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The Lord is in His holy temple; Let all the earth keep silence before Him. (Habakuk 2:20) | |
But as for me, in the abundance of Thy lovingkindness will I come into Thy house. I will bow down toward Thy holy temple in the fear of Thee. (Psalms 5:8) | |
Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not. (Genesis 28:16) | |
The place whereon thou standest is holy ground. (Exodus 8:5) | |
Whoso walketh in haughty pride repels the presence of God. (Berakhot 48b) | |
Whoever committeth sins in secret repels the presence of God. (Hagigah 16a) | |
God’s presence abideth not amidst indolence, vexation, frivolity, levity, chatter or gossip but amidst holy joy. (Sabbath 30a) | |
When a man prayeth he must demean himself as if the Divine Presence is before him. (Sanhedrin 22a) | |
Whoso goeth from synagog to school house cometh face to face with God. (Berakhot 64a) | |
He who earnestly performeth righteousness earns the privilege of receiving the Divine Presence. (Menaḥot 48b) | |
Any place which evokes ignoble motives loses whatever sacredness it may have possessed. If even a synagog become the scene of prejudice, cynicism or animosity, its holiness becomes profaned. | |
But any place which strengthens the better part of our nature, is holy. A workshop wherein one labors with enthusiasm and zeal or an open field where one ardently and lovingly raises sustenance from the earth or a market place in which ideals of brotherhood and good will are conceived and pursued can be holy places. | |
The sanctity of the places to which we come, depends, in no small measure, upon ourselves. No place can be holy to him who is unresponsive to noble appeals; while all the world is a sanctuary to the soul that is alive to all that is good, beautiful and true. The place where we have thrilled with love is a holy place. And therefore, under normal conditions, home is of all places the holiest. It is a sign of some abnormality when home ceases to be one of the sanctuaries of our life. | |
Any place where we have discerned some new beauty is holy. The place where we have transcended some mighty sorrow; the place where we have performed some noble act of self-renunciation; the place where we have zealously worked; the place where we have earnestly prayed; or the place where we have abandond some injurious error and turned our face to the light, shines ever after with the beauty of holiness. | |
When, therefore, our synagogs, already blessed with sacred memories, are filled with the voice of earnest prayer and song, whenever the word of God uttered within it enters into loyal hearts, then the house of prayer becomes a true sanctuary, and the temple built by the hands of men, becomes God’s dwelling place. | |
O Thou whom the seraphim declared thrice holy, the whole universe is full of Thy glory. Wherever Thou dost reveal Thyself is holy ground; at Sinai in the desert, in the Temple where Thou didst call unto Samuel. Wherever Thy name was mentioned in reverence, Thou didst come and bless with Thy holiness. Whenever we seek to turn from Thee, the beauty of Thy holiness departs from us, and even places dedicated to Thy worship become profane. | |
We pray Thee, O Lord, keep us near to Thee, lest the glory of our life depart. Quicken the fountains of love and beauty within us, that the places whereon we stand may become unto us, in fuller measure, holy ground. Inspire us to be holy as Thou art holy, to walk in Thy footsteps, practicing lovingkindness and seeking peace and truth, until humble places become glorified by Thy presence, our habitations fit dwelling places for Thee, and all the world a Beth El, a House of God. |
“Holy Places” is the thirty-sixth prayer found in ברכה ותהלה Blessing and Praise: A Book of Meditations and Prayers for Individual and Home Devotion (CCAR 1923), pp. 121-123. Unfortunately, we do not yet know of a resource providing clear attribution of authorship for any of the prayers in this volume.
Source(s)
“Holy Places (CCAR 1923)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication.
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