Prayer — On Seeking for God, by Rabbi Morrison David Bial (1962)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Morrison David Bial

Shared on:

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

Categories:

🤦 Taḥanun (Nefilat Apayim), Purim Qatan, Davvening

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, אנה אמצאך ana emtsaeka

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Our Father, sometimes it seems to us as though Thou art far away, far beyond the reaching of our mind or heart, as though neither prayer nor wishing could ever reach Thee even faintly. Yet we know that Thou art ever with us, and it is only our preoccupations with ourselves that hobble and diminish us and keep us distant from Thee.
	Hast Thou not said: “If with all your hearts you truly seek Me, ye shall ever surely find Me.” (Jeremiah 29:13) Indeed, Thou art more willing to be found than we are to seek.
	Help us to become aware that Thy spirit and inspiration are always near. Help us to realize that Thou desirest the good of man and not his evil, that every soul is to Thee a wondrous creation, everyone of us a dear, beloved child of Thine; that if we will only learn to turn to Thee, we will find answer in Thy zeal and mighty acts.
	Like children striving to learn their lessons to be readied for mature life, so may we strive to learn to know Thee and Thy nearness so that we may make ourselves capable of the spiritual life of Thy world.

“Prayer — On Seeking for God” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 22, from where this prayer was transcribed.

Source(s)

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Prayer — On Seeking for God, by Rabbi Morrison David Bial (1962)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/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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“Hide-and-Seek Derby,” by Pavel Tchelitchew, Vermont and New York, June 1940 – June 1942

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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