[Reposted from 2017, original Introduction:
Revelation — God talks to humanity; Prayer — humans talk to God. One of the best deals we lucked in to at the “used books for sale” movable bookcase at the Burlingame Public Library (CA) is titled —
GATES OF REPENTANCE
The New Union Prayer Book for the Days of Awe
CENTRAL CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN RABBIS,
7538 New York 1978, Revised 1996
The price? $2! Talk about a ‘treasure find’ for a pittance, how lucky can we be! (Later checked at amazon.com, the book costs $6.85).
At our weekly Torah class, a student selects a prayer from this book and reads it as our closing prayer. We are amazed at how the selection exactly fits our day’s lesson. As it is our desire to share the blessings that come our way, so shall we start a series on prayers from this awe-inspiring resource, grateful to the American Rabbis for sharing their prayers in this publication. Exposure to prayers of all faiths develops our own prayer tradition; after all, the One True God hears all prayers from all sincere God-seekers who are on the way to knowing Him. That would include us, Sinaites, and those who frequent this website to avail of the resources we do share.
For starters, in the front cover’s inside flap are the following scriptural quotations:
The gates of repentance are always open. Deuteronomy Rabbah 2.12
“No stranger need lodge in the street” –Job: 31.32
The Holy One does not reject a single creature. Rather, all are acceptable to God The Gates are open at all times, and all who wish may enter.—Exodus Rabbah 19:4
We have reformatted, color-coded the original according to our usual visual cues: this blue for scripture, and this blue for rabbinic quotes.
Thank you, observant Israel, for being the ‘light to the nations!’ for indeed, you have been that through the 6-millennia of your existence, whether in the Land or in diaspora, surely and in hindsight, by Divine design and intention.
Have a great prayer-full life, dear web-visitors, zealous seekers of the One True God from the Nations, the Gentiles! We are co-travellers on the same pathway to seek the God who once spoke on historic Sinai, whose words still reverberate through the ages, reaching us who have ears to hear and who listen and believe the message and the messenger, and who live our lives in obedience to the guidelines and instructions from the Self-revealing God Who revealed His Name as YHWH! —Admin1]
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MEDITATIONS
1
Just as the hand, held before the eye, can hide the tallest mountain, so the routine of everyday life can keep us from seeing the vast radiance and the secret wonders that fill the world.
2
Rabbi Elazar would always give a coin to a poor person before praying. In explanation, he would quote:
“As for me, I shall behold Your face betzedek, in righteousness (Psalm 17.15).”
(Tzedek and tzedakah were always synonyms for righteousness and later tzedakah acquired the meaning of charity.)
3
Out Rabbis taught:
Do not stand up to pray in a morose spirit,
nor in a mood of ribaldry, frivolity, levity, or idle chatter,
but only in the joy of the Mitzvah.
4
Rabbi Chiyah and Rabbi Shimon bar Abba were engaged in study. One said: When we pray we must direct our eyes downward, for it is written:
” Let us lift up our hearts
and hands to God in heaven”
(Lamentations 3.41).
Meanwhile, Rabbi Yishmael ben Rabbi Yosei happened along. He said: What are you discussing? They told him. Then he said: This was the view of Abba:
When we pray we must direct our eyes downward and our hearts upward, thus fulfilling both verses.
5
The Baal shem Tov said:
The first time an event occurs in nature it is called a miracle; later it comes to seem natural and is taken for granted. Let your worship and your service be your miracle each day. Only such worship, performed from the heart with the enthusiasm of fresh wonder, is acceptable.
6
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. . . And God said:
‘Let there be light!; and there was light. . .
And God saw that it was that it was good.’
7
And God said: ‘Let there be light!’’’This first light God made before making the sun and stars. God showed it to David, who burst into song. This was the light Moses saw on Sinai! At the creation, the universe from end to end radiated light—but it was withdrawn. . . and now it is stored away for the righteous, until all the worlds will be in harmony again and all will be united and whole. But until this future world is established, this light, coming out of darkness and formed by the Most Secret, is hidden:
“Light is sown for the righteous
(Psalm 97.11).”
8
Rabbi Akiva said:
How greatly God must have loved us to create us in the image of God; yet even greater love did God show us in making us conscious that we are created in the divine image.
9
Rabbi Berechya said:
The Holy One, just before the creation of Adam, saw that both saints and sinners would be numbered among his descendants. The Holy One considered: If I create Adam, I create sinners as well; but if I do not create Adam, how will the righteous come into existence? Therefore the Holy One ignored the sinners who were destined to be born, took hold of mercy, and created Adam!
10
Why did creation begin with a single human being? For the sake of the righteous and the wicked, that none might ascribe their differing characters to hereditary differences. And lest families boast of their high lineage. This they do nonetheless—how much worse it would be if all were not descended from a single source!
11
Therefore was a single human being created: to teach you that to destroy a single human soul is equivalent to destroying an entire world; and that to sustain a single human soul is equivalent to sustaining an entire world. And a single human being was created to keep peace among human beings, that no one might say to another: My lineage is greater than yours!
12
We experience our belonging to an infinity.
It presses upon us,
Whether we go into ourselves
Or go beyond ourselves.
We live in space without end
and are a part of it,
in time without stop as a segment of it.
Space and time are fundamentally one here,
they come from the one, omnipresent, eternal God.
World and eternity are here one word
both signify the same unendingness.
We live in this unendingness and from it.
Our domain is the opposite of mere location,
of that which has its boundary and written description.
Our day is the opposite of finality, of fate.
Our domain is a going outward that points to the faraway,
our day is the direction that leads into the distance.
All that has come into existence and has been given
becomes a path to the beyond,
and to that which is in the process of becoming,
to the world beyond and to the coming day.
All creation wants to be revelation,
all of the past becomes the future.
13
An ancient Jewish word says:
God creates, in order to continue to create . . .
All creation has its force, its constant birth.
Creation and revelation,
becoming and designation belong together;
they determined one another
The world is not mere fate. . .
It is the world of God:
a world; and nevertheless, God’s domain.
Space; and nevertheless, unendingness;
Time; and nevertheless, eternity.
Just so an ancient Jewish word again says:
God is the space of the world,
but the world is not the space of God. . .
It is the creation and revelation of God
and therefore a world filled with tension.
It is an interweaving of opposites,
an immanence of the transcendent,
a being at one with the other,
the covenanting of the finite and temporal
with the infinite eternal.
Both become one within religious feeling,
the current moves between the poles. . .
14
Free will is given to every human being. If we wish to incline ourselves toward goodness and righteousness, we are free to do so; and if we wish to incline ourselves toward evil, we are also free to do that. From Scripture (Genesis 3.22) we learn that the human species, with its knowledge of good and evil, is unique among all earth’s creatures. Of our own accord, by our own faculty of intelligence and understanding, we can distinguish between good and evil, doing as we choose. Nothing holds us back from making this choice between good and evil—the power is in our hands.
15
All is foreseen—and free will is given.
Everything is in the hands of God except reverence for God.
16
If you choose to pollute yourself with sin, you will find all the gates open before you; and if you desire to attain the highest purity, you will find all the forces of goodness ready to help you.
17
Do not imagine that character is determined at birth. We have been given free will. Any person can become as righteous as Moses or as wicked as Jeroboam. We ourselves decide whether to make ourselves learned or ignorant, compassionate or cruel, generous or miserly. No one forces us, no one decides for us, no one drags us long one path or the other; we ourselves by our own volition, choose our own way.
18
In connection with the Mitzvah of following the right path, it has been taught: As God is called gracious, so must you be gracious; as God is compassionate, so must you be; as God is holy, so must you follow the path of holiness. Therefore the prophets described God as possessing these attributes: endlessly patient and loving, just and upright, wholehearted, and the like. Their intention was to teach us that these are the good and praiseworthy paths for us to follow as we attempt, according to our capacities, to imitate God.
19
With regard to all human traits, the middle of the road is the right path. For example: Do not be hot-tempered, easily angered. Nor, on the other hand should you be unfeeling like a corpse. Rather, take the middle of the road: keep an even disposition, reserving your anger for occasions when it is truly warranted. Similarly, do not cultivate a desire for luxuries; keep your eye fixed only on genuine necessities. In giving to others, do not hold back what you can afford, but do not give so lavishly that you yourself will be impoverished. Avoid both hysterical gaiety and somber dejection, and instead be calmly joyful always, showing a cheerful countenance. Act similarly with regard to all the dispositions. This is the path followed by the wise.
20
How do we fix these traits into our character? By repeatedly doing them, returning to them until they become second nature. And because these attributes are divine, this path, the one that avoids extremes, is called the path of God, and Abraham taught his descendants to follow it. Whoever follows it grains goodness and blessing, as it is said:
“For I have known him, that he might command his children and those who follow him to keep the LORD path, doing justice and right, that the Lord may fulfill for Abraham the divine purpose (Genesis 18.19).”
21
Smooth speech and deception are forbidden us. Our words must not differ from our thoughts; the inner and outer person must be the same; what is in the heart should be on the lips. We are forbidden to deceive anyone, Jew or Gentile, even in seemingly small matters. For example, one must not urge food on another, knowing that the other cannot eat it; one must not offer gifts that cannot be accepted; a storekeeper opening a bottle in order to sell its contents must not pretend to be opening it in honor of a particular person, and the like. Honest speech, integrity, and a pure heart—that is what is required of us.
22
If you see a friend sinning or pursuing an unworthy life, it is a Mitzvah to try to restore that person to the right path. Let your friend know that wrong actions are self-inflicted hurts, but speak softly and gently, making it clear that you speak only because of your concern for your friend’s well-being.
23
Our sages taught: One who shames another in public has no share in the world-to-come. Therefore one must take great care not to shame another in public, whether young or old, either by shameful name-calling or by tale-bearing.
24
This fragile life between birth and death can nevertheless be a fulfillment—if it is a dialogue. In our life and experience we are addressed; by thought and speech and action, by producing and by influencing we are able to answer. For the most part we do not listen to the address, or we break into it with chatter. But if the word comes to us and the answer proceeds from us, then human life exists, though brokenly, in the world. The kindling of the response in that spark of the soul, the blazing up of the response, which occurs time and again, to the unexpectedly approaching speech, we term responsibility. . .
25
Ethical life has entered into religious life, and cannot be extracted from it. There is no responsibility unless there is one to whom one is responsible, for there is no response where there is no address. . .
26
We shall accomplish nothing at all if we divide our world and our life into two domains: one in which God’s command is paramount, the other governed by the laws of economics, politics, and the simple self-assertion of the group. . . Stopping one’s ears so as not to hear the voice from above is breaking the connection between existence and the meaning of existence.
27
It was the favorite saying of the sages of Yavneh: I am a creature of God and you are a creature of God. My work may be in the city, yours is perhaps in the field. As you rise early to work, so I rise early to my work. As you do not claim that your work is superior to mine, so I do not claim that mine is superior to yours. And should one say, I do more important work and the other less important work, we have already learned: more or less, it does not matter, so long as the heart is turned toward heaven.
28
“The Lord loves the righteous (Psalm 146.8).”
The Holy one loves the righteous because their righteousness is not a matter of birth. The priests and Levites are members of ancestral houses; one cannot choose to join them. But anyone, Jew or Gentile, can choose to be righteous. Of their own accord the righteous give themselves to God in love. Therefore, the Holy one loves them.
29
“And an angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said: Abraham, Abraham! (Genesis 22.11)”
Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob said: The repetition of ‘Abraham’ signifies that he was calling not only to Abraham, but to all subsequent generation. For there is no generation without its Abraham, none without its counterpart of Jacob, its Moses, and its Samuel.
30
Every human being has merits and faults. The righteous person has more merits than faults, the wicked one more faults than merits. The average person is (more or less) evenly balanced between the two. A community, too, is judged in this manner: if the merits of its citizens outweigh their faults, it is called righteous; if their faults outweigh their merits, it is called wicked.
31
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said:
The will-to-evil is like iron in a forge: While it is there, one can shape it, make untensils of it, anything you like. So with the will-to-evil: There is only one way to shape it aright, through the words of the Torah, which is like fire.
32
Rabbi Bunam said to his followers:
Our great transgression is not that we commit sins—temptation is strong and our strength is slight! No, our transgression is that at every instant we can turn to God—and we do not turn!
33
Though the Torah warns the wicked of punishment, God is merciful. “Therefore God instructs sinners in the way (Psalm 25.8)”—this is the way of repentance. When we ask: What is the fate of sinner? The Books of Wisdom reply: “Misfortune pursues sinners (Proverbs 13.21)” The Books of Prophecy reply: “The soul that sins shall die (Ezekiel 18.4)”. The Books of the Torah reply: “Let them bring an offering and be forgiven (Leviticus 1.4; 5.6, 16). But the Holy One replies: Let them repent and be forgiven. As it is written: “God instructs sinners in the way”—the way of repentance.
34
Who is truly repentant? The one who , when the temptation to sin is repeated, refrains from sinning.
35
Do not drink you are obliged to repent only for transgressions involving acts, such as stealing, robbing, and sexual immorality. Just as we must repent such acts, so must we examine our evil feelings and repent out anger, our jealousy, our mocking thoughts, our excessive ambition and greed. We must repent all these. Therefore it is written:
“Let the wicked forsake their ways, the unrighteous their thoughts (Isaiah 55.7).
36
There are many reasons for the sounding of the Shofar. Among them are these:
- Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of Creation,
- and we, on Rosh Hashanah, accept the Creator as our Sovereign, as it is said: “With trumpets and the sound of the Shofar is sounded to herald their beginning as though to say: Let all who desire to repent, turn now.
- Thirdly, the Shofar reminds us of our stand at Sinai, as it is said: “The blast of the Shofar grew louder and louder (Exodus 19.19),”in order that we may take upon ourselves what our ancestors took upon themselves when they said: “We will do and we will hear (Exodus 24.7)”
- Fourthly, it reminds us of the Binding of Isaac, who offered himself to Heaven and was replaced by the ram caught by its horns is a thicket. So ought we to be ready at all times to offer our lives for the sanctification of God’s name.
- Finally, it reminds us of redemption, that we may long passionately for it, as it is said:
“It shall come to pass on that day, that a great Shofar will be sounded; and all the lost shall return (Isaiah 27.13).
37
From year to year the need becomes more urgent for a religion that teaches reverence for life as its highest principle. Judaism is such a religion. The God it worships does not desire the death of sinners, but that they may turn and live. That God’s word is ‘Seek Me and live, and ‘Choose life.’ It is a religion which teaches that to destroy a single life is to destroy an entire world, and to sustain a single life is to sustain an entire world. It is a religion that yearns, above all things, for the day when swords will be beaten into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks; whose aim, in the words of a modern Jewish writer, is ‘the creation of a human being unable to shed blood; whose toast is Lechayim, ‘To life! It is the religion of the Akedah, which is a symbol of life, not death, because Abraham is forbidden to sacrifice his son. It is a religion whose New Year is a celebration of life and a plea for its continuance:
‘Remember us unto life, O king who delights in life,, and inscribe us in the Book of Life, for your sake, O God of life.’
38
Glory to those who hope!
For the future is theirs;
Those who stand unflinching against the mountain
Shall gain its summit.
So hopes the river, running to the sea,
To fulfill its dreams in the crash of waters.
So longs the tree, branching skyward
At last to touch the palm of sun.
Therefore we love dawn as a promise of day,
The nightingale’s love-song as a longing for birth,
The flowing of streams as the beat of dreams made real,
Streams cutting channels for rivers of the future
And never growing weary.
And all who join hands, trusting creation—
These are the companions of hope.
Forge, then, the vision of days to come:
As the waves shape the rocky shore,
As the smith moulds white-hot steel at will,
Form dreams of faithfulness.
Desolation will not leave the desert,
Until it leaves the heart.
39
There is a grace that every dawn renews,
A loveliness making every morning fresh.
We will endure, we will prevail—
We, the children of Hope,
Children of the One
Who crowds the heavens with stars,
Endows the earth with glory,
And fills the mind with wonder!
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