Personal
On this page you will find articles that focus on those chance or passing moments in our personal lives that appear to be outwardly small but are significant nonetheless for their influence upon our mood, our feelings of connection with others, and our spiritual lives.
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Praying for What We Need
In theory, praying for what we need should be easy. Who knows better what we need than
we do? You would think the words would just pop into our mouths, but they don’t. We
wonder, is it okay to ask for the very private things that are important to us? Should we
be distinguishing between what we want and what we need? And we may wonder: if we ask for
what we need and are answered, what are we bound to do in return?
Meditation:
A Prayer for What I Need
We used to pray for wine, flour, oil.
We knew the deal:
We pleased You, and asked for the things we needed.
We expected You would come through.
I still need wine, flour and oil
But I do not ask for them. (The market is just down the street.)
This does not mean You are off the hook.
As I see it, the deal stands: My pleasing You, in some realistic way
My asking for what I cannot get alone.
Here is my general list.
love, health, work, protection.
And this is what I need now: ____________
I need to have the courage to call out to You when I am in need:
I need You to be ready to hear me.
Ritual:
As you begin each day, either during the traditional Amidah prayer or, perhaps, or as
you wait for your coffee to perk, set aside a fixed time to focus upon what you need that
you can not achieve or acquire on your own. Then ask.
Blessing:
Mi-ma-makim kir-ticha Yah
From my depths I call to you.
Barukh atah she’asah li kal tzarki
Blessed is the one who provides for all my needs
Teaching:
"The needs of you people Israel are great and their ability to express them is
limited. But let it be your will, Lord our God, and God of our ancestors, that you provide
all creatures with their needs, and for all people that which they lack. ‘Blessed be
the Lord, for you have heard the voice of my supplications’. Blessed art Thou, O lord
who hears our Prayer.”
(TJ: Brakhot 4:4)
R. Eliezer: If one prays only according to the exact text of the prayer and adds nothing
from their own mind, the prayer is not complete." (TB:Berakhot 28)
I want beautiful trees –
and not wars!
and a coat of many colors
and not uniforms
for all my dear ones;
I want rain
and green furrows
and houses
full of babies…
(Esther Raab from "Requests", translated by Catherine Harnett Shaw)
Aneinu b’yom koreinu
When I call you, you answer me…
(CLAL Faculty)
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