A Prayer in Truth

In synagogue’s hush, where whispers take flight,

I call to the heavens with all of my might.

But oh, how I fumble, my words all askew,

My pride’s like a rooster, who struts and who crows too!

With sorrow I see it, my heart’s selfish beat,

It loves its own shadow, it craves its own seat.

I thought I was worthy, more pious, more grand,

Yet truth laughs at falsehood, and I’m but a man.

The pain of my lowliness stings like a thorn,

My flaws laid bare, in truth I’m reborn.

No wisdom I boast, no virtue to claim,

Just love for the One who can heal all my shame.

Oh, Creator of truth, hear this fool’s humble plea,

I’m farthest from You, yet I long to be free.

No finery here, just a soul worn and bare,

In truth I now call You—please show me You’re there!

With a chuckle I see it, my ego’s grand jest,

It thought it could bargain, be better than best.

But love pulls me closer, through pain’s bitter gate,

In truth’s simple mirror, I’m near to Your state.

🌿 “From the Bottom of My Foolish Heart”

I’m tired of my clever lies, Creator, see me bare,
This heart’s a crooked salesman with discount love to share.
I promised You mountains, I offered the sky,
But tripped on my ego and fell for my lie.

I’m broken and bankrupt, my credit is gone,
I spent all my merits on cocktails at dawn.
I tried to be holy—wore halos askew,
But laughter erupted, You saw it was true.

So here in the gutter of want and of sin,
I’m shouting for mercy to let Your light in.
No more negotiations, no cunning appeal,
Just grant me the courage to love what is real.

My will to receive is a cunning old fox,
He sold me for peanuts and ran with the box.
He laughs at my sermons, he naps through my prayers,
While my soul’s in the basement, tied up to the chairs.

Yet somewhere beneath all this circus and noise,
A small, trembling child remembers Your voice.
He weeps and he pleads with tears not so smart:
“Creator, please rescue the bottom of my heart.”

Give me the power to love and to give,
To live for Your joy—not just for my “live.”
Let me be silly in service to You,
I’ll dance like King David, I’ll trip on my shoe.

For sorrow is honest but joy is Your art,
You make even beggars sing songs from the heart.
So take all my failures, my laughter, my cries,
And build from these ruins a prayer that flies.

Prayer of the Heart

In the silence where thoughts dissolve,

My heart, a vessel, seeks to evolve.

Beyond the mind’s restless sway,

It cries for truth, for the sacred way.

Oh Creator, You who know my core,

My will to receive, I cling to no more.

Its weight, its pull, binds me to dust,

Yet my heart yearns for a will that’s just.

Not with words the mind may weave,

Nor logic’s chains that strive to deceive,

But with a fire, raw and deep,

My heart’s demand rises from its sleep.

Correct me, Lord, let my soul align,

With Your light, Your love, Your will divine.

To bestow, to give, to mirror Your grace,

To see Your truth in every face.

Strip the veils that cloud my sight,

Let my heart burn bold in Your holy light.

No thought can hold this fervent plea,

Only my heart’s cry sets my spirit free.

Oh Source of all, hear this prayer I send,

Not from my mind, but where my soul bends.

Transform my will, let it seek to bestow,

That I may dwell where Your mercies flow.

Trembling Strings of Faith

In the maze of life's despair, letters dry as bones,

A soul yearns for a spark, a voice to call its own.

Amidst the cloak of faith, seeking a divine door,

To transcend the tangible, to connect and explore.

Golden bells and pomegranates, a rhythm so profound,

The tremble of a violin, where joy and fear are bound.

In the search for holiness, a dance of light and shade,

The sound of silence echoes, where sacred truths are made.

With every note of longing, in a world of unseen strings,

The heart beats for the whisper of the One who sings.

For in the trembling moments, joy finds its place,

In the sacred symphony of love and grace.

The robe of understanding, beyond mere human sight,

In the trembling of creation, the word of God takes flight.

Oh, to see the door, in faith, and not through eyes alone,

To hear the silent song, and feel the sacred tone.

🌿 A Prayer for Correction 

Creator, You formed me a vessel designed,

To receive all Your goodness with purpose aligned.

But my nature is twisted, turned toward my own,

It clings to itself and calls ego its throne.

You made me a creature whose essence is need,

But I use this great hunger for selfish greed.

The gift of receiving, intended for You,

I have stolen for self, made Your purpose untrue.

I see that this gap between us is vast,

A barrier built by my will that holds fast.

Your Light cannot dwell where self-love is enthroned,

Where every intention is ego’s alone.

I study Your wisdom to learn what is real,

To expose all the truths that my ego would seal.

That Lo Lishma is my state in this land,

That I serve only self with my heart and my hand.

Yet the sages have taught me the path to ascend,

That Lo Lishma is the means to the true holy end.

That with effort and prayer, Your Light will descend,

Correcting intention that I cannot bend.

For alone I am powerless, lost in my scheme,

My motives corrupted, my hopes just a dream.

I see that my nature resists what is true,

And even in prayer I ask only for me and not You.

So I turn to You now with my failures confessed,

My ego exposed, my illusions addressed.

I plead for Your Light, for the Segula’s might,

To transform my darkness into bestowing Light.

Cleanse me of cravings that serve only self,

Redeem me from worship of egoic wealth.

Make me a vessel that lives to bestow,

A channel for blessings that endlessly flow.

Let my receiving exist just to give,

To bring You delight as long as I live.

Let intention be pure, seeking only Your joy,

Not sullied by ego’s corrupting ploy.

Unite me with friends in a circle of trust,

Where love overcomes all envy and lust.

Bind us together with one single aim,

To bring You contentment and glorify Your Name.

Help us remember this world is Your school,

Where ego is broken and self-love made fool.

Where study and prayer draw Your merciful Light,

That reforms our desires and sets them aright.

We have no other cure, no other way,

But the Light of correction that answers our pray.

So hear this true cry from the depth of the soul,

Refine our intention and make our hearts whole.

Creator, You know all the secrets within,

The root of my ego, the source of my sin.

Don’t leave me to perish in self-serving lies,

But lift me to dwell in bestowal that flies.

For I am Your creature, designed to receive,

Yet only in giving can I truly live.

Transform me completely from Lo Lishma’s claim,

To serve You in truth, Lishma, in Your Name.

🪨 “The Body's Question, the Soul's Answer”

The body asks, “What will I gain?”

Its hunger constant, sharp as pain.

It bargains even when I pray,

Demanding payment for words I say.

It says, “Your service must reward,

Or else what value is your Lord?”

I see the trap in every plea,

A chain that binds my soul to me.

But obstacles are gifts in guise,

They teach me truth beneath the lies.

Each question from the self I hear

Becomes the path to drawing near.

I hammer hard on hardened heart,

Resolved to break its grip apart.

Each blow a prayer that rends my pride,

Inviting Heaven's light inside.

I see the evil of my claim,

Insisting all must serve my name.

This clarity is grace bestowed,

To guide me on the narrow road.

For when I see my selfish will,

I gain the chance to make it still.

Transform its thirst to holy fire,

That seeks in giving to aspire.

The battle rages every day,

My body finds new words to say.

But I reply with stronger voice,

To serve the Creator is my choice.

No compromise, no hidden fee,

I yearn for true simplicity.

To work with no reward in view,

Except the joy of pleasing You.

Strike after strike, the rock must break,

Till ego’s chains begin to shake.

From splintered self new life can grow,

A vessel fit for Light to flow.

So let the questions come and rise,

I’ll meet them all with earnest eyes.

For every test, each fierce demand,

Is shaped by Your redeeming hand.

In the pursuit of Torah for its own sake,

We seek the truth, no room for mistake.

To understand, to know, with pure clarity,

Without doubts clouding our reality.

"Yesh din, yesh dayan," we must see,

The world as it is, as it truly be.

With faith and influence, we rise each day,

Growing, evolving in every way.

But in acceptance and knowledge's embrace,

We may find ourselves falling from grace.

Seeing a decline, a downward trend,

In our perception, our understanding's end.

When we observe these two states of being,

We see "yesh din, yesh dayan" agreeing.

For when we stray from the Torah's true path,

We face consequences, the aftermath.

"Yesh din tzedek," we must understand,

The righteous path is the one in demand.

To reach the ultimate perfection we seek,

We must grasp the truth, no room for critique.

This is the essence of "Torah lishma,"

Learning for the sake of the divine law.

As our sages have said, "Great is the Talmud,"

For it leads us to action, to do what is good.

So let us learn with the goal in mind,

To understand "yesh din, yesh dayan" aligned.

For faith is the key, the single command,

That guides us to righteousness, to take a stand.

In the realm beyond reason, where actions reside,

We must act without thought, with nothing to hide.

For in these moments of pure, unadulterated deed,

We find true fulfillment, the ultimate creed.

So let us strive for Torah lishma,

To seek the truth with unwavering charisma.

For in the pursuit of knowledge and faith,

We find our purpose, our ultimate fate.