Last year around this time, I was sitting with Ya’qub ibn Yusuf in his bookstore, Olam Qatan (then at 54 Emek Refaim in South Jerusalem), asking if he might share some useful practice that I might share through the Open Siddur Project. He offered this thought which he had heard from someone else. (Unfortunately, Ya’qub could not remember who taught this insight. If you know its origin, please share in the comments.) He said,
I have difficulty with the idea of thanking God for “returning my soul to me” sheheḥezarta bi nishmati when I’m getting up with an awareness of trying to stay in touch with my dreams. It’s not my soul that’s been missing through the night; I’m returning to experience my body. So I much prefer what I heard someone suggest, that instead of saying nishmati (my soul), to say instead han’shamati (the embodiment of my soul). I thank God for returning me to my body — my soul was never missing! In the words of my Sufi teacher Murat Yagan, “I am a soul, and I have a body.”
So thankful am I before you,
Living and enduring Majesty,
for you have returned to me
the embodiment of my soul
with compassion.
So great is your faith!
Modeh Ani first appeared as an addendum in Seder ha-Yom (1599) by Moshe ibn Makhir of Safed. Translation is mine. Read more on Modeh Ani from Shmuel Gonzales at Hardcore Mesorah.
Founding director of the Open Siddur Project, Aharon Varady is a community planner (M.C.P.) and Jewish educator (M.A. J.Ed.) working to improve stewardship of the Public Domain, be it the physical and natural commons of urban park systems or the creative and cultural commons of Torah study. His work on the adoption of Open Source strategies in the Jewish community has been written about in the Yiddish Forverts, the Atlantic Magazine, Tablet, and Haaretz. Aharon Varady studied environmental planning and planning history at DAAP/University of Cincinnati, and the intersection of theurgy, experiential education, and ecology at the Davidson School of Education/JTSA. Here at opensiddur.org, he serves as a hierophant, welcoming new users, editing new posts, keeping the site up-to-date, and occasionally contributing his own original work. If you find any mistakes in his translations or transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin, Ministarot Nakeniשְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you find his work helpful to your own or you'd simply like to support him, please consider donating via his Patreon account.
Ya'qub Ibn Yusuf is the proprietor of Olam Qatan bookstore in South Jerusalem. A really wonderful story of his personal journey can be found on youtube, here.
Rabbi Moshe ben Yehudah ibn Makhir was a kabbalist who flourished among the luminaries in 16th century Tsfat. He is best known for the author of the waking prayer "Modeh Ani" and for his work Seder HaYom, printed for the first time in Venice in 1599. He also founded a yeshiva in the village of Ein Zeitoun (near Tsfat).
Very interesting. In Chinese Medicine, the Hun, or spiritual aspect of the Liver, releases from the body during sleep to soar high in the universe. When the Hun returns, the person awakes. (this is just a brief summary)
Very interesting. In Chinese Medicine, the Hun, or spiritual aspect of the Liver, releases from the body during sleep to soar high in the universe. When the Hun returns, the person awakes. (this is just a brief summary)