  
|
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe
Syosset, New York
|
|
In Yiddish, the word meaning "to pray" is "davenen."
According to Rabbi Marc Gellman (The God Squad), there are four kinds of prayers:
Thanks prayers, Gimmie prayers, Oops prayers, and Wow! prayers.
Country singer, Luke Bryan sang a song titled, "Pray About Everything." The lyrics are as follows:
Time is tight and money's short
River's up and the weatherman
He's calling for another storm
Pressure's on, the margins thin
Gotta figure out a fix for this awful fix I'm in
Oh Mama, what am I gonna do
She said, "Child there's only one thing you can do"
[chorus]
Don't worry 'bout nothing
Let it go, see what tomorrow brings
Don't worry 'bout nothing
Pray about everything
Pray about everything
.......
So many prayers.
There's a lovely story titled, "A Patch of Ripe Berries":
A Hasidic parable concerns a hungry boy traveling with his father through a dense forest. Suddenly the boy spots a patch of ripe berries and begins picking them and eating them.
When the hour grows dangerously late, the boy can't bring himself to leave the patch.
What could a father do? He loved the boy in spite of his childish behavior.
The father says, "I will start out; you may stay a few minutes longer. But to make sure
we don't get separated, keep calling, 'Father! Father!' I will answer you. But as soon
as my voice begins to fade, come running."
Hasidic masters used this parable to teach the need to keep united to God in prayer.
Source: "The Sower's Seeds - 120 Inspiring Stories for Preaching, Teaching and
Public Speaking" by Brian Cavanaugh, T.O.R., Paulist Press.
Then there's the story by Megory Anderson, from "Sacred Dying: Creating Rituals for Embracing the End of Life":
I once asked a rabbi in a large congregation which prayers he used with the dying.
"You mean the Mourner's Kaddish?" he asked, referring to the prayer recited on
behalf of the deceased.
"No," I replied, "I mean the prayers said when a person is actually dying."
"Oh," he replied, "I don't know. I've never seen anyone die."
He had been a congregational rabbi for almost twenty years.
"I only get called when it's time to do the funeral," he explained.
Clearly, there is much to learn within our traditional religious communities."
There are prayers for "altsding"--everything--for all occasions and specific needs.
I clearly remember the prayer for mikveh. My "rebetsn", Ada Cohen, accompanied me to the mikveh in 1958, prior to my wedding. As I walked down the seven steps into the warm water of the mikveh, it was customary to immerse fully, covering every strand of hair with water--a total of three times. The prayer for the traditional immersion:
Blessed are you, Adonai, Ruler of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with the mitzvot and commanded us concerning immersion.
Some people then choose to say the she-he-che-yanu blessing after the last immersion.
There are prayers for Israeli solders, missing Israeli soldiers, those coping with "more-shkhoyre" (depression), anyone with a broken heart, a post Mother's Day prayer, and an autism prayer. A mincha prayer used to take place in the outfield stands before and after games at Wrigley Field.
If you are among the millions who struggle with infertility, there's a prayer for you. It can be a refuge as you navigate the complex world of fertility treatments.
The Infertile Patient's Prayer and Infertility
Lord, Give me Strength...
. To keep my cool when another period starts.
. To keep my chin up when a co-worker announces her pregnancy.
. To have a good relationship with my friend in spite of her ability to conceive
easily and not be jealous of her.
. To endure my sister-in-law's comments about toilet training.
. To keep from crying when I see children begging on the roads.
. To forgive my doctor when he keeps me waiting for two hours for a consultation--
and then can't remember my name.
. To make the right decision about treatment.
. To maintain a good relationship with my husband in spite of all this.
And then it's helpful to remember the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr:
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to
change the things I can change, and the wisdom to know the difference."
Infertility is...
. Watching your husband playing with your friend's baby and wishing you could give
him one of his own.
. Telling nurses to please take blood from your right arm because the veins in your
left arm are all gone because of all the IVs you've had.
. Avoiding people you haven't seen for a long time because you don't want to hear
the question, "Do you have any kids yet?"
. Feeling very left out when your friends start comparing their pregnancy or
childbirth experiences.
. Feeling like the whole town is pregnant except for you.
. Getting tired of people always expecting you to do things because "you don't
have any kids to worry about."
. Waking up in the middle of the night and wishing you could hear your baby crying.
. Wishing you could give your parents grandchildren.
. Wanting to fall apart if one other person says, "Why don't you adopt?" Easy,
right?
. Sometimes avoiding friends who are pregnant or with newborns because you
just can't handle the situation at that moment.
(Source: fertilitycommunity.com)
Celebrities often come forward to send support and words of encouragement.
When a tornado struck near Oklahoma City in 2013, Reba McEntire, country
singer from Oklahoma, tweeted: "All my prayers go out to the folks in Oklahoma
dealing with these tornadoes. Stay safe everyone!!!"
Miranda Lambert, country singer and wife of Oklahoma native, Blake Shelton, tweeted, "Pray. That's all we can do. Pray for peace for Oklahoma."
Country singer and Food Network star, Trisha Yearwood, posted this on her official Facebook page:
"PrayForOklahoma. Pray for everyone devastated by these storms, but especially for those families in Moore, OK, right now...God, wrap your arms around this community."
Ronald Reagan said, "From my mother I learned the value of prayer, how to have dreams and believe I could make them come true."
On a less serious note, Janis Joplin said, "Oh, Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?" And Leroy Paige says, "Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines."
And, finally, there's a prayer for the loss of a synagogue:
To Hundred Sixty-Five Mourning a Synagogue.
Broken, tortured walls confront me.
Blackened shell of beloved place;
Here I learned to sing our cycle's songs.
Here was community and family. Torah.
Merciful One. You do not dwell in walls,
But these walls were holy;
Their destruction damages my very structure.
I too am shaken, displaced.
Yet harsh evidence of hatred cannot alter memory.
Remembrance dwells in hearts and souls;
Let mourning honor perseverance of community.
Immutable, it is the essence of heritage.
Merciful One, cleanse without and within.
Remove hatred from our midst;
Transform me, heal me, clarify my vision.
Soothe my anger, bring me peace."
----------------------------------------------------------------
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe says that as long as there are SAT exams, there will
always be prayer in the schools.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z |
| Yiddish
Stuff Jewish Humor Schmooze News More Majorie Wolfe |
Principle Jewish Stories All Things Jewish Jewish Communities of the World |