Since I’m working on the middah of gratitude this week, I want to focus on the morning blessings, Birkot ha-shachar, in my daily prayers.
moderate repentance
honing in
There are proper times and places for things. Our world where one can have e-mail, facebook, a phone conversation, and texting all happening simultaneously would like us to think otherwise. Nevertheless, I think most people still know of moments in which everything else needs to be pushed aside for the sake of the task at hand.
an awareness meditation
merging keva and kavana
The act of giving is a relatively simple thing. When you give you are simply transferring something that was once yours to someone else. It is entirely possible to give angrily, happily, begrudgingly, indifferently, or thoughtfully. Generosity, on the other hand is a different matter. Generosity has a component of mindfulness and “heartfulness” that goes beyond the physical act of giving.
taking it to the street
In Judaism, it isn't so much about what you know, but what you do. Judaism is a doing religion, not bound up in the recesses of your mind in theology. True, we need some truths to operate by, but we don't spend our time crowning ourself with laurels because we have these truths. We are expected to act.
finding concentration
haze in the olam
simple riches
merciful words
proper honor
from invisible to visible
l'chaim!
proper restraints
The Hebrew for this morsel of wisdom employs alliteration to aid our memory: koso (his cup), kiso (his purse), ka’aso (his anger). A person’s nature can be defined by how he drinks liquor (koso), how much charity he dispenses (kiso), and how he controls himself when provoked (ka’aso). The key to all of these things is self-control. In some aspects of our life, we have too little self-control and at times we have too much.
bendable as a reed
thoughtful giving
order and priorities
and you shall bless Hashem
The Birkat Hamazon, also known as Grace after Meals, is among the most ancient prayers in the Jewish liturgy. Composed of many blessings, depending on holiday, day of the week and what has been eaten, it is comprehensive and thanks Hashem for not only the food but many other blessings at the same time.
righteousness, faithfulness, and life
The rabbis of the Talmud discuss the 613 precepts of Torah and how the prophets sought to distill them into just a few principles. David, in Psalm 15, lists eleven; Isaiah reduces them to six (Is. 33:15-16); and Micah refines them even further to three: “It has been told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: only to do justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly before your God (Mic. 6:8).
