Every prayer has an origin story. The Rabbis explained the kavannah of a prayer by telling a story. A Young Person’s Guide to the Origins of Jewish Prayer introduces these stories to help children express their own spiritual understanding of the prayers in the siddur.
Torah Aura Productions
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ISBN #978–1–934527–77–1 Copyright © 2015 Torah Aura Productions. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Torah Aura Productions (800) BE-TORAH (800) 238-6724 (323) 585-7312 fax (323) 585-0327 E-MAIL <misrad@torahaura.com> Visit the Torah Aura website at www.torahaura.com MANUFACTURED IN SOUTH KOREA Production Date: 042915 Batch Number: 042915/54520-0 Plant Location: We SP Corp., Seoul, Korea
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Contents Open My Lips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 The Word of the Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 KABBALAT SHABBAT Kabbalat Shabbat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Shabbat on Wednesday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 L’kha Dodi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Shabbat Starts with a Sigh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 BIRKHOT HA-SHAHAR Modeh Ani . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 The Shoes that Got Turned Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Mah Tovu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Bilaam Says . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Asher Yatzar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 The Creation of People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Elohei N’shamah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The Story of our Soul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Torah Brakhot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 The Fox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 A Portion in the World to Come . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 P’ZUKEI D’ZIMRA Birkhot ha-Shahar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Waking Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Barukh She-Amar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 The Prayer that Fell from Heaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Psalm 150 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 David Experiences this Psalm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Nishmat Kol Hai and Shokhen Ad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 The Right Person to Ask for Rain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Yishtabah Shimkha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Steps to God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
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A CALL TO WORSHIP Barkhu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 The First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 The Power of a Minyan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 SHEMA AND HER BLESSINGS Yotzer Or . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Adam and Eve’s First Shabbat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Ma’ariv Aravim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 It Happened in the Middle of the Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Ahavat Rabbah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Two Memories of Sinai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Ahavat Olam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Rabbi Akiva and Rachel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Shema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 The Death of Jacob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 V'Ahavta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Moses Steals the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Rebuilds the Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Death of Rabbi Akiva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
53 54 56 58
Mi Khamokha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Golem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nahshon’s Leap of Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Women Hold Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saying with a Mouth Full of Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
59 60 61 62 63
Hashkiveinu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 The Bird of Happiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 AMIDAH Amidah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Hannah’s Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Adonai S'fatai Tiftah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 King David Messed Up Big Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Avot v’Imahot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Power of a Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Abraham Was a Hero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shield of Abraham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sarah’s Tent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Missing Mother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
73 74 75 76 78 80
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G'vurot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Giving Life to the Dead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Joseph the Tzadik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 K'dushah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jacob Visits the Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calling One to the Other: Isaiah’s Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taken by the Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Studying a Psalm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
86 87 88 89 90
K'dushat Ha-Yom Shel Shabbat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Shabbat in Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 The First Shabbat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Birkat Hoda’ah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 David’s Memory Makes a Difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Birkat Shalom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Entering the Land of Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Jacob and Esau Make Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 God Buries Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 HALLEL Hallel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 David and the Spider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 King David Learns about the Meaning of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 TORAH SERVICE Being at Mt. Sinai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 The Torah is Given Every Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Beginning the Torah Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 The Shepherd’s Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 The Walls of Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 The Ark is Opened . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Being Lifted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 The Last Kopeck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Taking the Torah out of the Ark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 The Synagogue That Cried . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 The Torah Blessings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Ezra’s Moment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 The Deaths of the Maharal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121 Mi She-Berakh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 God’s Partner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
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V’Zot ha-Torah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 How I Learned to Study Torah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Haftarah Blessings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 The Real Jew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 The Clothes That Went to a Wedding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Ashrei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 The Alef-Bet of Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Showering Mercy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Returning the Torah to the Ark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 The Torah is a Tree of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Archik’s Torah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 The Seven Shepherds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 CONCLUDING PRAYERS Ein K’Eloheinu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 The Incense Offering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Aleinu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 The Tikkun Olam Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 The Jewel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Joshua Says . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Kaddish Yatom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 A Tale of Rabbi Akiva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Adon Olam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 The Great Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 HAVDALAH Havdalah . . . . . . . . Adam and Eve . . . . An Elijah Story . . . . Another Elijah Story .
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155 156 157 157
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Open My Lips (Psalms 51.15)
Once Jews offered sacrifices in the Temple. These sacrifices were called avodah, work. When prayers replaced sacrifice, they were called avodat ha-lev, the work of the heart. The secret to prayers bringing us closer to God and not just being words we say is kavanah. Kavanah (usually translated as “intention”) actually comes from a root that means aiming or pointing. One needs to learn how to read Hebrew prayers and one needs to learn how to understand prayers. One also needs to learn where to point one’s heart while one is praying. Heart-pointing is how we do .
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The Word of the Heart There was a king who loved music. The king had a court musician who played beautifully. But after a while his playing got to be tired and bored. He got tired of playing the same thing over and over. Every time the king asked for his favorite song it had less and less life in it. The musician told the king, “I am having a hard time being excited about this song. I have played it too many times.� The king had an idea. He brought in a guest and asked the musician to play his favorite song especially for this guest. The playing was again wonderful. The guest made the difference. The music was again filled with feeling and meaning. Every day the king brought in a different guest. Each day the musician played the same song with new excitement. When he played it for a new guest it became a new thing. But eventually the king ran out of new people to be guests. With no one new to hear it, the music became old and tired again. The king thought and thought and came up with a new idea. He blindfolded the musician and told him a new guest was there to hear his playing. The musician imagined the guest, and his playing was again filled with spirit. The king did this every day, and every day the musician found the kavanah with which to play the king’s favorite song. (Shivhei haBesht, In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov)
Questions
1. Why is it hard to do the same thing over and over? 2. How do you trick yourself into finding something new about things you do over and over? 3. How does this story help you understand where to point your heart when you start to pray?
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Kabbalat Shabbat On Friday night we have a very short service that is unlike any other service. It happens just before the evening service. It is called , “The Welcoming of Shabbat.” The service was created in the sixteenth century in the Israeli city of Tzfat. THE TALMUD
In the Talmud we are told that Rabbi Hanina would put on his best clothes, go outside and watch the sunset on (Friday night). He would sing “Come, let us go out and welcome Shabbat the Queen.” Rabbi Yannai would do exactly the same thing, except he would sing, “Come, O Bride; come, O Bride!” KABBALISTS
In 1492 Jews began leaving Spain, Italy and other places in Europe because they were not allowed to practice their religion and live in peace. One of the places they gathered was the city of Tzfat. The city became a magnet for Kabbalists, Jewish mystics. These scholars created a service out of the Talmudic description of Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Yannai going out to welcome .
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Shabbat on Wednesday
Rabbi Elimelekh and Rabbi Zusya were brothers who were Hasidic Rabbis. Often they would spend Shabbat together. Together, they would create a wonderful Shabbat experience. Once, Rabbi Elimelekh confessed, “Brother, I am not sure that the feeling I get on Shabbat is a real Shabbat spirit.” Rabbi Zusya told him, “I am worried about the same thing.” The two of them decided to try an experiment. They decided to create Shabbat on a weekday. If they felt the same way they did every Shabbat, then they weren’t getting a real Shabbat spirit. They made a great Shabbat meal. They put on their Shabbat clothes and the fur hats they wore on Shabbat. They sang Shabbat songs and celebrated. Both of them had an amazing experience. It felt just as holy as Shabbat did. The brothers were upset. They were sure that what they had Questions been feeling on Shabbat was not the real Shabbat feeling. They 1. What made the went to Dov Baer, the Holy Maggid. They asked him, “How weekday feel like can we get to feel the real Shabbat feeling? He told them. “If you Shabbat? 2. What brings the prepared and welcomed Shabbat, if you put on your Shabbat light of Shabbat clothes and Shabbat hats, then what you felt was a Shabbat down to you? experience even though it was a weekday. Your actions brought 3. How can knowing the light of Shabbat down to Earth.” (retold from Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim) this story help you point your heart when you enter ?
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L’kha Dodi
Rabbi Shlomo ha-Levy, a Kabbalist from Tzfat, wrote a song to use at this service. It is . has nine verses; eight of them spell out Shlomo ha-Levy’s name in the first letter of each verse. It calls both a queen and a bride and it talks about three things: Shabbat, Jerusalem, and the Redemption (when God finally helps us to fix the world and make it into a place that is good for everyone).
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Shabbat Starts with a Sigh
Rabbi Hanokh of Alexander told this story: “When I first became a rabbi this happened in my synagogue. A butcher was working and working. He didn’t stop on Friday afternoon to get ready for Shabbat. He kept on chopping and chopping meat. Suddenly, he realized that it might already be Shabbat. He was afraid that he had broken the Torah’s rule and been working on the Sabbath. He ran directly to the synagogue. He didn’t even take off his bloody apron. He burst through the doors and heard the first words of . He had just made it. He sighed a big sigh of relief. At that moment, the sigh that came out of his mouth was the sigh of all the Jews who were in Egypt. They sighed to God out of their bondage. They, too, stopped their labor when Shabbat came.” (Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim, Later Masters)
Questions
1. How could the sigh of thousands of Jews in Egypt come out of a Polish butcher’s mouth? 2. What does this story teach us about the importance of
(welcoming Shabbat)? 3. How can knowing this story help you know where to point your heart when you say ?
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Modeh Ani
is a wake-up prayer. It is designed to be the first words that a Jew says upon waking. Later, it was also added to the beginning of the morning service. thanks God for returning our soul, makes our connection to God our first thought of the day, reminds us that we can count on God, and says that every day we get to start over.
Part of the traditional prayer we say at bedtime comes from the books of Psalms. We ask God to take care of our soul while we sleep. We say, “Into Your hands I place my soul.” In the morning, we say to thank God for watching over our soul and for returning it to us.
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The Shoes that Got Turned Around
Long ago, in a little village in the woods, there lived a girl who was angry with her family. This girl decided to run away from home, so she threw everything she owned into a napkin and tied the napkin to a stick. She put on her cloak, put the stick over her shoulder, and started walking. She walked all day, stopping only for a little lunch. Then, as it got to be dark, she stopped again and took out a little supper. Then she got ready to go to sleep. She took off her shoes and pointed them in the direction she needed to go in 14
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the morning. She covered herself with the cloak and went to sleep. Somehow, while she slept, her shoes were turned around. Maybe a trickster came along and turned them. Maybe it was an angel. Maybe an animal nudged them. We will never know. In the morning the girl woke up, ate the last of the food, put on her cloak, her shoes, and continued walking in the direction her shoes pointed. She walked all day and came to a village in the woods. It looked a lot like her village, but it was more colorful and more interesting. She walked down a street and saw a woman who looked a lot like her mother. The woman smiled at her and welcomed her the way she wished her mother would. She went into the woman’s house and became part of this new family that was very much like her family, but at the same time different. She felt very much at home because this new home was everything she wanted her home to be. And so she lived happily ever after.
Questions
1. What had changed when the girl came back to her own home at the end of the story? 2. Did she come back to the same village or did she arrive in a different place? 3. How can remembering this story help you to point your heart when you say ? (Hint: How is getting your soul back in the morning like having your shoes turned around?)
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