Very important prayers

We are clearly on the brink of something huge. We all need to pray hard to the Creator for His salvation now.

BS”D

In previous posts, I reminded us all of the importance of prayer, as only the Creator can save us. Here are some prayers from the Siddur:

•The Shema, in which we proclaim that God is One and is the ONLY power.

This declaration of faith is extremely powerful. By affirming our belief that nothing else has the power to harm us or save us, we become worthy of God’s salvation.

Note: It is critical to have the proper intent when reciting the Shema, that is, to believe in One God, the Creator of the world, and Him alone. Oneness of God includes that He has no form or any physical attributes at all.

If time is short, the first verse is the most critical part of the Shema prayer.

Cover your eyes with your right hand and say:

Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.

Recite the following verse in an undertone:

Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart. You shall teach them thoroughly to your children, and you shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates.

And it will be, if you will diligently obey My commandments which I enjoin upon you this day, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, I will give rain for your land at the proper time, the early rain and the late rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine and your oil. And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be sated. Take care lest your heart be lured away, and you turn astray and worship alien gods and bow down to them. For then the Lord's wrath will flare up against you, and He will close the heavens so that there will be no rain and the earth will not yield its produce, and you will swiftly perish from the good land which the Lord gives you. Therefore, place these words of Mine upon your heart and upon your soul, and bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, to speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise. And you shall inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates - so that your days and the days of your children may be prolonged on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them for as long as the heavens are above the earth.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel and tell them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to attach a thread of blue on the fringe of each corner. They shall be to you as tzizit, and you shall look upon them and remember all the commandments of the Lord and fulfill them, and you will not follow after your heart and after your eyes by which you go astray - so that you may remember and fulfill all My commandments and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I, the Lord, am your God. True.

From Siddur Tehillat Hashem. © Copyright Kehot Publication Society, Brooklyn NY

• Here is part of the “Aleinu” prayer, in which we express our yearning for the day when all of humanity will know the Creator and serve Him as one. This prayer is recited three times daily.

(Photo from ArtScroll Machzor.)

• Here is “Ani Maamin,” the 13 Principles of Faith as laid down by Maimonides, which we recite daily:

Based on the Thirteen Principles of Faith formulated by the Rambam in his Commentary on the Mishnah (tractate Sanhedrin 10:1).

1. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is the Creator and Guide of all the created beings, and that He alone has made, does make, and will make all things.

2. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is One and Alone; that there is no oneness in any way like Him; and that He alone is our G‑d - was, is and will be.

3. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is incorporeal; that He is free from all anthropomorphic properties; and that He has no likeness at all.

4. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is the first and the last.

5. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is the only one to whom it is proper to pray, and that it is inappropriate to pray to anyone else.

6. I believe with complete faith that all the words of the Prophets are true.

7. I believe with complete faith that the prophecy of Moses our teacher, peace unto him, was true; and that he was the father of the prophets, both of those who preceded and of those who followed him.

8. I believe with complete faith that the whole Torah which we now possess was given to Moses, our teacher, peace unto him.

9. I believe with complete faith that this Torah will not be changed, and that there will be no other Torah given by the Creator, blessed be His name.

10. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, knows all the deeds and thoughts of human beings, as it is said, "It is He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who perceives all their actions." (Psalms 33:15).

11. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, rewards those who observe His commandments, and punishes those who transgress His commandments.

12. I believe with complete faith in the coming of Moshiach, and although he may tarry, nevertheless, I wait every day for him to come.

13. I believe with complete faith that there will be resurrection of the dead at the time when it will be the will of the Creator, blessed be His name and exalted be His remembrance forever and ever.

The foundation of all foundations [and basic principles of the Torah] and the pillar of all wisdoms is to know that there is a First Being Who brings every existing thing into being. All existing things – in heaven, on earth and what is between them – come into being only from His true existence.

If it should enter one's mind that He does not exist – no other thing could have any existence.

Mishneh Torah, Yesodei HaTorah, 1:1-2

(Translation from Kehot Publication Society, found on Chabad.org.)

One of my subscribers sent me these beautiful recordings of her husband, a cantor, singing #12 of the Ani Ma’amin in the original Hebrew:

• Here is Psalm 91, frequently recited in times of danger:

Please make good use of these prayers, and please share them.