DAY 1468: A Prayer to Breathe

July 21, 2016
By bethmordecai
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DAY 1468: A Prayer to Breathe

Dear Hevreh,

Below you’ll find a prayer I wrote in honor of the victims of the Dallas shooting which I’ll be reading at a vigil today organized by the Perth Amboy Chaplain Corps. I will be speaking on this prayer (and the sources quoted) during my talk tonight.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Ari Saks

Adonai Elohei Haruchot L’khol Basar, God, Source of the breath of all flesh (Numbers 27:15)

You breathed your spirit into the nostrils of the First Human (Genesis 2:7)

Imbuing our earthly bodies with your heavenly spirit (Rashi on Genesis 2:7)

A pure spirit (Talmud Masekhet B’rakhot 60b; Birkhot Hashahar)

So as long as I breathe, I acknowledge Your Presence (Talmud Masekhet B’rakhot 60b; Birkhot Hashahar)

Lord in this moment of hamas, of anger and hostility (Genesis 6:11)

Do not let me breathe it in (Psalm 27:12)

Remove the desire to flare my nostrils in righteous indignation (Numbers 25:3)

Help me return to Your holy breath; slowly, intentionally, and mindfully (meditation technique)

So I may hear in order to understand (Deuteronomy 6:4; Sh’ma)

The call to let me breathe (Eric Garner)

The cry to return home after duty has ended (Prayer for Police Officers)

And by deeply breathing in Your Spirit

I can cultivate a muscular and resilient strength (“Becoming Wise,” Krista Tippett)

To love my neighbor as myself (Leviticus 19:18)

For that is what Your teaching is founded upon (Talmud Masekhet Shabbat 31a)

And by breathing in Your love for our neighbors, for our officers, and for ourselves,

Peace will be graced onto us, and spread throughout the world (Song – Od Yavo Shalom Aleinu)

May we breathe in Your will (Response to priestly blessing)

Amen.

 

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