הֶגְיּוֹן הַלֵּב (לפני הנחת תפלין) | Meditation Prior to Laying Tefillin, by Asher Hillel Burstein

Contributor(s):

Asher Hillel Burstein

Shared on:

27 November 2025 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Tefillin

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., animals, predation, תפלין tefillin

Source (Hebrew)

Translation (English)

אָנָּא ה׳,
אֵל רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן.
אֶת־בְּרוּאֲךָ הָרַךְ הַזֶּה לֹא שָׁחַטְתִּי,
אֶת־יַלְדְּךָ, אֶת־יַקִירֶֽךָ.
בְּשָׂרוֹ הַכָּשֵׁר נֶאֱכַל עַל־יְדֵי יְהוּדִים טוֹבִים
שֹׁמְרֵי אֱמוּנִים.
וּשְׁאָר בְּשָׂרוֹ נֶאֱכַל עַל־יְדֵי בְּנֶֽיךָ
אֲשֶׁר עֹבְדִים אֶת־כְּבוֹדְךָ עַל־פִּי דַּרְכֵי עַמָּם.
דָּמָיו וְעַצְמוֹתָיו שָֽׁבוּ אָֽרְצָה,
לְהַחֲיוֹת בָּהּ אֶת־עֲפַר הָאֲדָמָה וְאֶת־הַצֹּמֵֽחַ מִמֶּֽנָּהּ.
וַאֲנִי, אֵין בִּרְצוֹנִי לְהָמִית נֶֽפֶשׁ כָּל חָי
אֲשֶׁר יָצָא מֵרֶֽחֶם אִמּוֹ,
וְאֵין לִי חֵֽפֶץ לֶאֱכֹל מִן בְּשָׂרוֹ.

I beseech Thee, O Lord,
Merciful and Beneficent God:
I did not slaughter this, Thy tender creature,
Thy child, Thy dear one.
Its kosher flesh was consumed by good Jews
who observe Thy Torah,
while the remainder of its flesh was consumed by Thy children
who worship Thy glory according to the custom of their people.
Its blood and its bones returned to the earth
to vivify the soil and that which grows therefrom.
It is not my desire to bring death to any spirit-bearing creature
who emerged from a mother’s womb;
neither is it my wish to eat of its flesh.

הִנֵּה,
יֵשׁ אֶת־לִבִּי לְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת־הַיְּצוּר הַנָּאֶה הַזֶּה
עַל־יְדֵי מִצְוַת תְּפִלִּין הַקְּדוֹשָׁה וְהָעֶלְיוֹנָה.
יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁיָנֽוּחַ בְּשָּׁלוֹם,
וּבִזְכוּתוֹ תַּעֲזְרֵֽנִי לְקַיֵּם אֶת־מִצְוַת
תְּפִלִּין בְּכַוָּנָה,
בְּיִרְאַת הַכָּבוֹד,
וּבִדְחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ.
אָמֵן.

Behold,
my heart desires to sanctify this beautiful creature
by means of the holy and exalted mitsvah of tefillin.
May it be Thy will that it rest in peace.
And in its merit help Thou me to fulfill the mitsvah of tefillin
with full intentionality,
with due reverence,
and with awe and love.
Amen.

Asher Hillel Burstein

Asher Hillel Burstein is a cantor, poet, singer-songwriter, and teacher. Besides his education in various yeshivot, a bachelors degree in Hebrew, an MFA in Fiction Writing, and a masters in Jewish Studies, he is working on a third masters degree in Secondary English Education while finishing up his doctorate in Creative Writing.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "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)

הֶגְיּוֹן הַלֵּב (לפני הנחת תפלין) | Meditation Prior to Laying Tefillin, by Asher Hillel Burstein

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