Hebrew Daily Prayer Book - Jonathan Sacks

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be not destroyed. Be gracious to the nation who, in constant love, proclaim twice daily the unity of Your name, saying, “Listen, Israel, the LORD is our GOD, the LORD is One.”

       LOWERING THE HEAD

      On Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, begin here. The following, until “what to do” on page 119, is said sitting. When praying in a place where there is a Torah scroll, one should rest one’s head on the arm on which the tefillin are not worn.

       David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into GOD’S hand, for His mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” Compassionate and gracious One, I have sinned before You. LORD, full of compassion, have compassion on me and accept my pleas.

      PSALM 6:2–11

      LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger or chastise me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me, LORD, for I am weak. Heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in anguish, and You, O Lord – how long? Turn, LORD, set my soul free; save me for the sake of Your love. For no-one remembers You when he is dead. Who can praise You from the grave? I am weary with my sighing. Every night I drench my bed, I soak my couch with my tears. My eye grows dim from grief, worn out because of all my foes. Leave me, all you evildoers, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. The LORD has heard my pleas. The LORD will accept my prayer. All my enemies will be shamed and utterly dismayed. They will turn back in sudden shame.

      Sit upright. On Mondays and Thursdays, say the following. On Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, continue with “Guardian of Israel” on page 117.

      LORD, GOD of Israel, turn away from Your fierce anger, and relent from the evil against Your people. Look down from heaven and see how we have become an object of scorn and derision among the nations. We are regarded as sheep led to the slaughter, to be killed, destroyed, beaten and humiliated. Yet, despite all this, we have not forgotten Your name. Please do not forget us. LORD, GOD of Israel, turn away From Your fierce anger, and relent from the evil against Your people.

      Strangers say, “You have no hope or expectation.” Be gracious to the nation whose hope is in Your name. O Pure One, bring our deliverance close. We are exhausted. We are given no rest. May Your compassion suppress Your anger against us. Please turn away from Your fierce anger, and have compassion on the people You chose as Your own.

      LORD, GOD of Israel, turn away from Your fierce anger, and relent from the evil against Your people.

      Have pity on us, LORD, in Your compassion, and do not hand us over to cruel oppressors. Why should the nations say, “Where is their GOD now?” For Your own sake, deal kindly with us, and do not delay. Please turn away from Your fierce anger, and have compassion on the people You chose as Your own.

      LORD, GOD of Israel, turn away from Your fierce anger, and relent from the evil against Your people.

      Heed our voice and be gracious. Do not abandon us into the hand of our enemies to blot out our name. Remember what You promised our fathers: “I will make your descendants as many as the stars of heaven” -yet now we are only a few left from many. Yet, despite all this, we have not forgotten Your name. Please do not forget us.

      LORD, GOD of Israel, turn away from Your fierce anger, and relent from the evil against Your people.

      Help us, GOD of our salvation, for the sake of the glory of Your name. Save us and pardon our sins for Your name’s sake.

      LORD, GOD of Israel, turn away from Your fierce anger, and relent from the evil against Your people.

      On all days, continue here:

       Guardian of Israel, guard the remnant of Israel, and let not Israel perish, who declare, “Listen, Israel”

      Guardian of a unique nation, guard the remnant of a unique people, and let not that unique nation perish, who proclaim the unity of Your name [saying], “The LORD is our GOD, the LORD is One” Guardian of a holy nation, guard the remnant of that holy nation, and let not the holy nation perish, who three times repeat the threefold declaration of holiness to the Holy One.

      You who are conciliated by calls for compassion and placated by pleas, be conciliated and placated toward an afflicted generation, for there is no other help.

      Our Father, our King, be gracious to us and answer us, though we have no worthy deeds; act with us in charity and lovingkindness and save us.

      Stand at .

       We do not know what to do, but our eyes are turned to You. Remember, LORD, Your compassion and lovingkindness, for they are everlasting. May Your lovingkindness, LORD, be with us, for we have put our hope in You. Do not hold against us the sins of those who came before us. May Your mercies meet us swiftly, for we have been brought very low. Be gracious to us, LORD, be gracious to us, for we are sated with contempt. In wrath, remember mercy. He knows our nature; He remembers that we are dust. Help us, GOD of our salvation, for the sake of the glory of Your name. Save us and grant atonement for our sins for Your name’s sake.

      The Leader says half-Kaddish.

      Leader:

       Magnified and sanctified may His great name be, in the world He created by His will. May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and in your days, and in the lifetime of all the House of Israel, swiftly and soon – and say: Amen.

      All:

      May His great name be blessed for ever and all time.

      Leader:

      Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, raised and honoured, uplifted and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond any blessing, song, praise and consolation uttered in the world – and say: Amen.

      LAWS OF THE AMIDAH:

      1. The Amidah is said standing, facing Jerusalem (in practice, this usually means facing the synagogue wall containing the Ark), with feet together.

      2. During the Amidah, we must be especially conscious of standing in the presence of GOD. To symbolise entry to the Divine presence, we take three steps forward before beginning the prayer (having first taken three steps back), and at the end bow and take three steps back, bowing first left, then right, then forward.

      3. At four points during the Amidah (indicated by the symbol in the text), we bow, bending the knees at the first word, bowing at the second, and standing straight before saying GOD’S name.

      4. The Amidah is said quietly. We alone should be able to hear what we are saying (based on the biblical precedent of Hannah whose “lips moved but her voice was not heard", I Samuel 1:13). It should be said with complete concentration.

      5. If, before one has finished the silent Amidah, the Leader begins the repetition and reaches Kedushah, one should pause, listen with full attention to the Kedushah, and then return to one’s prayer. One should not interrupt one’s own prayer by saying the congregational responses aloud.

      AMIDAH: THE STANDING PRAYER

      The Amidah is the summit of prayer: in it, we enter the holy of holies of religious experience. We say it standing because we are conscious of being in the unmediated presence of GOD. The name Amidah is also related to its earliest setting: prayers said by the people of the Ma’amad, groups

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