Morning Prayer

Tefillat shacharit

תְּפִלַּת שַׁחֲרִית

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Hebrew

רִאשֹׁנִים, אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִי אֹתָם
מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לְעֵינֵי הַגּוֹיִם,
לִהְיוֹת לָהֶם לֵאלֹהִים, אֲנִי יְיָ:

Sephardi

rishonim, asher hotzeti otam
mei'eretz Mitzrayim l'einei hagoyim,
lihyot lahem leilohim, ani Adonai:

English

the Lord.

Hebrew

וְנֶאֱמַר: וְשָׁב1 יְיָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת
שְׁבוּתְךָ וְרִחֲמֶךָ, וְשָׁב וְקִבֶּצְךָ
מִכָּל הָעַמִּים, אֲשֶׁר הֱפִיצְךָ יְיָ
אֱלֹהֶיךָ שָׁמָּה: אִם יִהְיֶה נִדַּחֲךָ
בִּקְצֵה הַשָּׁמָיִם, מִשָּׁם יְקַבֶּצְךָ
יְיָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ וּמִשָּׁם יִקָּחֶךָ:
וֶהֱבִיאֲךָ יְיָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶל הָאָרֶץ
אֲשֶׁר יָרְשׁוּ אֲבֹתֶיךָ וִירִשְׁתָּהּ,
וְהֵיטִבְךָ וְהִרְבְּךָ מֵאֲבֹתֶיךָ:

Sephardi

Vene'emar: veshav1 Adonai Elohecha et
shevutcha verichamecha, veshav vekibetzcha
mikol ha-amim, asher hefitzcha Adonai
Elohecha shamah: im yihyeh nidachacha
biktzeh hashamayim, misham yekabetzcha
Adonai Elohecha umisham yikachecha:
vehevi'acha Adonai Elohecha el ha'aretz
asher yareshu avotecha virishtah,
veheitivcha vehirbecha mei'avotecha:

English

And it also says in the Torah: The Lord, your God, will return1 those of you who are in exile and He will have mercy on you, and He will gather again from among all the nations where the Lord, your God, has scattered you. Even if there are those of you who are scattered at the farthest parts of the world, the Lord, your God, will gather you from there, and from there He will take you back. The Lord, your God, will bring you to the Land of Israel, the land that your fathers inherited, and you will inherit it as well. God will do good to you and make you more numerous than your fathers.

Hebrew

וְנֶאֱמַר: יְיָ חָנֵּנוּ, לְךָ קִוִּינוּ,
הֱיֵה זְרֹעָם לַבְּקָרִים, אַף
יְשׁוּעָתֵנוּ בְּעֵת צָרָה: וְנֶאֱמַר:
וְעֵת צָרָה הִיא לְיַעֲקֹב,
וּמִמֶּנָּה יִוָּשֵׁעַ2: וְנֶאֱמַר: בְּכָל
צָרָתָם לוֹ צָר, וּמַלְאַךְ פָּנָיו
הוֹשִׁיעָם, בְּאַהֲבָתוֹ וּבְחֶמְלָתוֹ
הוּא גְאָלָם, וַיְנַטְּלֵם וַיְנַשְּׂאֵם
כָּל יְמֵי עוֹלָם:

Sephardi

Vene'emar: Adonai chonenu, lecha kivinu,
heyeh zero'am labekarim, af
yeshu'atenu be'et tzarah: vene'emar:
ve'et tzarah hi leyaakov,
umimenah yivashe'a2: vene'emar: bechol
tzaratam lo tzar, umal'ach panav
hoshi'am, be'ahavato uvechemlato
hu ge'alam, vaynatlem vaynase'em
kol yemei olam:

English

And the prophet Isaiah said: Lord, be gracious and have mercy on us, because we pray to You and hope that You will help us. Please be our strength and protect us every morning, also be our salvation during times of hardship. And the prophet Jeremiah said: The time immediately prior to the Redemption will be a difficult time for the Jewish Nation, the Children of Jacob, but they will be saved from it2 with the Redemption. And the prophet Isaiah said about God: Whenever the Jewish Nation goes through a difficult time, it is difficult for God as well, and the angel who stands in His presence, Angel Michael, has saved them. God has saved and redeemed the Jewish Nation with His love and mercy and has picked them up and carried them forever.

Hebrew

וְנֶאֱמַר: מִי אֵל כָּמוֹךָ נֹשֵׂא3
עָוֹן וְעֹבֵר עַל פֶּשַׁע, לִשְׁאֵרִית
נַחֲלָתוֹ, לֹא הֶחֱזִיק לָעַד אַפּוֹ,
כִּי חָפֵץ חֶסֶד הוּא: יָשׁוּב
יְרַחֲמֵנוּ, יִכְבֹּשׁ עֲוֹנֹתֵינוּ, וְתַשְׁלִיךְ
בִּמְצֻלוֹת יָם כָּל חַטֹּאתָם: תִּתֵּן
אֱמֶת לְיַעֲקֹב, חֶסֶד לְאַבְרָהָם,
אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתָּ לַאֲבֹתֵינוּ מִימֵי
קֶדֶם:

Sephardi

Vene'emar: mi El kamocha nosei3
avon ve'over al pesha, lish'erit
nachalato, lo hechezik la'ad apo,
ki chafetz chesed hu: yashuv
yerachameinu, yichbosh avonoteinu, vetashlich
bimtzulot yam kol chatotam: titen
emet leyaakov, chesed leAvraham,
asher nishbata la'avoteinu mimei
kedem:

English

And the prophet Micah said regarding the final Redemption: Who is like You, God, Who overlooks3 the intentional sins and forgives the rebellious sins that are done by those of the Jewish Nation, His heritage, who will be left when the Redemption arrives? God does not keep His anger forever, because He always wants to be kind to us. He will once again have mercy on us; He will suppress our sins and ignore them and throw all their sins into the depths of the sea. God, show Jacob the truth of Your promise; make the Jewish Nation a great nation as You promised. Give kindness to the descendants of Abraham as You promised our fathers long ago.

Hebrew

וְנֶאֱמַר: וַהֲבִיאוֹתִים אֶל
הַר קָדְשִׁי, וְשִׂמַּחְתִּים בְּבֵית
תְּפִלָּתִי, עוֹלֹתֵיהֶם וְזִבְחֵיהֶם
לְרָצוֹן עַל מִזְבְּחִי, כִּי בֵיתִי בֵּית
תְּפִלָּה יִקָּרֵא לְכָל הָעַמִּים:

Sephardi

Vene'emar: vahavi'otim el
har kodshi, vesimachtim beveit
tefilati, oloteihem vezivcheihem
leratzon al mizbechi, ki beiti beit
tefilah yikarei lechol ha-amim:

English

And the prophet Isaiah said in God's name: I will bring them to My holy mountain, the Temple Mount, and I will make them happy by bringing them to the Holy Temple, My house of prayer. Their burnt-offerings and peace-offerings will be willingly accepted on My altar because My house will be called "a house of prayer for all nations."

One should have Fear of Heaven

Hebrew

לְעוֹלָם יְהֵא אָדָם יְרֵא שָׁמַיִם
בַּסֵּתֶר,4 וּמוֹדֶה עַל
הָאֱמֶת, וְדוֹבֵר אֱמֶת בִּלְבָבוֹ,
וְיַשְׁכֵּם וְיֹאמַר:

Sephardi

Le'olam yehei adam yerei shamayim
baseiter,4 umodeh al
ha'emet, vedover emet bilvavo,
veyashkem veyomar:

English

A person should always be God-fearing deep in his heart.4 He should admit to the truth and should always say what is truly in his heart; he should not say things he does not really mean. He should wake up early every morning and say this prayer:

Nothing has value compared to God

Hebrew

רִבּוֹן כָּל הָעוֹלָמִים, לֹא עַל
צִדְקוֹתֵינוּ אֲנַחְנוּ מַפִּילִים
תַּחֲנוּנֵינוּ לְפָנֶיךָ, כִּי עַל רַחֲמֶיךָ
הָרַבִּים. מָה אָנוּ, מָה חַיֵּינוּ, מָה
חַסְדֵּנוּ, מָה צִדְקֵנוּ, מָה כֹּחֵנוּ, מָה

Sephardi

Ribbon kol ha'olamim, lo al
tzidkoteinu anachnu mapilim
tachanuneinu lefanecha, ki al rachamecha
harabim. Mah anu, mah chayeinu, mah
chasdeinu, mah tzidkeinu, mah kocheinu, mah

English

Master of all the worlds! Not because of our righteousness do we present our requests to You and ask You to answer them, because our righteousness is not great enough for us to deserve Your help. Rather, we ask that You answer our prayers because of Your great mercy. Because to You, God, what are we worth? What is our life worth? What is our kindness worth? What is our righteousness worth? What is our power worth? What is our strength worth?

Commentary

1 When the Jewish Nation was exiled following the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, God exiled His Divine Presence together with them. This verse tells us that in the era of the Redemption, "God will return"—not only the Jewish Nation, but His Divine Presence as well—to their rightful place.

2 When we overcome difficulty, we become stronger. This verse can be interpreted to mean not only that we will be saved "from" difficulty, but also that we will be saved "because of" difficulty—that whatever difficulty we have will strengthen us and allow us to achieve that which would have otherwise been beyond our capabilities.

3 Literally, "raises." When done properly, with a genuine and strong love for God, the power of repentance is such that it can "raise" past sins and transform them into merits.

4 This prayer was instituted in recognition of the generations of Jews who were persecuted and forced to declare their fear of heaven (by reciting the Shema) "in private." While no longer required to do so nowadays, our task is to make our fear of God "private" by internalizing it within our hearts (in addition to declaring it publicly).