Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of “Rabbi Elimelekh of Lizhensk’s prayer to be able to pray” in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). To the best of my ability, I have set his translation side-by-side with a transcription of the vocalized text of the prayer. Reb Zalman may have made his translation to a slightly different edition of this prayer as indicated in several places. If you can determine which edition of Rabbi Elimelekh’s prayer was translated by Reb Zalman, please contact us or share your knowledge in the comments. . . .
Hashem, as I open my Siddur, let me pray with proper kavanah. Let me pray with sincerity, paying careful attention to every word I utter. Hashem, let me concentrate with my whole being on the meaning of each and every word, sentence and prayer. Keep my mind from wandering to other subjects, and keep me from neglecting to put my heart and soul in to each and every prayer, praise and blessing. May my prayer come before You, O Hashem, at a time of grace, and may it be accepted favorably by You. Amen. . . .

Contributor(s): Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Unknown Author(s)
Shared on ח׳ במרחשון ה׳תשע״ה (2014-11-01) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Erev Shabbat, Davvening, Tiqqunei Zohar
Tags: interpretive translation, תפלין tefillin, petiḥah, פתיחות Petiḥot, Opening Prayers, 15th century C.E., 53rd century A.M., devotional interpretation, prayers of kabbalists, פתח אליהו Pataḥ Eliyahu, תפילות קודם התפילה Prayers before Praying
Elijah began saying: Lord of the worlds You Who are One and not just a number You are the highest of the highest most hidden of the undisclosed no thought scheme grasps You at all. . . .

Contributor(s): Ruth H. Sohn
Shared on ט״ז באדר ה׳תשע״ז (2017-03-14) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Psukei D'zimrah/Zemirot, 7th Day of Pesaḥ
Tags: 20th century C.E., פתיחות Petiḥot, 58th century A.M., Az Yashir, Opening Prayers, Jewish Women's Prayers, Prayers for Praying, Prayers as poems, English vernacular prayer, Prayers before Prayer
“The Song of Miriam” by Rabbi Ruth Sohn was first published as “I Shall Sing to the Lord a New Song,” in Kol Haneshamah: Shabbat Vehagim, Reconstructionist Prayerbook, 1989, 1995 Second Edition. Reconstructionist Press, pp. 768-769. (This poem was also published in several haggadot and other books and set to music by several composers in the U.S. and Israel.) Rabbi Sohn wrote the poem in 1981 as a rabbinical student after immersing herself in the Torah verses and the traditional midrashim about Miriam, and after writing a longer modern midrash about Miriam. Part of this modern midrash was published as “Journeys,” in All the Women Followed Her, ed. Rebecca Schwartz (Rikudei Miriam Press, 2001). . . .
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