Petition for Prayer, by Rabbi Morrison David Bial (1962)

Contributor(s): Morrison David Bial and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

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

Categories: Morning Baqashot

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, petiḥah, Prayers for Praying

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	O Lord, our fathers spoke in Thy name: Open thy heart to Me as much as the thickness of a needle, and I will open it for thee as wide as a portal. (Shir haShirim Rabbah 5:2.2)
	Lord, help us to prepare our minds that we may learn how to pray to Thee. Petition and praise spoken without the warmth of the heart are cold and uncaring, words offered as a vain sacrifice.
	We pray that we may learn that Thou art there, nay, Thou art here, just at our soul’s reaching, if only we call on Thee in earnest. Doubting is born of our own lack of faith in ourselves, the belief that we are so little that nothing can respond to us.
	In the midst of our humility; yet we must know that we are Thy children, and so possess a treasure worthy of Thee: our soul.
	O Lord, teach us to know that as we reach towards Thee, so dost Thou bend towards us; that no prayer truly uttered really goes unanswered, even though we may not always comprehend the answer. May we grow in that inner wisdom which will enable us to turn our whole selves in urgent call. Then will the words of Thy prophet be fulfilled in us: “And it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:24)

“Petition for Prayer” by Rabbi Morrison David Bial was first published in his anthology, An Offering of Prayer (1962), p. 27, from where this prayer was transcribed.

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. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

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

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.

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.)

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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