Thou Who Art Spirit, by Rabbi Morrison David Bial (1962)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Morrison David Bial

Shared on:

6 September 2022 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Repenting, Resetting, and Forgiveness

Tags:

20th century C.E., סליחות seliḥot, 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	“But if . . . thou shalt seek the Lord Thy God, thou shall find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:27)
	O Lord: Thou Who art spirit knowest that though we yearn upwards, yet do we often fail to lift up more than our voices; our thoughts and our emotions remain too tightly concerned only with ourselves.
	In truth, we lament the materialism of our desires, the prayerlessness of our lives, the lack of aspiration, the want of Thee in our souls.
	Forgive us that our resolves to lead a higher life have so readily been broken. Forgive us that we have so readily forgiven ourselves. Forgive us that we do not even know how to repent.
	Teach us, fill us with the overwhelming realization that Thou art light and goodness and love, and that Thou art no farther than the pulse of our blood, the impulse of our mind, the hope of our spirit. That if only we tear away the marks of selfishness and pride, that in our humility we will find Thy glory. No one stands between Thee and me — but I.
	O Lord, lead us out of the twilight in our souls into Thy light, that we may be children not of night but of day; that we may brighten our world with the reflected light of Thy countenance beaming through us on all mankind.
	Amen.

“Thou Who Art Spirit” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 54, from where this prayer was transcribed.

Source(s)

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“Thou Who Art Spirit, by Rabbi Morrison David Bial (1962)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Morrison David Bial

Born in New York in 1917, Morrison David Bial studied at Princeton Theological Seminary, served as a chaplain at Mitchell Field during World War II, and was ordained from the Jewish Institute of Religion in 1945. Rabbi Bial spoke from pulpits in the United States as well as in Dublin, Glasgow, and London. He led a number of tours to Israel, and published thirteen books, including The Rabbi’s Bible: Torah and The Rabbi’s Bible: Prophets (began in 1966, co-authored with Solomon Simon), Liberal Judaism at Home: the Practices of Modern Reform Judaism (1971), and Your Jewish Child (1978). Rabbi Bial spent over thirty years serving Temple Sinai in Summit, New Jersey, from 1953 until he became Rabbi Emeritus in 1985. From 1985–1995, Rabbi Bial joined Temple Beth Shalom in Ocala, Florida, revitalizing its interfaith movement, and served as Rabbi Emeritus until his death in 2004.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17