Additions to the Tour of the Synagogue post.
Prayer
Prayer is what we offer up to G-d, our form of contact with the Divine. We stand in His presence, reaching out to Him with our words, connecting ourselves to Him. The Talmud calls prayer the ‘service of the heart’, for G-d is present to the degree that one makes space for Him in his heart. People are more inclined to relate to things that are of a physical nature. This is not due to an innate lack of spirituality. At our core we are spiritual beings. But our spiritual awareness is hindered by our bodily existence, which makes it hard to see very far beyond ourselves. Through prayer, we are lifted up from our petty self-interest to a higher perspective on life. Prayer helps to remove all of that which covers up and inhibits our soul from feeling near to G-d. Our prayers contain praise, requests, and thanks. In asking G-d for our hopes and needs and realizing that we receive everything from Him, our whole heart and everything we are can go into our words as a pure offering to G-d.
Siddur - The Prayer book
Prayer is the ladder that connects the soul and G-d. The ancient sages of Israel meticulously formulated our prayer book so as best to accomplish this lofty goal. The Morning Prayer service can be divided into sections, which act as rungs on the ladder. The bottom of the ladder, the Morning Blessings, is a collection of simple thanks for the various blessings we have been given. The middle rungs are appreciation and understanding of G-d. The Verses of Praise describe how all the world testifies to His greatness. The blessings before the Shema recount the tremendous awe that He instills in the myriads of angels. Then, in the Shema, we declare our faith that “The Lord is our G-d, the Lord is one.” The top of the ladder reaches the heavens, for by the time we reach the pinnacle of the service, the Amidah, we achieve a total loss of self-centeredness in the face of the utter awe of G-d. The Amidah is therefore recited in an undertone while standing still. The siddur contains the daily morning, afternoon, and evening services, as well as special versions for the Shabbat and holidays. It also includes the blessings said before and after eating.
Ner Tamid - The Eternal Light
There is a lamp just above the Holy Ark which is always and forever shining. The eternal light is a symbol of the "western lamp," the perpetual light which constantly burned in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. A flame constantly flickers and strives to reach higher than itself and reconnect with its source above. Every Jew is like a flame, always yearning to rise up and be closer to our Creator. No matter what influences may act to extinguish this flame, deep down the spark remains untouched, ready to be fanned into a large blaze. Like the Eternal Light, the spark in each of us will never be extinguished.
Seeking Answers
Once Rabbi Chaim Brisker found some of his former disciples smoking on shabbos, in violation of the holy day. He aproached them and asked them to explain their behavior. They replied that they had big questions on Judaism and didn't feel obligated to keep something irrational. He asked them, "Tell me, when did your questions begin, before or after you stopped celebrating shabbos?" They answered that their questions had occurred to them only after they had become lax in their shabbos observance. He replied, "In that case your questions are not questions, they are answers. I can't answer an answer."
Thanks to my friend Dovid for the story.
Thanks to my friend Dovid for the story.
The Princess and the Pauper
A Classic Fable Retold
OR
How Do You Spell Potato?
A long time ago, in a land far away, lived a princess who fell in love with a poor young man. He loved her too, but the the king would not allow his daughter to marry a simple pauper. Her love for him was so great, that she could not be parted from him. She decided to marry him although it meant leaving the grandeur of the palace and never seeing her father again. They wed, and the princess lived with the pauper in his small, one-room shack at the edge of town.
The princess suffered to no end all the indignities and inconveniences of being poor. In the palace she had large, beautiful tapestries hanging on the walls to insulate them from the weather. It was cool in summer and warm in winter. Here, in this shabby hut, the walls were full of that let in the wind as if there were no wall at all. She would lie in bed freezing on cold winter nights. The worn peasant's dress she wore made her no warmer, and she pulled the threadbare blanket over her head, but it didn't help. On those nights, she cried herself to sleep.
She never complained to her beloved husband. She could have stayed in the palace with all it's majesty and myriads of servants catering to her every whim, but she had chosen to live with the man she loved. She tried to live with the consequences of her decision.
One day, the pauper saw how red his wife's eyes had become from crying. He spoke to her tenderly, "My dear, precious wife, why do you cry? It pains me to see you so unhappy."
"I love you," she replied, "and would gladly accept all the suffering in the world in order to be with you, but I nevertheless miss my father."
"Your father has disowned you and kicked you out of the palace without a cent. To me you are still a princess. Am I not better to you than your father? Why do you miss him?" the pauper asked.
"My father always gave me the best of everything; the most beautiful clothes, the warmest bed, the choicest food. You give me your undying love. I could never go back, but it is hard to adjust."
"True, your clothes are plain, but your smile is beautiful to me whatever you wear. You have enough food to keep you healthy and do not go to bed hungry. And with regard to the bed, you are spoiled. Not everyone gets to sleep in a palace. You will get used to it in time as the rest of us have. Now you see that there is no reason to cry."
"You are right," the princess admitted, "but I cannot help being who I am and wanting what I want. Maybe I can't explain why, but I still miss my father."
"I wish I could do something to relieve your sadness," the peasant said.
A ray of hope shone in the princess's eyes and she said, "There is indeed something that can be done, but it is very difficult. There is an island far in the middle of the sea, where diamonds are very plentiful. They lie on the ground for the taking. Few people know of this place, but I have learned many things in the palace that the common people don't know. Perhaps you could take a small boat there and collect diamonds. If you become a rich man, then you will no longer be a commoner, and my father will allow us to live together in the palace. After all, the only difference between a peasant and a nobleman is how much riches he has."
Her husband frowned. "I am not interested in wealth. I am happy with what I have. The journey will be a very difficult one. I would rather continue living a simple but calm life as we have until now then undergo the hardships of a long sea voyage. But if that is what you wish, I will do it because I love you."
The pauper went and bought a small, one-man boat. He brought provisions for the journey and a number of strong, large sacks. He spent many days at sea, with nothing but water all around him.
One day at sea, he lay sleeping in his boat. The trip had taken longer than expected, and he had just run out of food. He was awoken by a sudden jarring motion. The boat had struck land. He opened his eyes and saw that his baot was grounded on a beach. From the way the sunlight glistened off the beach he realized that it was made of diamonds in place of sand! He grabbed one of his sturdy canvas sacks and began eagerly shovelling handfullsof tiny diamonds into it. His hunger was immidiately forgotten at the sight of more diamonds than he could count in a lifetime. He had filled most of his sacks, when he heard the sound of laughter behind him. One of the men who lived on this island had found him on the beach. "That is the silliest thing I have ever seen," the islander called out. "What are you doing?"
"I am collecting diamonds," the pauper replied, "and it is not stealing because they belong to no one. They were left here on the beach."
"Of course they were left here. No one wants them. So why are you collecting them?" said the man.
Startled, the pauper replied, "Do you not know what diamonds are? They are the most valueable thing in the world!"
"Valuable!" the man scoffed. "What makes them valueable?"
"Because they are so rare," the pauper answered.
"How silly you are! Diamonds aren't rare at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. Do you know what I do for a living? I clear away the pesky diamonds from fields so that crops can be grown there. People pay me to haul them away. Take my friendlt advice, sir, and stop collecting this worthless junk. You are wasting your time."
"You know you're right. I've never thought of it before. Of what use are diamonds? But my wife sent me here to collect diamonds. And if that's what she wants, I'll do it. Even if I don't understand," said the pauper.
"Do you mean to tell me that you have come all this way from accross the sea to collect what others pay me to get rid of?" the islander asked.
"If that is what my beloved wants, then it is the most precious thing in the world to me," the pauper answered.
"Perhaps you need someone to show you around the island," the islander offered.
"I would be grateful" the pauper replied.
"Then let us go. It is time for the noontime meal and I can show you an excellent restaurant not too far from here."
"I suppose I can finish filling the sacks with diamonds later," the pauper said to himself, suddenly remembering that he hadn't eaten for a whole day. He secured his boat by the shore and gathered all his posesions, including the sacks of diamonds, which he took with him as he followed his friend into town.
They ate a good meal at the restaurant. When the waiter came to collect the bill, the pauper offered him a single diamond from one of his sacks as payment,even though he knew it was worth much more than the meal. The waiter became angry and ran into the kitchen. The chef, who was also the owner of the establishment, came out a moment later. He was overweight and spoke with a raspy voice. "We don't give out free meals here," he said.
"But I payed you a whole diamond!" the pauper protested. "How many do you want?" He pointed to a sack full of diamonds.
"That whole sack isn't enough. It's a waste of a good sack. You better give me something of real value or I'll have you arrested!"
The pauper's friend and the chef looked on as the pauper looked through his few other belongings. Finally he found a misplaced half of a potato at the bottom of his rucksack. It was old and beggining to stink and covered with eyes. He proffered it to the chef. "What's this?" the chef asked.
"A potato," the pauper answered simply.
"What's a potato?" the chef asked, beggining to get frustrated.
"This is," the pauper answered, indicating the object in his hand.
"What's this?" the chef asked again, more frustrated this time.
"You know," the pauper said, "A round vegetable that grows in the ground. Some people call it an earth apple."
"An earth-apple?" the chef asked incredulously. That's the strangest vegetable I've ever seen. We sure don't have any of those around here. What kind of seeds does it have?"
"It doesn't have seeds. You just stick it in the ground and it grows into a whole plant underground."
"That's amazing!" the chef said. "And does it taste any good?" he wanted to know.
"Sure. There's nothing quite like it. Why back home, it's the main staple of my diet," the pauper answered.
"That must be boring," the chef commented. "Eating the same thing every day."
"Not really." said the pauper. You can make many dishes from the same potato. You eat it baked, boiled, mashed, or french fried. You can make it into a soup or a kugel. You can slice it into thin chips and fry them. Those are delicious." The pauper licked his lips as he thought about the potato chips his wife would make him. "You can even make it into a flour and bake bread with it, although it doesn't rise the way wheat flour does."
"Wow!" exclaimed the chef. "If what you say is true, this is a magical vegetable. And I'll be the only one on the island selling it! I'll be rich in no time. I'll consider this payment in full," the chef said, grabbing for the smelly potato half before the pauper could change his mind. Before he could get it into his eager hands the pauper's islander friend quickly ed it up. "I'll pay for my friends meal with my own money," said he. "I don't think he realizes what a valuable object he was about to give away in exchange for a single lunch." The chef reluctantly accepted the payment and returned to the kitchen.
"What did you want diamonds for when you had this earth apple with you the whole time?" the islander asked the pauper. "You see, my wife was the princess of the kingdom I live in, but renounced her rightfull place in the palace to marry me, a simple commoner. If I became a rich nobleman, she can return to the palace once again, because then she will be wed to nobility as befits a princess." Replied the islander, "You are a lucky man to have such a faithful wife and she is lucky to have such a faithful husband. Let me give you some advice, since you are to me a dear friend. If you plant this earth apple and grow a crop of them, I can assure you that you will soon be as rich as a king, let alone a nobleman. Take my advice and do not waste any further time collecting worth less diamonds." The pauper thought himself lucky to have so quickly met such a friendly acquaintance when he was a complete stranger to this island. He took his advice and planted the potato. Soon more potatoes grew from it and he planted those as well. Eventually he had a reasonable quantity of potatoes and opened a shop in the town market where he sold them for a very many coins for a single potato. Soon he was able to hire others to tend and harvest his growing potato crop. He bought a mansion, where he invited his friend to come and live with him.
When he had amassed sufficient wealth, he decided to return home to his beloved wife, whom he missed dearly. He gave his shop, his mansion, and his whole potato farm to his good friend, for he could hardly take those with him on his boat. He took the canvas sacks he had brought to the island and filled them full of the most precious thing he had: potatoes. If he would have taken coins, they would have quickly weighed down the boat too far and sunk it. Besides, no one in his kingdom used those coins so no one would accept them in payment. He packed some provisions into his rucksack and set out into the sea once again.
After a long and arduous voyage, he returned to his hometown, where his wife was waiting for him. He was so exhausted that he dropped all of his bundles at the door to his hut and plopped down onto his bed, and slept. His wife was overjoyed to see him once again. She was even happier to see that he was now finely dressed, in the way of noblemen, and that he returned with all of his sacks full. He had been successfull. She would soon be seeing her dear father the king once more! As the pauper slept from his wearying trip, his wife notied a foul smell coming from the sacks. She opened them and was shocked and horrified to find them filled with not diamonds, but rotten potatoes!
She ran to her husband and woke him. Frantically, she asked him, "Why did you bring back potatoes instead of diamonds? Now I'll never see my father again!" She began to cry. Her husband wiped away her tears and said, "I did it because I love you. Potatoes are even better than diamonds. You can't eat diamonds."
"No. You didn't do it because you love me. If that were the case you would have done what I asked. You did what you wanted because you love yourself. You can go back to sleep now, dear, " his wife said and turned around and left before he had a chance to reply. So, still being exhausted, he did as he was told.
Suddenly the stench came to represent her shattered hopes. She had to be rid of it immediately. She carried the sacks to the town garbage heap and dumped out all of the rotten, inedible potatoes. Then she brought them home to wash out the ing smell. They couldn't afford to just throw away a perfectly good canvas sack. As she washed them she discovered small diamonds stuck in the bottom of the sacks. They hadn't fallen out when he had emptied the diamonds from the sacks to fill them with potatoes. They were rich after all! She was once again overjoyed, and a little ashamed of having doubted her husband for one second. These small diamonds were enough to make them rich. Hiding them amongst rotten potatoes was the cleverest way of preventing anyone from stealing them. No one would steal rotten potatoes. Soon after, they had a joyful reunion with the king, who was grateful to see his daughter again and impressed with his son-in-law, who was apparently quite clever. They moved into the palace and lived happily ever after.
THE END
OR
How Do You Spell Potato?
A long time ago, in a land far away, lived a princess who fell in love with a poor young man. He loved her too, but the the king would not allow his daughter to marry a simple pauper. Her love for him was so great, that she could not be parted from him. She decided to marry him although it meant leaving the grandeur of the palace and never seeing her father again. They wed, and the princess lived with the pauper in his small, one-room shack at the edge of town.
The princess suffered to no end all the indignities and inconveniences of being poor. In the palace she had large, beautiful tapestries hanging on the walls to insulate them from the weather. It was cool in summer and warm in winter. Here, in this shabby hut, the walls were full of that let in the wind as if there were no wall at all. She would lie in bed freezing on cold winter nights. The worn peasant's dress she wore made her no warmer, and she pulled the threadbare blanket over her head, but it didn't help. On those nights, she cried herself to sleep.
She never complained to her beloved husband. She could have stayed in the palace with all it's majesty and myriads of servants catering to her every whim, but she had chosen to live with the man she loved. She tried to live with the consequences of her decision.
One day, the pauper saw how red his wife's eyes had become from crying. He spoke to her tenderly, "My dear, precious wife, why do you cry? It pains me to see you so unhappy."
"I love you," she replied, "and would gladly accept all the suffering in the world in order to be with you, but I nevertheless miss my father."
"Your father has disowned you and kicked you out of the palace without a cent. To me you are still a princess. Am I not better to you than your father? Why do you miss him?" the pauper asked.
"My father always gave me the best of everything; the most beautiful clothes, the warmest bed, the choicest food. You give me your undying love. I could never go back, but it is hard to adjust."
"True, your clothes are plain, but your smile is beautiful to me whatever you wear. You have enough food to keep you healthy and do not go to bed hungry. And with regard to the bed, you are spoiled. Not everyone gets to sleep in a palace. You will get used to it in time as the rest of us have. Now you see that there is no reason to cry."
"You are right," the princess admitted, "but I cannot help being who I am and wanting what I want. Maybe I can't explain why, but I still miss my father."
"I wish I could do something to relieve your sadness," the peasant said.
A ray of hope shone in the princess's eyes and she said, "There is indeed something that can be done, but it is very difficult. There is an island far in the middle of the sea, where diamonds are very plentiful. They lie on the ground for the taking. Few people know of this place, but I have learned many things in the palace that the common people don't know. Perhaps you could take a small boat there and collect diamonds. If you become a rich man, then you will no longer be a commoner, and my father will allow us to live together in the palace. After all, the only difference between a peasant and a nobleman is how much riches he has."
Her husband frowned. "I am not interested in wealth. I am happy with what I have. The journey will be a very difficult one. I would rather continue living a simple but calm life as we have until now then undergo the hardships of a long sea voyage. But if that is what you wish, I will do it because I love you."
The pauper went and bought a small, one-man boat. He brought provisions for the journey and a number of strong, large sacks. He spent many days at sea, with nothing but water all around him.
One day at sea, he lay sleeping in his boat. The trip had taken longer than expected, and he had just run out of food. He was awoken by a sudden jarring motion. The boat had struck land. He opened his eyes and saw that his baot was grounded on a beach. From the way the sunlight glistened off the beach he realized that it was made of diamonds in place of sand! He grabbed one of his sturdy canvas sacks and began eagerly shovelling handfullsof tiny diamonds into it. His hunger was immidiately forgotten at the sight of more diamonds than he could count in a lifetime. He had filled most of his sacks, when he heard the sound of laughter behind him. One of the men who lived on this island had found him on the beach. "That is the silliest thing I have ever seen," the islander called out. "What are you doing?"
"I am collecting diamonds," the pauper replied, "and it is not stealing because they belong to no one. They were left here on the beach."
"Of course they were left here. No one wants them. So why are you collecting them?" said the man.
Startled, the pauper replied, "Do you not know what diamonds are? They are the most valueable thing in the world!"
"Valuable!" the man scoffed. "What makes them valueable?"
"Because they are so rare," the pauper answered.
"How silly you are! Diamonds aren't rare at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. Do you know what I do for a living? I clear away the pesky diamonds from fields so that crops can be grown there. People pay me to haul them away. Take my friendlt advice, sir, and stop collecting this worthless junk. You are wasting your time."
"You know you're right. I've never thought of it before. Of what use are diamonds? But my wife sent me here to collect diamonds. And if that's what she wants, I'll do it. Even if I don't understand," said the pauper.
"Do you mean to tell me that you have come all this way from accross the sea to collect what others pay me to get rid of?" the islander asked.
"If that is what my beloved wants, then it is the most precious thing in the world to me," the pauper answered.
"Perhaps you need someone to show you around the island," the islander offered.
"I would be grateful" the pauper replied.
"Then let us go. It is time for the noontime meal and I can show you an excellent restaurant not too far from here."
"I suppose I can finish filling the sacks with diamonds later," the pauper said to himself, suddenly remembering that he hadn't eaten for a whole day. He secured his boat by the shore and gathered all his posesions, including the sacks of diamonds, which he took with him as he followed his friend into town.
They ate a good meal at the restaurant. When the waiter came to collect the bill, the pauper offered him a single diamond from one of his sacks as payment,even though he knew it was worth much more than the meal. The waiter became angry and ran into the kitchen. The chef, who was also the owner of the establishment, came out a moment later. He was overweight and spoke with a raspy voice. "We don't give out free meals here," he said.
"But I payed you a whole diamond!" the pauper protested. "How many do you want?" He pointed to a sack full of diamonds.
"That whole sack isn't enough. It's a waste of a good sack. You better give me something of real value or I'll have you arrested!"
The pauper's friend and the chef looked on as the pauper looked through his few other belongings. Finally he found a misplaced half of a potato at the bottom of his rucksack. It was old and beggining to stink and covered with eyes. He proffered it to the chef. "What's this?" the chef asked.
"A potato," the pauper answered simply.
"What's a potato?" the chef asked, beggining to get frustrated.
"This is," the pauper answered, indicating the object in his hand.
"What's this?" the chef asked again, more frustrated this time.
"You know," the pauper said, "A round vegetable that grows in the ground. Some people call it an earth apple."
"An earth-apple?" the chef asked incredulously. That's the strangest vegetable I've ever seen. We sure don't have any of those around here. What kind of seeds does it have?"
"It doesn't have seeds. You just stick it in the ground and it grows into a whole plant underground."
"That's amazing!" the chef said. "And does it taste any good?" he wanted to know.
"Sure. There's nothing quite like it. Why back home, it's the main staple of my diet," the pauper answered.
"That must be boring," the chef commented. "Eating the same thing every day."
"Not really." said the pauper. You can make many dishes from the same potato. You eat it baked, boiled, mashed, or french fried. You can make it into a soup or a kugel. You can slice it into thin chips and fry them. Those are delicious." The pauper licked his lips as he thought about the potato chips his wife would make him. "You can even make it into a flour and bake bread with it, although it doesn't rise the way wheat flour does."
"Wow!" exclaimed the chef. "If what you say is true, this is a magical vegetable. And I'll be the only one on the island selling it! I'll be rich in no time. I'll consider this payment in full," the chef said, grabbing for the smelly potato half before the pauper could change his mind. Before he could get it into his eager hands the pauper's islander friend quickly ed it up. "I'll pay for my friends meal with my own money," said he. "I don't think he realizes what a valuable object he was about to give away in exchange for a single lunch." The chef reluctantly accepted the payment and returned to the kitchen.
"What did you want diamonds for when you had this earth apple with you the whole time?" the islander asked the pauper. "You see, my wife was the princess of the kingdom I live in, but renounced her rightfull place in the palace to marry me, a simple commoner. If I became a rich nobleman, she can return to the palace once again, because then she will be wed to nobility as befits a princess." Replied the islander, "You are a lucky man to have such a faithful wife and she is lucky to have such a faithful husband. Let me give you some advice, since you are to me a dear friend. If you plant this earth apple and grow a crop of them, I can assure you that you will soon be as rich as a king, let alone a nobleman. Take my advice and do not waste any further time collecting worth less diamonds." The pauper thought himself lucky to have so quickly met such a friendly acquaintance when he was a complete stranger to this island. He took his advice and planted the potato. Soon more potatoes grew from it and he planted those as well. Eventually he had a reasonable quantity of potatoes and opened a shop in the town market where he sold them for a very many coins for a single potato. Soon he was able to hire others to tend and harvest his growing potato crop. He bought a mansion, where he invited his friend to come and live with him.
When he had amassed sufficient wealth, he decided to return home to his beloved wife, whom he missed dearly. He gave his shop, his mansion, and his whole potato farm to his good friend, for he could hardly take those with him on his boat. He took the canvas sacks he had brought to the island and filled them full of the most precious thing he had: potatoes. If he would have taken coins, they would have quickly weighed down the boat too far and sunk it. Besides, no one in his kingdom used those coins so no one would accept them in payment. He packed some provisions into his rucksack and set out into the sea once again.
After a long and arduous voyage, he returned to his hometown, where his wife was waiting for him. He was so exhausted that he dropped all of his bundles at the door to his hut and plopped down onto his bed, and slept. His wife was overjoyed to see him once again. She was even happier to see that he was now finely dressed, in the way of noblemen, and that he returned with all of his sacks full. He had been successfull. She would soon be seeing her dear father the king once more! As the pauper slept from his wearying trip, his wife notied a foul smell coming from the sacks. She opened them and was shocked and horrified to find them filled with not diamonds, but rotten potatoes!
She ran to her husband and woke him. Frantically, she asked him, "Why did you bring back potatoes instead of diamonds? Now I'll never see my father again!" She began to cry. Her husband wiped away her tears and said, "I did it because I love you. Potatoes are even better than diamonds. You can't eat diamonds."
"No. You didn't do it because you love me. If that were the case you would have done what I asked. You did what you wanted because you love yourself. You can go back to sleep now, dear, " his wife said and turned around and left before he had a chance to reply. So, still being exhausted, he did as he was told.
Suddenly the stench came to represent her shattered hopes. She had to be rid of it immediately. She carried the sacks to the town garbage heap and dumped out all of the rotten, inedible potatoes. Then she brought them home to wash out the ing smell. They couldn't afford to just throw away a perfectly good canvas sack. As she washed them she discovered small diamonds stuck in the bottom of the sacks. They hadn't fallen out when he had emptied the diamonds from the sacks to fill them with potatoes. They were rich after all! She was once again overjoyed, and a little ashamed of having doubted her husband for one second. These small diamonds were enough to make them rich. Hiding them amongst rotten potatoes was the cleverest way of preventing anyone from stealing them. No one would steal rotten potatoes. Soon after, they had a joyful reunion with the king, who was grateful to see his daughter again and impressed with his son-in-law, who was apparently quite clever. They moved into the palace and lived happily ever after.
THE END
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