Every prayer has an origin story. The Rabbis explained the kavannah of a prayer by telling a story.

A Young Person’s Guide to the Origins of Jewish Prayer introduces these stories to help children express their own spiritual understanding of the prayers in the siddur.

Torah AuraProductions

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ISBN #978–1–934527–77–1

Copyright © 2015 Torah Aura Productions. All rights reserved.

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ContentsOpen My Lips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

The Word of the Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

KABBALAT SHABBAT

Kabbalat Shabbat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Shabbat on Wednesday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

L’kha Dodi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Shabbat Starts with a Sigh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

BIRKHOT HA-SHAHAR

Modeh Ani . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13The Shoes that Got Turned Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Mah Tovu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Bilaam Says . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Asher Yatzar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19The Creation of People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Elohei N’shamah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21The Story of our Soul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Torah Brakhot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23The Fox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24A Portion in the World to Come . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

P’ZUKEI D’ZIMRA

Birkhot ha-Shahar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Waking Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Barukh She-Amar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28The Prayer that Fell from Heaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Psalm 150 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30David Experiences this Psalm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Nishmat Kol Hai and Shokhen Ad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32The Right Person to Ask for Rain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Yishtabah Shimkha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Steps to God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

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A CALL TO WORSHIPBarkhu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

The First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37The Power of a Minyan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

SHEMA AND HER BLESSINGSYotzer Or . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Adam and Eve’s First Shabbat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Ma’ariv Aravim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43It Happened in the Middle of the Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Ahavat Rabbah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Two Memories of Sinai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Ahavat Olam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Rabbi Akiva and Rachel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Shema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50The Death of Jacob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

V'Ahavta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Moses Steals the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54The Rebuilds the Temple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Death of Rabbi Akiva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Mi Khamokha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59The Golem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Nahshon’s Leap of Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61The Women Hold Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Saying with a Mouth Full of Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Hashkiveinu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64The Bird of Happiness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

AMIDAHAmidah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Hannah’s Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Adonai S'fatai Tiftah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70King David Messed Up Big Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Avot v’Imahot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73The Power of a Biography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Abraham Was a Hero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Shield of Abraham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Sarah’s Tent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78The Missing Mother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

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G'vurot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Giving Life to the Dead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Joseph the Tzadik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

K'dushah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Jacob Visits the Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Calling One to the Other: Isaiah’s Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Taken by the Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Studying a Psalm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

K'dushat Ha-Yom Shel Shabbat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Shabbat in Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92The First Shabbat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Birkat Hoda’ah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94David’s Memory Makes a Difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Birkat Shalom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Entering the Land of Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Jacob and Esau Make Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99God Buries Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

HALLELHallel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

David and the Spider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102King David Learns about the Meaning of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

TORAH SERVICEBeing at Mt. Sinai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

The Torah is Given Every Day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Beginning the Torah Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106The Shepherd’s Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107The Walls of Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

The Ark is Opened . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110Being Lifted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111The Last Kopeck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

Taking the Torah out of the Ark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115The Synagogue That Cried . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116

The Torah Blessings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118Ezra’s Moment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119The Deaths of the Maharal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121

Mi She-Berakh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123God’s Partner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

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V’Zot ha-Torah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126How I Learned to Study Torah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Haftarah Blessings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129The Real Jew. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131The Clothes That Went to a Wedding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Ashrei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134The Alef-Bet of Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135Showering Mercy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Returning the Torah to the Ark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137The Torah is a Tree of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Archik’s Torah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139The Seven Shepherds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

CONCLUDING PRAYERSEin K’Eloheinu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

The Incense Offering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Aleinu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143The Tikkun Olam Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144The Jewel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Joshua Says . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Kaddish Yatom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150A Tale of Rabbi Akiva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151

Adon Olam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153The Great Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

HAVDALAHHavdalah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Adam and Eve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156An Elijah Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Another Elijah Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

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Open My Lips(Psalms 51.15)

Once Jews offered sacrifices in the Temple. These sacrifices were called avodah, work. When prayers replaced sacrifice, they were called avodat ha-lev, the work of the heart. The secret to prayers bringing us closer to God and not just being words we say is kavanah. Kavanah (usually translated as “intention”) actually comes from a root that means aiming or pointing. One needs to learn how to read Hebrew prayers and one needs to learn how to understand prayers. One also needs to learn where to point one’s heart while one is praying. Heart-pointing is how we do .

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The Word of the HeartThere was a king who loved music. The

king had a court musician who played beautifully. But after a while his playing got to be tired and bored. He got tired of playing the same thing over and over. Every time the king asked for his favorite song it had less and less life in it. The musician told the king, “I am having a hard time being excited about this song. I have played it too many times.”

The king had an idea. He brought in a guest and asked the musician to play his favorite song especially for this guest. The playing was again wonderful. The guest made the difference. The music was again filled with feeling and meaning.

Every day the king brought in a different guest. Each day the musician played the same song with new excitement. When he played it for a new guest it became a new thing. But eventually the king ran out of new people to be guests. With no one new to hear it, the music became old and tired again.

The king thought and thought and came up with a new idea. He blindfolded the musician and told him a new guest was there to hear his playing. The musician imagined the guest, and his playing was again filled with spirit. The king did this every day, and every day the musician found the kavanah with which to play the king’s favorite song. (Shivhei ha-

Besht, In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov)

Questions1. Why is it hard to do the

same thing over and over?

2. How do you trick yourself into finding something new about things you do over and over?

3. How does this story help you understand where to point your heart when you start to pray?

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On Friday night we have a very short service that is unlike any other service. It happens just before the evening service. It is called , “The Welcoming of Shabbat.” The service was created in the sixteenth century in the Israeli city of Tzfat.

THE TALMUD

In the Talmud we are told that Rabbi Hanina would put on his best clothes, go outside and watch the sunset on (Friday night). He would sing “Come, let us go out and welcome Shabbat the Queen.” Rabbi Yannai would do exactly the same thing, except he would sing, “Come, O Bride; come, O Bride!”

KABBALISTS

In 1492 Jews began leaving Spain, Italy and other places in Europe because they were not allowed to practice their religion and live in peace. One of the places they gathered was the city of Tzfat. The city became a magnet for Kabbalists, Jewish mystics. These scholars created a service out of the Talmudic description of Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Yannai going out to welcome .

Kabbalat Shabbat

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Rabbi Elimelekh and Rabbi Zusya were brothers who were Hasidic Rabbis. Often they would spend Shabbat together. Together, they would create a wonderful Shabbat experience. Once, Rabbi Elimelekh confessed, “Brother, I am not sure that the feeling I get on Shabbat is a real Shabbat spirit.” Rabbi Zusya told him, “I am worried about the same thing.” The two of them decided to try an experiment. They decided to create Shabbat on a weekday. If they felt the same way they did every Shabbat, then they weren’t getting a real Shabbat spirit. They made a great Shabbat meal. They put on their Shabbat clothes and the fur hats they wore on Shabbat. They sang Shabbat songs and celebrated. Both of them had an amazing experience. It felt just as holy as Shabbat did.

The brothers were upset. They were sure that what they had been feeling on Shabbat was not the real Shabbat feeling. They went to Dov Baer, the Holy Maggid. They asked him, “How can we get to feel the real Shabbat feeling? He told them. “If you prepared and welcomed Shabbat, if you put on your Shabbat clothes and Shabbat hats, then what you felt was a Shabbat experience even though it was a weekday. Your actions brought the light of Shabbat down to Earth.” (retold from Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim)

Shabbat on Wednesday

Questions1. What made the

weekday feel like Shabbat?

2. What brings the light of Shabbat down to you?

3. How can knowing this story help you point your heart when you enter ?

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Rabbi Shlomo ha-Levy, a Kabbalist from Tzfat, wrote a song to use at this service. It is .

has nine verses; eight of them spell out Shlomo ha-Levy’s name in the first letter of each verse. It calls both a queen and a bride and it talks about three things: Shabbat, Jerusalem, and the Redemption (when God finally helps us to fix the world and make it into a place that is good for everyone).

L’kha Dodi

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