How-to-Pray
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Tanakh
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Colour coded details of the - TaNaKh:
1. Torah = History & Law, 2. Nevi’im = The Prophets. 3. *Ketuvim = all other Writings.
*The Ketuvim - Includes, Poetical books - Psalms, Proverbs,
Job, the Megillot, or Scrolls - Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations of
Jeremiah, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, prophecy of Daniel, and
history of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles I & II.
Please Note: Some alterations or (additions) have been made relating to ‘Names’ and ‘Attributes’ of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, having been corrected like it once was pre the “Masoretic Text”.
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Remember the following two
truth’s from our beloved Scriptures!
“Ye
shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which I command you, NEITHER SHALL YE DIMINISH FROM IT, that ye may keep the commandments of יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֵיכֶם - the LORD your Eloleichem, which I command you”. Davarim -
Deuteronomy 4:2.
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With
“O יְהוָה - the LORD, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering Your Name.” Nechemyah - Nehemiah 1: 11.
The aim of this
page and site is to encourage fellow Hebrews, especially our younger ones, and
possibly those that may have fallen away from their attendance to the Synagogue
and prayers, etc, to grow back unto our wonderful faith. Therefore this page is
all about תְּפִלָּה - Tefeelah’s -
Prayers, but if your Hebrew is worse than rusty, please do NOT worry!
You may ask: “Do I have to say all the prayers in the
Siddur and do I have to say them all in Hebrew?”
99.9% of Rabbis will answer as follows: That is an important question … “How should
you pray”? “You should take your Siddur and say all the required prayers, three
times a day, on weekdays, Shabbat, the Yom Tovim (feasts), and yes, you must
say them in Ivrit (in Hebrew)”.
Although
that is all very good, but sadly there are a good many other important elements
to prayer, which we really should understand.
1… Prayer should a personal time for us to praise and thank יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ – the LORD our Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your being.” Davarim - Deuteronomy 6:5.
2… Our prayer is personal, although it is
also a collective prayer that we pray with, and for all
3… Our prayer should be acceptable unto אֱלֹהִים - Elohim; and it should be an offering unto the Almighty. Our prayer should be “like a sweet aroma” unto אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He.
4… We must, and should understand every single word we say in prayer.
You might
ask, “Is this not what we Hebrews (and I do mean men and women) do in the
Synagogue, or at home?” Let us look at that question.
Whilst in
the Synagogue have we not seen those rabbis and those who are so very
proficient in Ivrit, Davening (praying) at a massively great speed?
I personally
ask the question, “Is it possible for these prayers to be said at a ridiculous
speed, is that with all our heart, and all our soul, and with all our being”?
My answer is, “It is impossible for us to pray with a full comprehension at the
speed Rabbis and others tend to say them”? It is my firm belief that each word
of our prayer should be said unto the Almighty, blessed be
He, in love, with complete comprehension. Only then our prayers unto Elohim,
blessed be He, will be “like a sweet aroma”. I have often asked, “Why are
prayers said at the speed of lightening”? Rabbis have answered, “Because
there are so many prayers to be said in the Siddur, as it is part of the order
of the service”. Well excuse me, who created the service, it was the Kabalistic rabbis of yesteryear, and they continued to add
and add more and more. That is why prayers in the Synagogue are so fast the
they are more like “habitual prayers”, and are said, you might say, without a
heart or any meaning whatsoever!
Thus, it is called
liturgy, liturgy that must be said and
completed by the end of the service. This ideology seems to be set in
concrete, and it just has to be done no matter what.
Before
continuing, it has to be said, that amongst many Hebrews, there is a great love
for the Almighty, and their intention is certainly to Daven
with good intention, wishing to please the Almighty!
We the House
of Israel should pray and praise אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He, by saying our
prayers with conviction and from the heart. These are meaningful prayers that
bring a joy to our heart, because we will know that we have pleased our beloved
אֱלֹהִים - Elohim! As I have said, the words we utter MUST be with full
understanding. No man can do this by Davening at speed we witness in the
Synagogue. I am well aware that I will be criticized by the Rabbis, but then
for them ‘tradition’ is more important than faith and following the Words of יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֶיךָ – the
LORD our Elohim, blessed
be His Sanctified Name.
For those
not proficient in Hebrew, it is better to reduce some of the prayers that are
found in the Siddur, whilst praying at home or in the Synagogue. Why?
You will be able to say your prayers with heartfelt meaning and understanding,
and we know that men, yes rabbis composed almost all of the prayers found in
the Siddur. Thus, well-meaning rabbi after rabbi continued to add prayers over
the centuries. Undoubtedly, many of these prayers are a delight and are indeed
very beautiful. But we have seen that the Siddur has grown so much, that
rabbinic prayers have overburdened the daily prayer cycle. I believe, because
of the massive number of prayers, it will reduce the actual time we are able to
spend reading and studying the blessed Torah, which must always come first!
I wrote on
the inside the cover of my Siddur back in the 1960’s the following, “The
More Torah, the More Life, for Elohim, blessed be He, is our Life!” Indeed,
we must always Daven first and say the appropriate
blessings before commencing our meals, reading/studying the Torah, etc, in this
way our minds will be prepared to understand what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He, is saying to us through His Word!
What of “prayer”
… “reading the Torah” and “going to work”. How can we analyse
these three important aspects of our daily life?
A wonderful
fellow rabbi once made the following three statements to me …
1… Prayer represents blessings, thus likened
to being in the
2… Reading the Torah is likened to being in Mitzraim (
3… Going to work is likened as to being in the wilderness. Needs explaining.
Let me state
that his second concept is simply not acceptable and nothing short from being
wicked. Let me go through the three points above as follows.
1… Davening - (reciting the prescribed liturgical prayers), and praising יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ - the LORD our Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, is indeed likened to a “blessing” and being in the land given unto our father Avraham and his “seed forever”.
2… However, our time immersed in the Torah, is
likened to being in the very presence of the Almighty, blessed be He, as we
cannot separate the Almighty from the Torah, or the Torah from Him, for the
Torah is the way the Almighty communicates with us, teaching us how to live!
Therefore, it should, and must not be likened as to being in Mitzraim (
3… Our labour could be possibly likened to a time in the wilderness, but whilst there, we must uphold all Torah principles, as יְהוָה - the LORD , blessed be He, has instructed us. We do this in order to give honour to our אֱלֹהִים - Elohim and to represent the Hebrew people honourably throughout the Gentile world, thus making our place of work an haven
My thoughts,
as I have stated earlier, does not diminish the love and honour most Hebrews pray,
for obviously their intention is to do the will of the Almighty. My only
concern is the number of prayers we find in the Siddur today, which the many
rabbis have added, and added and added to the point, they are read at such a
speed in our Synagogues’, that they have become meaningless. If fact Davening
in Shul is today nothing more that a super fast babbling, and is completely
meaningless, as there is no heart in it! Having done so, rabbis have made it
almost impossible for many of the average Hebrews, especially those with
limited Hebrew, to pray “with all their
heart, with all their soul, and with all their being” not fully knowing or
understanding what is being said unto their Elohim. It is fine for those who
spend their days in the Synagogue and at Yeshiva; most of these men spend most
of their lives studying books written entirely by men being the Talmudic, and
read very little Torah, or the rest of the precious Tanakh, containing all our
history as given to us by אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, through His chosen Nevi’im - Prophets. Yet these men also do
not go to work as they spend all their time studying Talmud.
Thus,
considering the above, please slow down when in prayer, and select the prayers
that you are able to say, and if at the Synagogue, you do not have to keep up
with the service for the Almighty will love every prayer you say with all your
heart and soul! I believe that one single prayer said in complete love, is a
prayer that is more acceptable, and worth far more than the entire Siddur service
at the Synagogue, which is more like a race saying a huge portion of a Siddur
said in a hurry.
ENGLISH
or HEBREW?
Of course,
feel free to say them in English, if your Hebrew is limited, for believe me יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֵינוּ - the LORD our Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, understands all
languages! However, please try to use some Hebrew, especially when
saying the “
I trust that
I have assisted you in becoming a better Hebrew, and helping you with your
prayer life?
May Elohim
bless and keep you in the palm of His ever loving hands!
“Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice”. Tehillim - Psalms 141:2.
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Please Note:
“hebraicstudies”
links are located down the page!
This site was originally created, for those who desired to return to our blessed and wonderful faith. Thus be wise and work on your faith and pray at least two or three times a day (if possible) and always seek our beloved אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s guidance, for His love is always with us, especially when we seek Him, blessed be He! However this site has become very much a teaching site with hundreds of studies!
Remember what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be
He, said the following via several of our prophets...
“Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, saith צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָה- the LORD of hosts”. Mal’a’chi - Malachi 3:7. (JPS).
And Remember ...
Enjoy your Sabbath Rest, Shabbat Shalom!
אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם, בְּחֻקּוֹתַי
לֵכוּ; וְאֶת-מִשְׁפָּטַי
שִׁמְרוּ, וַעֲשׂוּ
אוֹתָם
וְאֶת-שַׁבְּתוֹתַי, קַדֵּשׁוּ; וְהָיוּ
לְאוֹת, בֵּינִי
וּבֵינֵיכֶם-לָדַעַת, כִּי
אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם
“I am אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - the LORD your Eloheichem;
walk in My statutes, and keep Mine
ordinances, and do them; and hallow My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign
between Me and you, that ye may know that I am אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - the LORD your Eloheichem”.
Yechezkel - Ezekiel 20:19-20. (JPS).
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“Hebraic Studies” motto is as
follows;
“The More Torah, the
More Life”
For אֱלֹהִים יְהוָה - the LORD Elohim, Blessed be His Sanctified Name,
He
is the one who gave us our Life!”
May the שָׁלוֹם - Shalom = Peace
of צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָה= the LORD of hosts.
be with you, and please always uphold our blessed שַׁבָּת - Shabbat, as well as the מוֹעֲדִים - Mo’a’dim - Feasts, and continue saying your
daily תְּפִלָּה - Tefeelah’s (Prayers) and regular בְּרָכָה - Be’ra’chah’s (blessings) before food and drinks,
etc!
שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם - Shalom Aleichem - Peace be with you!
Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
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