Shacharit For Shabbat And Festivals

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Hebrew

עֵינֵי יְיָ אֶל צַדִּיקִים,1 וְאָזְנָיו
אֶל שַׁוְעָתָם: פְּנֵי יְיָ בְּעֹשֵׂי
רָע, לְהַכְרִית מֵאֶרֶץ זִכְרָם:
צָעֲקוּ וַייָ שָׁמֵעַ, וּמִכָּל צָרוֹתָם
הִצִּילָם: קָרוֹב יְיָ לְנִשְׁבְּרֵי לֵב,
וְאֶת דַּכְּאֵי רוּחַ יוֹשִׁיעַ: רַבּוֹת
רָעוֹת צַדִּיק, וּמִכֻּלָּם יַצִּילֶנּוּ
יְיָ: שֹׁמֵר כָּל עַצְמוֹתָיו, אַחַת
מֵהֵנָּה לֹא נִשְׁבָּרָה: תְּמוֹתֵת
רָשָׁע רָעָה, וְשֹׂנְאֵי צַדִּיק
יֶאְשָׁמוּ: פּוֹדֶה יְיָ נֶפֶשׁ עֲבָדָיו,
וְלֹא יֶאְשְׁמוּ כָּל הַחוֹסִים בּוֹ:

Sephardi

Einei Adonai el tzaddikim,1 ve-oznav
el shav'atam: P'nei Adonai be-osei
ra, lehachrit mei'eretz zichram:
Tza'aku va-Adonai shame'a, umikol tzarotam
hitzilam: Karov Adonai le-nishberei lev,
ve'et dakkei ruach yoshi'a: Rabot
ra'ot tzadik, u-mikkullam yatzilennu
Adonai: Shomer kol atzmotav, achat
me-hennah lo nishbarah: Temotet
rasha ra'ah, ve-sonei tzadik
ye'shamu: Podeh Adonai nefesh avadav,
v'lo ye'shemu kol ha-chosim bo:

English

The eyes of the Lord are turned toward the righteous,1 those who turn away from bad and do good. If they have any trouble, God turns His ears toward their cry and listens to them. The anger of the Lord is directed toward those who do evil, to remove any memory of them from earth. But when they cry out in repentance, the Lord hears them and saves them from all of their troubles. The Lord is close to the broken-hearted when they repent; He saves those who have repented with a crushed and humble spirit. Even if a righteous person has many troubles, he should not worry, because the Lord saves him from all of them. God protects all of the righteous person’s bones; not even one of them is broken. Evil deeds cause death to the wicked; the enemies of the righteous are doomed. The Lord redeems the soul of His servants and saves them from the wicked plans of evil people. All those who take shelter in God are not doomed.

May God help us, because as humans we have many weaknesses

Hebrew

תְּפִלָּה2 לְמֹשֶׁה אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים,
אֲדֹנָי מָעוֹן אַתָּה הָיִיתָ
לָּנוּ בְּדוֹר וָדֹר: בְּטֶרֶם הָרִים
יֻלָּדוּ וַתְּחוֹלֵל אֶרֶץ וְתֵבֵל,
וּמֵעוֹלָם עַד עוֹלָם אַתָּה אֵל:

Sephardi

Tefilah2 lemoshe ish ha-Elohim,
Adonai ma'on Atah hayita
lanu be-dor vador: Be-terem harim
yulladu va-techolel eretz ve-tevel,
u-me-olam ad olam Atah El:

English

The following is a prayer2 written by Moses, the man who was a prophet of God: Lord, You have been a shelter for us in every generation. You existed before the mountains came into being, before You created the earth and the world. You are the Almighty God forever and ever.

Hebrew

תָּשֵׁב אֱנוֹשׁ עַד דַּכָּא,3
וַתֹּאמֶר שׁוּבוּ בְנֵי אָדָם:
כִּי אֶלֶף שָׁנִים בְּעֵינֶיךָ
כְּיוֹם אֶתְמוֹל כִּי יַעֲבֹר,

Sephardi

Tashev enosh ad dakka,3
vatomer shuvu venei adam:
Ki elef shanim b'einecha
k’yom etmol ki ya'avor,

English

You weaken people until they feel crushed by their suffering,3 and by this You are saying, “People, repent!” Even if we were to live a thousand years, in Your eyes, it would be as yesterday that has

Hebrew

וְאַשְׁמוּרָה בַלָּיְלָה: זְרַמְתָּם
שֵׁנָה יִהְיוּ, בַּבֹּקֶר כֶּחָצִיר
יַחֲלֹף: בַּבֹּקֶר יָצִיץ וְחָלָף,
לָעֶרֶב יְמוֹלֵל וְיָבֵשׁ:

Sephardi

Ve-ashmurah va-lailah: Zeramtam
sheinah yihyu, baboker ke-chatzir
yachalof: Baboker yatzitz ve-chalaf,
la-erev yemolel ve-yavesh:

English

passed, like one third of the night. Certainly then, the short flow of our lives is as insignificant as a dream after the dreamer has woken up from his sleep. Only in the morning—in the early years of our lives—are we energetic and refreshed, as grass that grows anew. A young person is refreshed like grass in the morning that sprouts and blossoms again. An old person is weak, like grass in the evening that shrivels and dries up.

Hebrew

כִּי כָלִינוּ בְאַפֶּךָ, וּבַחֲמָתְךָ
נִבְהָלְנוּ: שַׁתָּה עֲוֹנֹתֵינוּ
לְנֶגְדֶּךָ, עֲלֻמֵנוּ לִמְאוֹר פָּנֶיךָ:4
כִּי כָל יָמֵינוּ פָנוּ בְעֶבְרָתֶךָ,
כִּלִּינוּ שָׁנֵינוּ כְמוֹ הֶגֶה:
יְמֵי שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בָהֶם שִׁבְעִים5
שָׁנָה, וְאִם בִּגְבוּרֹת שְׁמוֹנִים
שָׁנָה, וְרָהְבָּם עָמָל וָאָוֶן, כִּי
גָז חִישׁ וַנָּעֻפָה: מִי יוֹדֵעַ עֹז
אַפֶּךָ, וּכְיִרְאָתְךָ עֶבְרָתֶךָ:6
לִמְנוֹת יָמֵינוּ כֵּן הוֹדַע,
וְנָבִא לְבַב חָכְמָה:

Sephardi

Ki chalinu ve-appecha, u-va-chamat'cha
nivhalnu: Shattah avonoteinu
le-negdecha, alumenu li-me'or panecha:4
Ki kol yameinu panu ve-evratecha,
killinu shaneinu kemo hegeh:
Yemei shenoteinu vahem shiv'im5
shanah, ve'im bi-gevurot shemonim
shanah, ve-rohbam amal va-aven, ki
gaz chish va-na'ufah: Mi yodea oz
appecha, u-che-yir'atecha evratecha:6
Limnot yameinu ken hoda,
ve-navi levav chochmah:

English

God, we are consumed by Your anger and destroyed by Your rage. You have set out before You all our intentional sins; even our hidden, unintentional sins are revealed before the light of Your face.4 All our days have disappeared because of Your anger, God; by sinning we have caused our years to pass by like a short, fading sound. The number of years in our lives is usually seventy,5 and if we have great strength we may live to be eighty years old. Most of the years of our lives are filled with hard work and uselessness; they pass by quickly and fly away. Who knows how to protect himself from the power of Your anger, God? No one does! Your anger toward someone corresponds to his fear of You.6 The more a person fears You, the less he will do to anger You. Teach us how to count our days—how to treasure them and make the most of them, and this will bring us to have a wise heart—to realize the purpose of life.

Hebrew

שׁוּבָה יְיָ עַד מָתָי, וְהִנָּחֵם
עַל עֲבָדֶיךָ: שַׂבְּעֵנוּ בַבֹּקֶר
חַסְדֶּךָ, וּנְרַנְּנָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה

Sephardi

Shuvah Adonai ad matai, ve-hinnachem
al avadecha: Sabeinu vaboker
chasdecha, u-nerannenah venismechah

English

Come back to us, Lord. How long will Your anger toward us last? Have mercy on the Jewish Nation, Your servants. Satisfy us in the morning

Commentary

1 In the previous paragraph we say, “The eye of the Lord is turned toward those who fear Him,” but here we say “His eyes (plural) are turned toward the righteous.” Righteous people are closer to God than those who serve Him merely out of fear; they therefore merit to be gazed upon by God with two eyes.

2 The Hebrew word for “prayer,” תְּפִלָּה, can also be translated as “connection.” This verse teaches us that Jews of every generation can “connect” to God by following the ways of their righteous leaders—those who represent the “spirit of Moses.” By doing so, every person has the potential to be elevated to the level of “man of God”—the level of Moses himself.

3 The word תָּשֵׁב (return) has the same letters as the word שַׁבָּת. Enosh and his generation were the first to worship idols. This verse hints to that which the Gemara says, that even those who have committed the most severe sins, as Enosh and his generation did, can “return” to God and be forgiven if they keep “Shabbat” properly.

4 We ask that God help us transform any bad deeds into good—so they can be “before God,” and all darkness caused by sins into positive “light.”

5 The word בָהֶם (literally “in them”) refers to the good inclination and the evil inclination. The number of years of life given to a person is based on how much time is required to conquer and transform the evil inclination.

6 An alternative translation: “Your distress corresponds to your fear.” This is a subtle hint to remind us that we should not fear God only when we are experiencing times of “distress,” when we need Him. We must fear him when we are comfortable and happy, too.