DAY 600: Today I want to try to come even closer to the Holy One Blessed Be He

February 20, 2014
By bethmordecai
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DAY 600: Today I want to try to come even closer to the Holy One Blessed Be He

Dear Hevreh,

While many of our traditional prayers date back nearly 1700 years to the time of themishnah, there are elements of our “traditional” liturgy that date only 500 or so years ago to the time of the mystics (m’kubalim) in the holy city of Tzfat. What’s amazing is not necessarily that these “modern” prayers, most notably L’kha Dodi and the creation of theKabbalat Shabbat service have been accepted into our traditional liturgy, but that they were universally done so within a single century! For a world in which ancient is defined as yesterday’s Twitter feed, a century may seem like a long time for a a prayer service to go “viral.” But seen in context of a liturgy that hasn’t changed substantially in nearly 1700 years, Kabbalat Shabbat may be more viral (and longer lasting) than the “Harlem/Purim Shake”.
 
What has led to the “virality” of Kabbalat Shabbat? Perhaps it is the intention behind it. The mystic Rabbi Eleazar Azikri (1533–1600) crafted the prayer known as Y’did Nefesh (“My Soulmate”) which we will sing, learn, and meditate on tomorrow night as part of our White Out Friday Night experience (with DINNER!). In one of his personal notebooks he wrote the following kavannah (“intention”):
 
היום אני נסיתי להתקרב לקדוש ברוך הוא יותר
Hayom ani nisiti l’hitkarev l’Kadosh Barukh Hu yoter
Today I want to try to come even closer to the Holy One Blessed Be He
 
This kavannah reflects what I believe is the essence of prayer and why this “modern” prayer has been recited for so long. Prayer is not tradition, it’s not ritual, it’s connection…to God. Authentic prayer is the craving of our souls to be uplifted and touched so that we can tangibly feel that spark of divinity which too often lies doormant among us and that desire to pray is as real for us as it was for mystics like Rabbi Azikri. Authentically praying doesn’t mean we have all of the answers of what God is or what it means to feel spiritual; all it means is that we believe the journey to come closer to God is worth it.
 
So join us tomorrow night at 6:45 pm as we, as a community, follow in Rabbi Azikri’s footsteps and try to come even closer to the Holy One Blessed Be He.
 
Kol Tuv,
 
Rabbi Ari Saks
 
Photo of the holy city of Tzfat taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safed

Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Shabbat White Out Friday Night
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