HOW TO PREPARE FOR PRAYER

How to start?

It is advisable to first read a piece of Tanya or chassidut and meditate on it. Then one can quote the quoted sections below before proceeding to the actual prayer.

The Alter Rebbe

The Alter Rebbe writes in his Siddur: It is appropriate to say before the prayer: I hereby take upon myself to fulfil the mitzvah:

“Love your fellow man as yourself.”This means that the precept of ahavat yisrael is the gateway through which man can go to stand before G-d to pray. Through the merit of that love, the worshipper’s prayer is accepted.
My personal interpretation of this is that we can broaden this. It is good that Noahs have love for Israel, but also for their fellow Noahs. In fact, also for the immediate people around you. Make the world a better place by showing people that you care about them, by a kind word, a kind gesture or by helping them. Loving in this also means being kind to others in your thoughts and not judging or being angry.

This means that the precept of ahavat yisrael is the gateway through which man can go to stand before G-d to pray. Through the merit of that love, the worshipper’s prayer is accepted.

My personal interpretation of this is that we can broaden this. It is good that Noahs have love for Israel, but also for their fellow Noahs. In fact, also for the immediate people around you. Make the world a better place by showing people that you care about them, by a kind word, a kind gesture or by helping them. Loving in this also means being kind to others in your thoughts and not judging or being angry.

Psalm 24

Who may climb the mountain of the L-rd and who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not used my name in vain and has not sworn falsely:

מִי יַעֲלֶה בְהַר יְיָ וּמִי יָקוּם בִּמְקוֹם קָדְשׁוֹ

נְקִי כַפַּיִם וּבַר לֵבָב

אֲשֶׁר לֹא-נָשָׂא לַשָּׁוְא נַפְשִׁי

וְלֹא נִשְׁבַּע לְמִרְמָה

(Mi ya’ale behar Hasjem, Umi yakum bimekom kadesho, naki chapaim uvar kevav
asher lo naasaa lashawe nafsji, welo nishba lemirma)

Psalm 111:10

The fear of G-d is the beginning of wisdom. All who practise it have a good mind. His praise lasts forever..

רֵאשִׁית חָכְמָה יִרְאַת יְהֹוָה, שֵֽׂכֶל טוֹב לְכָל־עֹשֵׂיהֶם, תְּהִלָּתוֹ עוֹמֶֽדֶת לָעַד

בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד

Reshiet chochma yirat HaShem, shechol tov lechol osheehem tehilto omedet la’ad, baruch Shem kavod, malchuta le’olam wa’ed.

May the Seven Noahide Commandments of the Torah be my guide and may Almighty G-d be my help.

The fear of G-d

Why should you fear G-d? I don’t want to fear G-d at all, indeed, how can you fear G-d, knowing that He is the ultimate good?

Yet it is the beginning of the way to go with G-d. In the beginning, a person will want to walk to G-d’s will because he fears punishment or wants to be rewarded. A person needs to know that there is an all-seeing eye and an all-hearing ear. That will motivate him and help him make the right choices. 

ut as one’s relationship with HaShem deepens, one lets go of the above. And one walks in His Ways, not because one fears being punished, but because one fears that wrong choices will diminish his relationship with Him. 

By Angelique Sijbolts

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