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Mia Sherwood Landau: Posted on Thursday, April 13, 2017 7:38 AM
Give us dew to favor Your earth; sweeten the land in which we live with dew. Strengthen us with plenty, with grain and wine: sheaves and vines sustained by dew. Bring wholeness to the Holy City and to all who love her as flowers are renewed by dew. You have said “I will be like dew to Israel;" may Your mercy well up in us like the dew. Let the proud and beautiful fruits of our harvest be sustained and graced with dew. Open our hearts; make us into open vessels to receive the spiritual gifts of dew. May a light shine forth from darkness to draw us to You, as a root finds water from dew. We are the people who followed You through the desert as sheep follow a trusted shepherd; favor us with dew. You are our God, Who causes the wind to blow and the dew to fall. For blessing and not for curse. Amen. For life and not for death. Amen. For plenty and not for lack. Amen.
Thanks to Rachel Barenblat for this translation and the following: "The Prayer for Dew is a special poem recited once a year during the afternoon service on the first day of Pesaḥ. Rabbi Rachel Barenblat first presented her d’var tefillah on Passover in 2009 and shared her prayer for dew in 2015 (cross-posted at her website here). In the Amidah, many Jewish liturgies replace the request for rain (recited during the traditional rainy season in the land of Israel) with a prayer for dew, beginning on this day. — Aharon Varady" |
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Mia Sherwood Landau: Posted on Tuesday, June 16, 2015 7:58 PM
 An email from Praying With Passion ignited my enthusiasm today,just after meeting on the web with a group of women talking about spirituality.
Here is my favorite part of the email:
"Like this underground spring, G-d is a boundless, overflowing source of sustenance for us. Everything we rely upon draws its existence from Him. When we recite the words in the blessings, we trace our sustenance back to its Source and acknowledge that there would be nothing if G-d did not provide it."
There were several women in the group today who chose not to acknowledge the Creator of the Universe as the source of their spiritual experiences, or their very lives. I'm SO GLAD to be able to express gratitude to Hashem each day, knowing who made me, who made this universe, and who knows why.
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Mia Sherwood Landau: Posted on Monday, June 01, 2015 6:55 AM
Rabbi Heshy Kleinman, author of Praying with Fire, posted the following insight on Jewish visualization and prayer:
"The technique of visualization is so powerful that it can help a person overcome a great many obstacles...
"Visualization
is a means through which a person can see himself as he wishes to be —
as he can be. It’s not just wishful thinking, it’s purposeful thinking
that helps a person establish high expectations for himself, and then
fulfill them...
"... it is difficult
for us to internalize the fact that we are standing before the Creator.
To overcome this impediment, visualize a telephone conversation;
although you cannot see the person to whom you are speaking, you know
that he is listening. Summon this image to perceive the sense that
Hashem listens to you when you pray.
The ultimate visualization takes place during prayer, in my opinion. It is the time we are consciously connected mentally, emotionally and spiritually with our Creator, and it is a good time to ask to see things the way Hashem sees them.
Actually, I often ask for this blessing. I say, "Father, I don't know what to do, so I need your help. Please help me see this situation as you see it, so I can behave in accordance with your will and your way."
But, I don't ask often enough. Rabbi Kleinman's words really inspired me today, and I am renewed with enthusiasm to remember to ask to see situations as Hashem sees them now, and I want to remember especially on Shabbos.
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Mia Sherwood Landau: Posted on Wednesday, December 04, 2013 4:06 PM
This inspirational message arrived by email just in time for our 8th night of Hanukkah tonight. May it inspire you and your final night of Hanukkah 2013 as well:
"The last night and day of Chanukah is
called Zos Chanukah. It is a night where the gates of prayer
are open for our heavenly requests. It is a time that encapsulates the
power and holiness of all the preceding seven nights of Chanukah. Our
Sages teach us that we still have one last opportunity for the judgment
of Yom Kippur to be finalized which is the 8th day of Chanukah. One can accomplish on the 8th day of Chanukah requests that even great Tzadikim cannot accomplish during Neilah of Yom Kippur. Let us use this opportunity to strengthen our prayers Torah study mitzvos and tzedakah."
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Mia Sherwood Landau: Posted on Monday, September 02, 2013 1:32 PM
 Although I was participating in the live Skype session as Dr Yedidah Cohen translated this section of Zohar explained by Rabbi Yehudah Lev Ashlag in the Perush HaSulam, it is very helpful to be able to listen to it again and again in her recording posted as The Shofar: The Sound of Compassion.
"The twelve months of the year are the tikun of the Malchut, from its beginning to its end.
Since it is not completely finished until the Gemar HaTikun (the end of the Tikun) we need each year to come back and rectify it.
And therefore, on each Rosh Hashana we start the tikun of the Malchut again.
So, the word shanah, shin-nun-hey, is a cycle."
Yedidah's English translation of Rabbi Ashlag's explanation brought me around to understanding that the essence of Rosh Hashana is quite the opposite of harsh, critical judgment of my sins.
It is a day to relish the love and attention of my Creator's confident expectation in my process of perfection and the ultimate perfection of the world.
I am an intrinsic part of the cycle. My life and my teshuva are important and welcome; they are necessary and valuable.
I am not pitifully pleading for forgiveness, but acknowledging Hashem as my Beloved and crowning Hashem as King. I am doing my part.
This year I make teshuva with a new, improved attitude. I am bringing the genuine love of my Beloved that is lavished upon me during this month of Elul to my Temple with me on Rosh Hashana in order to promote Tikun Olam.
I am participating in the significant beginning of yet another year, yet another cycle in the rectification of the world.
And this year, with an expanded understanding of my own purpose and my relationship with my Beloved, I embrace the compassionate essence of Rosh Hashana by joyfully participating in all three traditional expressions of love and compassion:
Teshuva - it's our choice for personal bonding with God
Tefila - it's our job to pray for the tools to serve God
Tzedaka - it's our opportunity to give Charity or Justice
Join Rabbi Yossi Srugo, Rabbi Yakov Garfinkel and Rabbi Chai Amar in an eight-minute video reminder of these traditional Jewish observances of Rosh Hashana called Crowning the King.
Shana Tova & Happy Cycling!
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Mia Sherwood Landau: Posted on Friday, August 16, 2013 8:47 AM
 I am touched by words in two inspiring emails today. The first quote is from Rabbi Yitzchak Schwartz on the topic of Prayer:
"Every word of prayer makes an impression and
isn't wasted. Sometimes much later their effect is felt, sometimes in a very
different way than was intended. The principle is that there is nothing ever
lost.
However , there are many levels of impact. Just as each
person's life outlook is different, as is reflected by the fact
that no two faces look alike---so too , no two prayers impact
are alike."
And the other quote is on the topic of Prayer, too. It is from my weekly FridayLight.org email, always so welcome as I prepare for Shabbos each week:
"In Jewish mysticism, there is a concept of two ways of relating to our
Creator. One way is for our Creator to reach down to us with help or
inspiration. Another way is for us to do our work here on the ground and
to reach up to him to ask for help.
It's rare for our Creator to just
make changes for us. However, according to mystical sources, when we do
everything in our power to bring this redemption for ourselves in
combination with asking our Creator for help, that's when the He will
generally meet us in the middle. We reach up and He reaches down (metaphorically speaking.)"
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