The desired effect of praying

23^rd of Tamuz, 5770

When we pray with Kavana, focusing our mind exclusively on God, our Tefila leaves a long lasting effect in our personalities, enough to impact our deeds, thoughts and values. When we mentally strive to maintain God at the center we regain consciousness of our place on the periphery of reality.

Still, we try to change and improve what we can change and improve, but at one point we learn to ‘accept’ (not ‘give up’, but accept. Notice the difference!) that some things are beyond our reach and beyond our power to modify. ‘Emuna’ faith is usually understood in the sense of ‘hope’, but to me the proper understanding of Emuna is ‘acceptance’.

This state of the mind, acceptance, is also known as ‘anava’ humbleness. It consists on recognizing the existence of a higher power which control what we don’t. When we reach this state, many small things that use to make us angry becomes less important… we try to make the best of it, of what we can’t change, and we let go easier …

If prayers don’t bring my mind to a higher level of ‘Emuna’ and ‘humbleness’, then probably I have not prayed with enough Kavana. I might just have articulated some Hebrew ‘sounds’….

Prayers from Yerushalaim

19th of Tamuz, 5770

BARUCH HASHEM I’m now in Erets Israel for the next three weeks. I’m staying in a small apartment in Yeshivat haKotel, a two minutes walk- literately- from the Western Wall. It is also thirty seconds away from Beth-El Synagogue, where I go to pray.

Beth-El synagogue is one of the ancient Synagogues in the Old City and one of the most special in the world. When you pray there you really feel transported to a different planet. In that Synagogue the lachash (silent Amida) lasts at least 40 minutes. Which gives you the unique opportunity -and forces you- to take very seriously every word of the Amida.

Stopping to think for a few seconds when you say ATA (‘You’), for example, being conscious that you are addressing God in the second person and feeling that you’re really in front of God Almighty, is probably one of the most important goals of our spiritual journey. Every word of the Amida guides you to follow a path that leads to His presence. And when you think about Him, the focus shifts from asking things from God to a mental effort to get closer to Him, as you would do to be closer to someone you deeply love.

You’ve to concentrate and focus in every word without letting any other thoughts -even thoughts about your basic needs- invade your mind. At those precious minutes you’re trying to find in your soul the right way to think about God.

It is indeed a very challenging exercise of concentration but extremely rewarding. I tell you why, BH tomorrow.

Note: It is really difficult to find an accessible Wi-Fi in the vicinity . So, BH I’m not sure at what time of the day you will get the HOTD for the following 3 weeks…..

The 19th Berakha

READ: http://online.wsj.com/article/global_view.html .

DO SOMETHING FOR ISRAEL, FROM YOUR OWN PC

Watch a modern young hero of Israel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABjE_7uwA0I

Kavana: Understanding the meaning

29th of Nisan, 5770. Today is the 14th day of Omer

When saying the Amida, we should delve into the meaning of every word. This mental exercise is called Kavana: consciousness / alertness. Distractions or even having a blank mind is not accepted. Kavana is required at the time of prayer and it’s mandatory in the first Berakha of the Amida.ELOKIM is one of the names of God. It is actually the first name to appear in the Torah. The closest English word to define ELOKIM will be “Almighty”. The Kuzari, written by rabbi Yehuda haLevy, explains that the word ELOKIM is written in the plural form, not to suggest that there is more than one God but to manifest that God Almighty encompasses all the powers. There is no force in the universe which is not under His control.

ELOKIM is also the way we refer to God when we want to express our perception of God acting with strict justice, (Middat haDin) in opposition to compassion. When God creates the world (nature, Bereshit chapter 1) the Torah uses the name ELOKIM, because nature is not compassionate. It’s ruled by mechanical laws like, sicknesses, death and the survival of the fittest.

But when the Torah focuses on the Creation of man (Bereshit chapter 2) the Torah uses HASHEM ELOKIM which suggests “nature” combined with “compassion”. In regards to human beings, God sometimes judges us or humanity with strict justice but we always pray to Him to be judged with compassion, consideration and patience.

Preparing ourselves to pray

26th of Tebet, 5770

The Amida is the most important prayer. It is said every day, three times a day, morning, afternoon, and evening.
In preparation for the Amida we have to visualize that we are in front of the King of Kings. This is one of the reasons we say the Amida facing Jerusalem. Because it is in Yerushalaim where the divine presence dwells.
The name of this prayer Amida means “standing” because in the Jewish the protocol a servant stands in front of his King, hisfeet firmly together and bowing down his head a little. (For the same reason, some people would also place their hands on the middle of the chest, the right hand holding the left closed fist). Strictly speaking, Amida means: standing at Your service/waiting for Your command.
Normally, you should hold a Siddur in your hands and read the Amida, word by word from it. However, if you know the Amida by heart, you should close your eyes to better concentrate in the words that you’re saying.
The Amida is said quietly, so low no one else could hear your words, so loud you could hear your own whispering.