Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, Oḥilah la'El, Openers, Philadelphia, prayers of the shaliaḥ tsibbur, preparation, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah, חזנות ḥazzanut, כוונות kavvanot, סליחות səliḥot, רשות reshut
Excerpt: "The personal prayer of this shaliaḥ tsibbur" with a translation of the piyyut "Oḥilah la'El" was first published on Facebook by Yosef Goldman and shared through the Open Siddur Project via its Facebook discussion group. . . .
Content:
Hebrew
English
Holy One, Beloved One.
As I sit here trembling,
vulnerable, scared,
preparing to open my mouth, my heart,
my soul in the heart of our vessel of this sacred community,
and feeling wholly unworthy of the task,
I pray you grant me the softness of heart
and expansiveness of breath,
that words and sounds
that come from within me,
from within us
weave together
so that we become the prayers
we never even knew we needed to be.
Even when my joints and muscles hurt.
Even when my heart and soul hurt.
Even when my abdomen swells
so that I can hardly inhale.
Even when I can barely rise
to stand before your Awesome presence.
I promise
that I will step into Your presence,
into the heart of community.
It’s in You
that I will find
the ever-renewing strength
to open us up
to express all that’s inside.
I pray to You, Dear One,
That I may come into Your presence.
Grant me proper speech,
that I may sing of Your strength
amidst a gathering of our community
and utter praises describing your deeds.
A shaliaḥ tsibbur is the one who serves as the representative of a minyan and the assembled congregation in their prayers in any given service of communal Jewish prayer. “The personal prayer of this shaliaḥ tsibbur” with a translation of the piyyut “Oḥilah la’El” was first published on Facebook by Rabbi Yosef Goldman and shared through The Open Siddur Project Discussion Group. Included in his prayer is the medieval piyyut, “Oḥilah la’El,” by an unknown author.
Contributor: Yosef Goldman
Co-authors:
Name: Yosef Goldman Bio: Rabbi Yosef Goldman is a teacher, spiritual artist, and pastoral caregiver. He is passionate about building sacred community. Yosef received his rabbinic ordination in 2013 from the Jewish Theological Seminary with a concentration in pastoral care and counseling and earned a Masters in Sacred Music. Website:https://bzbi.org/about-bzbi/clergy/ Profile Link:https://opensiddur.org/profile/yosef-goldman
Name: Unknown Author(s) Bio: Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us. Website: Profile Link:https://opensiddur.org/profile/unknown
