. This causes me great fear and I become reactive and controlling. As I immerse myself in this Blessing, I am reminded of Rabbi Heschel's teaching about authentic needs and inauthentic needs. It also reminds me to be grateful for what I have and stay out of the fear of loss. This Blessing reminds me/teaches me that my needs are taken care of, as long as I don't give them away. I give them away through fear and greed. Today, I will remember that my needs are provided for and my obligation is to honor them, use them and be grateful for this love from God.

1)    How am I confusing needs with wants?

2)    When do my fears overcome my gratitudes?

3)    What do I need to do to honor this love from God and others?

Daily Prayer 10

"Blessed are You, Adonai, for giving sight to the blind." (Morning Blessings)

This blessing seems strange on the surface for those of us who have sight. It is easy to just pass it by and not think about the deeper inner meaning of this Prayer. Yet, this prayer has so much meaning and power to me. As I read it this morning, I am struck by my apprehending of God's Grace. I am asking and reminding myself and those around me to stop being oblivious. I am calling to myself to stop seeing only what I want to see. I am calling to God to help me see beneath the surface of my living and allow life's wonders to imbue my spirit. Rabbi Heschel's words: "Indifference to the sublime wonder of living is the root of sin" haunt me when I read this prayer. By giving me sight to all of the things I have been blind to, God is bestowing Grace upon me to live better today and see the Truth (whole story) of my life, your life and the life of the world.

1)    How am Iapprehending and appreciating the Sublime Wonder of living?

2)    What parts of life am I still not seeing?

3)    When am I aware of life's wonders imbuing my spirit and how do I respond to this experience? 

Daily Prayer 9

"Blessed are You, Adonai, for not making me a slave" (Morning Blessings Continued)

Seeing ourselves as not Slaves was a huge challenge for our ancestors in the Wilderness. This was their constant struggle: having left the physical bonds of slavery, how do they leave the mental, emotional and spiritual bonds of slavery. Herein lies the struggle for all of us.

Throughout human history, the call to be enslaved has been strong, both because of the enslaver and because of each of us. There has been, is now and always will be people who want to exert power by enslaving others; be it a dictator, a racist, an anti-semite, a boss, etc. They are not what this prayer is about, as I understand it.

The call of this prayer is to each of us to stop being slaves to our false egos, our "need to be right", status, etc. We can become slaves to Religious Behaviorism as Rabbi Heschel teaches. We can become slaves to other people's opinions, actions, attentions, etc. There are so many ways we can become slaves and this prayer, coming right after we acknowledge our pure souls, reminds us that God doesn't make us slaves! It also teaches us that we have to choose to be slaves and reminds us that we have the choice and the power and the blessing to not be a slave, rather to be free

1)    Who am I enslaving and how do I set them free?

2)    How do I not blame others for my enslavements?

3)    What are the ways I live free and how can I grow them? 

Daily Prayer 8

"Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, sovereign of the universe, who gives the rooster the understanding to distinguish between day and night." (1st of the Morning Blessings)

This prayer continues the theme of gratitude begun with the first prayer when we arise. It changes from the singular, me/I, to the plural, we. This prayer moves me to be grateful for what I have and to know that we are all linked together. This is an important move that many people miss. In the "I/ME" way of living, there is no "we". In the Jewish Tradition, there is both "I" and "We".

In this prayer, we are grateful for the Rooster's ability to distinguish between day and night so that it crows and wakes us up at the right time. For me, this is a prayer that calls to me to be more distinguishing, more discerning. There are so many times where I mix things up, take something that I think/believe is good and, upon further investigation/immersion, realize that I didn't discern day from night, right from wrong, good from evil, etc. well enough! I continue to grow in being able to distinguish the next right action from the next wrong action. It is a daily progression and as long as I continue to be grateful for the understanding and ability to discern/distinguish, I am able to do T'Shuvah and repair where I have "missed the mark" and enhance where I have "hit the bullseye".

1)    How do I distinguish when it is "me" and when it is "we"?

2)    What are the ways/areas of life Imix things up the most?

3)    How am I growing in my ability to discern/distinguish day/night, right/wrong, good/evil? 

Daily Prayer 7

"My God, the soul you have given me is pure..." (Gratitude for the Soul)

WOW, what a concept! I have a pure soul each morning. This is the logical response to the experience of saying the prayer of gratitude for waking up. Yet, it is hard to keep this concept and truth at the forefront of our being. This prayer reminds us that our Souls are pure, we can wall them off, ignore them, we just can't deny their purity. Purity in this context is that we live in God's world, not the world of the profane, evil. It also reminds us that we are Holy Souls. When we recite this prayer, we are committing to not be overcome by the negativity in the world. We commit to not sink into despair.

1)    How do my actions acknowledge my Holy Soul?

2)    What are the ways I mended my 'hole in the soul'/loneliness

3)    How did I open myself to my soul and allow others to see my soul today? 

Daily Prayer 6

"God bless you and protect you. The light of God's face and Grace is on you. God lifts God's face on you and puts wholeness upon you". (Priestly Blessing)

We say this Blessing early in the morning and then again in the Amidah. Here, as we begin the morning with prayer, this prayer gives us a new way to see today. It gives us the assurance that God is with us and, with God's protection, we can face and meet the challenges of the day. The prayer reminds us of what is important, blessing others as well as ourselves, recognizing God's Grace in our everyday living and our journey to wholeness. None of this happens without God and us in partnership

1)    How do I see today as new, keeping yesterday and tomorrow in their proper places?

2)    What are the ways I experience God's light and Grace today?

3)    When do I recognize the blessings of others and the ways I bless others?

Daily Prayer 5

"Blessed are You, Adonai, ... Who has commanded us to be in the business of/immersed in the words of Torah" (Morning Blessing of gratitude for Torah)

This prayer reminds me that Torah is not to be 'read', rather it is to be lived. The word La'asok is also used to denote business. What an amazing idea. In our Morning Blessings, we are grateful and reminded to make Torah living our business. This is what Rabbi Heschel means, I believe, when he speaks of immersing ourselves in Torah. We have a choice everyday, to live at the surface or to be involved, engaged, immersed in our lives and the lives of the people around us. This prayer motivates us to remember who we are; Divine Needs. God and the people around us need us to Live Torah, not just read and analyze it.

1)    How am I making Torah my business?

2)    What parts of my life am I truly engaged, involved and immersed in?

3)    What Divine Need am I fulfilling today? 

Daily Prayer 4

"Blessed are You, Adonai, who fashions humans with wisdom and created within them openings and cavities... Heals all flesh and does wonders. (Prayer for our Bodies)

This prayer reminds us to be grateful for our bodies and gives us the obligation to care for our bodies with wisdom. It also reminds us that the fact that our bodies work is a wonder that we should take note of, not take our bodies for granted. I am reminded of Rabbi Heschel's teaching, "Indifference to the Sublime wonder of living is the root of sin." Also, we recognize that God is healer and wonder maker. What a concept. While we are healed by physicians, we reaffirm that all wisdom comes from God!

1)    How often do I take my body for granted?

2)    What daily physical care do I engage in?

3)    How often am I indifferent to the sublime wonder of my physicality?

Daily Prayer 3

"How goodly are your tents Jacob and your dwelling places Israel... I love the house where God dwells and place where you glory lives." (Ma Tovu Prayer)

This prayer begins with words from a man paid to curse the Israelites and God caused him to bless the Israelites. Each time I read this prayer, it reminds me to see the good in my life. It helps me realize that when I am feeling poorly, I actually have enough and I can keep growing my life each day. The second half of this prayer reminds me of where I am- in God's House and enveloped in God's glory/love. I forget this often and get caught up in the lie that I am alone, I could be homeless, etc. This verse helps me to recover my equilibrium and stand firmer in my authentic life and place.

1)    How do I turn curses into blessings?

2)    How do I see the good that is my life?

3)    What are the reminders I need to remember that I am enveloped in God's love?

Daily Prayer 2

"I will wed you to Me forever. I will wed you to Me with righteousness, Justice, kindness and mercy. I will wed you to Me with faithfulness."

This prayer helps me remember that God never leaves me. God is always calling to me and when I live this prayer, I am committing to the Covenant I have with God. I have the responsibility to be decent, just, kind and practice mercy with myself and others. I can stay faithful to the principles that God has given me.

1)    What are the ways I keep God with me always?

2)    How do I practice being decent, helpful, kind and merciful?

3)    What causes me to stray from being faithful to my Covenant with God?