A Prayer Before A Prayer

We are living in this world where envy, lust and honor rules upon our lives. We have reached the level of incredible hatred of each other. Are we able to scrutinize ourselves why we do it? What is the main couse of all this evil? Our growing ego, our growing desires that make us now that we put inside us, even the good of others!? Yet, we all pray to Him, no mattter are we conscious or not, where all this lead us for the one simple reason: we all human beings on this planet are born as egoists, and this „such a nice feeling,’’to live only for ourselves, lead us to bed situations we are now in to such heights of disasters that we are not able even to imagine it’s future consequences! There is "A Prayer before Prayer" written by Kabbalist Noam Elimelech and let’s try to ’copy’ some of it’s precious words it in our egoistic hearts, for our own sake!

A Prayer before a Prayer

Our Father in Heaven, save us from all the failures and the errors; do not leave us, do not abandon us, and do not shame us. Be with our mouths when we speak, with our hands when we work, and with our hearts when we think. Grant us, our Father in Heaven, Merciful God, with devoting our hearts, our thoughts, our words, and our actions and all our movements and feelings, those that are known and those that are not known to us, the revealed and the concealed, to You alone, sincerely, without any ill thought. Purify our hearts and sanctify us; throw upon us pure water and purify us with Your love and compassion, and plant Your love and fear in our hearts forever, with no end, at all times and at all places: when we walk, when we lay, and when we rise. And let the spirit of Your Holiness always burn within us. We always rely on You, Your greatness, Your love, the fear of You, and Your law, written and oral, revealed and concealed, and Your Commandments, to unite with Your Mighty and Awful Name. And guard us from biasness, pride, anger, and pedantry, sadness, gossip, and other vices, and from anything that lessens Your Holy and Pure Work, which we so care for. Impart the spirit of Your Holiness upon us so we may cleave unto You and crave You always, more and more. And raise us from degree to degree so we may come to the merit of our holy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. May their virtue help us, and You will hear the voice of our prayers, so we will always be answered when we pray unto You, for us or for any one of Your people, Israel, one or many. Rejoice and be proud of us, and we will bear fruit Above and root below. And remember not our sins, and especially the sins of our youth, as King David said, “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions.” Do turn

our transgressions and sins to merits, and always impart upon us—from the world of repentance—thoughts of wholeheartedly returning unto You, to correct that which we have blemished in Your Holy and Pure Names.

Do save us from envy of one another, and let no envy for others come into our hearts, nor our envy of others. Rather, let our hearts see the virtues of our friends, and not their faults. And let us speak to each other in a way that is seemly and worthy before You, and let no hatred rise in one towards another, God forbid. Brace our ties of love to You, as it is known to You, that all will be for bringing contentment unto You. This is our foremost aim. And should we not have the wit to aim our hearts to You, You will teach us, so we may truly know the aim of Your good will. And for all that, Merciful and Gracious God, we pray before You to accept our prayers with mercy and good will. Amen, would that be so.