Document Type

Unpublished Work

Publication Date

10-6-2002

Subjects

Aryeh Hirschfield, Jewish thought and philosophy

Abstract

What follows are thoughts about several of the Shabbat and daily prayers which are collected together, with translations, in Shiru Ladonai, a Siddur prepared by Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield. These thoughts reflect how I understand the prayers, what they mean to me when I am able to make a personal connection with them. Most of the ideas expressed below are not original, but draw from a variety of sources. The format is the following: the Hebrew prayer, or a fragment of it, is followed by an English translation, usually R. Aryeh's but occasionally my own, and then by an interpretation or drash, in italics.

For most of us, there are too many prayers. It is like a long seminar in quantum mechanics that we, middle school students who have studied some biology but not yet any physics, are invited to attend. For the spiritually advanced and for those who are steeped in tradition, the array of prayers of the traditional service may be rich and potent, but for the rest of us, even the prayers of abbreviated services are too many.

A single prayer said with intention, or from a broken heart, or felt with one's body is worth more than a thousand prayers uttered without kavana. If one can say (feel) such a prayer, dayenu. This should be the goal of the prayer service.

Keywords: Shabbat, Sabbath, prayers, Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield

Rights

© The Author

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42758

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