BS”D

Tefilla of the Shelah Hakadosh

This special prayer was composed by the Shelah Hakadosh to express the prayers of parents on behalf of their children. The Shelah said the optimal time for parents to recite this prayer is Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan , but it may be recited anytime. The holy Shlah Hakadosh left Europe in the 17th century and made his home in Eretz Yisrael, becoming chief Rabbi of Jerusalem.

The Artscroll website states:

“All parents want the best for their  children — that they should be good and upright, that they have everything  they need for a fruitful, joyous life.

(We recite the prayer anytime but especially…) on THE DAY BEFORE ROSH CHODESH SIVAN,  for that is the month when God gave us the Torah, and when the Jewish people  began to be called His Children. On that day, (the Shelah Hakadosh) writes, fathers and  mothers should give charity to the poor and repent.

Please scroll down for English and Russian translation.

English:

You have been the Eternal, our G-d, before You created the world, and You are the Eternal, our G-d, since you created the world, and You are G-d forever. You created Your world so that Your Divinity should become revealed thorugh Your holy Torah, as our Sages expounded on the first word therein, and for Israel, for they are Your people and Your inheritance whom You have chosen from among all nations. You have given them Your holy Torah and drawn them toward Your great Name. These two commandments are, “Be fruitful and Multiply” and “You shall teach them to your children.” Their purpose is that You did not create the world to be empty, but to be inhabited, and that it is for Your glory that You created, fashioned, and perfected it, so that we, our offspring, and all the descendants of your people Israel will know Your Name and study Your Torah.

Thus I entreat You, O Eternal, supreme King of kings. My eyes are fixed on You until You favor me, and hear my prayer, and provide me with sons and daughters who will also be fruitful and multiply, they and their descendents unto all generations, in order that they and we might all engage in the study of Your holy Torah, to learn and to teach, to observe and to do, and to fulfill with love all the words of Your Torah’s teaching. Enlighten our eyes in Your Torah and attach our heart to Your commandments to love and revere Your Name.

Our Father, compassionate Father, grant us all a long and blessed life. Who is like You, compassionate Father, Who in compassion remembers His creatures for life! Remember us for eternal life, as our Forefather Avraham prayed, “If only Yishmael would live before You,” which the Sages interpreted as “…live in reverence of You.”

For this I have come to appeal and plead before You, that my offspring and their descendants be proper, and that You find no imperfection or disrepute in me or them forever. May they be people of peace, truth, goodness and integrity in the eyes of G-d and man. Help them to become practiced in Torah, accomplished in Scriptures, Mishnah, Talmud, Kabbalah, mitzvos, kindness, and good attributes, and to serve you with an inner love and reverence, not merely outwardly. Provide every one of them with their needs with honor, and give them health, honor and strength, good bearing and appearance, grace and loving-kindness. May love and brotherhood reign among them. Provide them with suitable marriage partners of scholarly and righteous parentage who will also be blessed with all that I have asked for my own descendants, since they will share the same fate.

You, the Eternal, know everything that is concealed, and to You all my heart’s secrets are revealed. For all my intention concerning the above is for the sake of Your great and holy Name and Torah. Therefore, answer me, O Eternal, answer me in the merit of our holy Forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov. For the sake of the fathers save the children, so the branches will be like the roots. For the sake of Your servant, David, who is the fourth part of Your Chariot, who sings with Divine inspiration.

A song of ascents. Fortunate is everyone who fears the Eternal, who walks in His ways. When you eat of the toil of your hands, you are fortunate, and good will be yours. Your wife is like a fruitful vine in the inner chambers of your home; your children are like olive shoots around your table. Look! So is blessed the man who fears the Eternal. May the Eternal bless you from Zion, and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you see your children’s children, peace upon Israel.

Please, O Eternal, Who listens to prayer: May the following verse be fulfilled in me: “‘As for Me,’ says the Eternal, “this My covenant shall remain their very being; My spirit, which rests upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth nor from the mouths of your children, nor from the mouths of your children’s children,” said the Eternal, “from now to all Eternity.” May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing before You, Eternal, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Russian:

Молитва Шло Акадош за себя и за детей, чтобы они шли прямыми путями

Ты, Г-сподь, Б-г наш, существовал до сотворения мира, и Ты, Б-г наш, не изменился после сотворения мира, и от века до века Ты Б-г. И Ты создал Свой мир, чтобы узнали, что Ты — Б-г, из святой Торы Твоей, как сказали наши мудрецы, благословенна их память: «В начале…» — ради Торы и ради Израиля. Потому что они — народ Твой и удел Твой, Ты избрал их из народов и дал им Свою святую Тору, и приблизил их к Своему великому имени. И о сохранении этого мира и о сохранении Торы даны Тобой, Г-сподь, Б-г наш, два повеления: сказано в Торе Твоей «плодитесь и размножайтесь», и сказано в Торе Твоей: «и научите им сыновей своих». И смысл в них обоих один: что не для пустоты создал Ты [мир], а для заселения, и во славу Свою создал, сотворил и сделал, чтобы мы, и наши дети, и дети детей всего народа Твоего, дома Израиля, знали имя Твоё и изучали Тору Твою.

Итак, я приду к Тебе, Б-же, Царь царей над царями, и буду молить, и глаза мои будут смотреть на Тебя, пока Ты не помилуешь меня и не услышишь мою молитву: послать мне сыновей и дочерей, и чтобы они тоже плодились и размножались, они, и их дети, и дети детей их до конца всех поколений. Для того, чтобы они, и я, и все мы занимались Твоей святой Торой, учили и обучали, хранили, и делали, и выполняли все слова учения Торы Твоей с любовью. И просветли глаза наши Торой Твоей, и привлеки сердце наше к заповедям Твоим, чтобы любить Твоё имя и трепетать перед ним.

Отец наш, отец милосердный, дай нам всем жизнь долгую и благословенную. Кто, подобно Тебе, милостиво вспоминает о созданиях Своих, даруя им жизнь? Вспомни нас и даруй нам жизнь, как молился праотец наш Авраам: «О, лишь бы Ишмаэль жил пред Тобою», и истолковали мудрецы наши, благословенна их память: «в страхе Твоём». И поэтому пришёл я просить и молить пред Тобой, чтобы было семя моё и семя семени моего навеки семенем кашерным. И пусть не будет ни во мне, ни в потомстве моём, ни в потомстве потомства моего никогда никакого порока и позора, только мир и правда, доброе и прямое в глазах Г-спода и в глазах людей. И пусть они будут сведущи в Торе: знают Писание, знают Мишну, знают Талмуд, знают Тайное, соблюдают заповеди, оказывают милость, обладают возвышенными качествами, и пусть служат Тебе с любовью и внутренним трепетом, — не с внешним трепетом. И дай каждому из них то, что им необходимо для достойной жизни, и дай им здоровье, и достоинство, и силу, и дай им статность, и красоту, и привлекательность, и милость, и пусть будет любовь, и братские чувства, и мир между ними. И пошли им достойную пару, из рода мудрецов Торы, из рода праведников, и пусть сами они будут достойными супругами, как я молился о них, потому что одного и того же прошу я для тех и для других.

Ты, Б-же, знаешь все тайны, и пред Тобой открыто скрытое в сердце моём: что я прошу Тебя обо всём этом ради имени Твоего великого и святого и ради святой Торы Твоей. Поэтому ответь мне, Б-же, ответь мне ради праотцев святых, Авраама, Ицхака и Яакова, и ради них спаси сыновей, чтобы ветви были подобны корням. И ради Давида, раба Твоего, четвёртой опоры колесницы, певца, одарённого святым духом Твоим.

Песнь ступеней. Счастлив всякий боящийся Г-спода, следующий путям Его. Когда ешь ты (от) плодов труда рук твоих, счастлив ты и благо тебе. Жена твоя, как лоза виноградная плодоносная, во внутренних покоях дома твоего; сыновья твои, как молодые деревца масличные, вокруг стола твоего. Вот так благословится муж, боящийся Г-спода. Благословит тебя Г-сподь с Цийона и увидишь благополучие Иерусалима во все дни жизни твоей. И увидишь сыновей у сыновей твоих. Мир над Израилем!

Прошу тебя, Б-же, внемлющий молитве! Пусть сбудется со мной то, что сказано в стихе: «И Я — вот завет Мой с ними, — сказал Г-сподь: дух Мой, который на тебе, и слова Мои, которые вложил Я в уста твои, не отступят от уст твоих, и от уст потомков твоих, и от уст потомков потомков твоих, — сказал Господь, — отныне и вовеки».

BS”D

DAY 40!! Let this be a launch!

Wow! Wow! Wow!

We’ve arrived at day 40 of our 40 Days of Gratitude journey! Kol Hakavod (loosely translated as, “way to go”) to everyone!

I am grateful for each one of you that is reading this, working to cultivate gratitude in your own personal world, and contributing to the collective energy of gratitude in the world around us. In Jewish wisdom, a human being is called a little world. What we do creates ripples in the cosmos. Our actions, our words, and even our thoughts make an impact on the world around us – practically, energetically, and spiritually.

I am grateful for this journey we’ve embarked on together.

And this is only the beginning.

In Judaism, 40 is the number that signifies birth and renewal. Just as there are 40 weeks in a pregnancy, and 40 years of wandering in the desert before entering Eretz Yisrael – 40 is an end of something which gives birth to something new.

So let this be a launching pad for each one of us. Let’s continue flexing and building our gratitude muscles – even after these 40 days.

Make for yourself a “gratitude chevrusa” (aka a gratitude buddy/learning partner). This could be a friend you can call for 2 minutes a day to share with one another something you are each grateful for – or for those days you are struggling for gratitude – someone who can help give you back your gratitude glasses.

Use the ideas here that resonated with you. Practice gratitude – find things to be grateful for. Do it in your thinking. Talk about it with a friend. Make it part of your family culture. Start a gratitude journal or a gratitude jar. Get into the practice of sharing little miracle stories with your family over the dinner table or with your best friend when you meet for coffee. Take 2 minutes at the beginning or the end of your day to actively think of the little and big blessings in your life for which you are grateful.

Let us each continue to cultivate gratitude in our own lives. Let’s create a gratitude revolution by changing the way our eyes choose to see – by continuing to refocus our eyes to see the world with miracle eyes. Let us try to tune in to see the miracles blossoming for us, and around us, all the time. And let us each work to inspire ourselves in a way that also creates a ripple and inspires others around us.

Stay in touch! Let us know how it is going. We would love your feedback about this initiative – how it was for you, what was helpful, what you would have changed. And keep your eyes open for our next 40 Days of Gratitude campaign.

Email us at: Orit Riter: oritriter@gmail.com

Individually and collectively we can make a revolution!

PS. Someone recently commented that they assumed gratitude came easy to me – given all these ideas I am sharing and writing and trying to incorporate into my life. Just as an FYI, I work on this and struggle with this. I have hard days and cranky moments. Which is why, even more so, this is something I am working on. At the times when I feel expanded consciousness and it’s easy to see the blessings – fantastic. And at those times I am stuck in constricted consciousness, then I fight for the gratitude. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don’t. But just remember – especially at those harder times – it’s the effort that matters much more than the outcome!

For no particular reason say ‘Thank you Aba, I love You and thank you for giving me life!’