Reb Daniel 3/11/11 11am - Avraham's progression to Tefillah

■ We are not all seperate and distinct entities. We share a common reality. In creation, everything is created in response to man's creation. There's no plant life, grasses, etc because man is not there to work the ground.

■ Man should not be alone. 1st Hashem creates the animals. That doesn't work, so Hashem creates woman. Was man created in Gan Eden?

■ Man was created to bring order to the world of chaos.

■ אברהם gematria = רחם

■ Avraham when he comes along is really a change in the world, because he brings tefillah into the world.

■ at the beginning Avraham does not pray, and Sarah asked why he did not pray for her. This is the time when he was Avram, and then he becomes enabled with the ה (letter) in his name and is able to pray.

■ Avraham we shift from לך-לך to הולך לפני and this is only because he can stand out and be independent by himself with the ה. He now talks back to G-d. He now responds to G-d because he now has רחם.

■  בהבראם (Genesis 2:4) grammatically performs the function of placing the ה in his name. Now he is in the world of שיח (discourse/conversation with G-d), and he can now pray. You can't pray unless you have compassion. You can't pray from a world of דין - the world of Adam and Noach.

אֵלֶּה תוֹלְדוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ בְּהִבָּרְאָם בְּיוֹם עֲשׂוֹת יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים אֶרֶץ וְשָׁמָיִם. Genesis 2:4

■ The first prayer is a reminder of showing Hashem of who he is. But it is not confrontational. G-d speaks to Avraham about the משפת (sentence) that he is about to mete out to Sodom. It is because Hashem knows that Avraham understands the concept of משפת. Avraham is now sensitive to Hashem's משפת and decides that Avraham can't be hidden from G-d's sentence on the world - because Avraham is aligned with Hashem. Avraham understands now. Avraham has become the TUNER for the planet.
■ Avraham has רחמים (pity/mercy/compassion) on Sodom and therefore this created his responsiveness to enquire about Sodom. He accepted the דין on Sodom but added in the רחמים in order for there to be a pleading for the world.
■ Hashem never tells אברהם to go to 'ישראל' - BUT

"אל ארץ אשר אראך" = To the land that I will show you.

Avraham is never actually told the specific land to go to. Ramban explains that he went wandering after Ur-Kasdim from nation to nation, kingdom to kingdom - but he did have the intention to head in the general direction towards the Land of Canaan whi

Reb Aaron 2/11/11 9am - Pesukei D'Zimra

■ As per the previous post, just like we sing together in the morning, it is "a moment to gather myself". We start davening before we start davening! If I don't have a good Psukei Dzimra, then I won't feel as 'gathered' for my Shema and Shmone Esrei.
■ לזמר also means to 'prune', eg like a gardener. to set new boundaries and to make it look presentable and pruning just one plant has to be relative to the whole garden. Some things are bigger or smaller, some left alone and some need attention and care, watering and not watering, etc. Pruning is also sometimes necessary in order to have a tree grow, or make more blossoms.

Reb Aaron 1/11/11 9am - Pesukei D'Zimra

psukei d'zimra - preparation

■ Few kehillas say korbanot.
■ Consists of tehillim, like poetry, and meant to be expressed and shared (there's a cadence & rhyme). zimra means singing.
■ Mishna Brurah says that mizmor letoda needs to be sung together, however if the kehilla is not interested in singing along with the shaliach tzibur, then perhaps it should not be done, because it is preferable to have a united energy.
■ Psukei Dzimra is necessary because we begin to create a harmonious unity with our voices, then we also come to say Shema and Shmone Esrei united in the minyan - the ULTIMATE purpose of psukei dzimra.

Reb Daniel 31-10-11 12pm What happens to us when we're davening

Mishna Berachot – שמע
■ An unfolding process
■ Shaas Mishnayot (6 Mishnas) – 6 sedarim are the order of the tikun (fixing), which is Vav (6) in Hebrew and the shape of the letter (a vertical line) is the direction towards Hashem – from below to above.
■ Saying kriyat Shema at night is an allusion to Bereshit, that the universe was asleep and covered before it awoke, like a seed in the ground before it sprouts, and like we lie down before arising in the morning. The time that we are embedded in darkness – דעת = unity – then when we get up it is the first act of distinction = when the sun comes up.
■ Daytime is a multiplicity, night is unity. So too the korbanot (sacrifices in the temple) that were offered during the day could be eaten that night too – until sunrise. i.e. multiplicity (day) to unity (night).
■ Time becomes available to you in order to make a response to Hashem, for the measures that he sends (metes) out to you to in order for you to reveal.
■ Emunah (Faith) is reflected in putting a seed into the dirt/ground. The sprouting and blossoming which follows is...
■ Shema (like Lulav) is a construct/framework for performing the mitzvah – a time is created and available for that mitzvah. But tefillah can be performed at any time and is different from kriyat shema.
■ Tefillah starts in the morning, because we need to see a point of distinction, between covering/sleep and growth. Tefilla – the point of tefillah is exactly for that – growth, classification, individualism and separation.
■ The end of the masechte brachot teaches us that time is given to us as an opportunity for choice and to make distinctions.

Is there an established study programme how to teach Noahides? - torah education mitzvot jewish identity non-jews the role of the non-jew

Is there an established study programme how to teach Noahides? - torah education mitzvot jewish identity non-jews the role of the non-jew

r'daniel - tfila - 8th sept

פרשת ויחי – מח – יא – "פללתי"

- surprise to Yaakov at what H' had wrought, a meeting of Yosef and Yaakov.

- tefilla is largely imaginative, its daring/imaginative (takes courage) – מחשבה – clear thought/focus.

- element of caring – Yaakov cared to see his son again.

- like a tree growing, it helps you grow "עושי פללה"

- דין – judgement also helps you grow, by connecting parts which are wrong.

                - דין & להתפלל are similar.

- Its like asking H' to change and fix things. I'm in a situation where i want to move forward and correct my life.

- sense of courage + charity + forward thinking so we can ask for the right requests to be made.

- תופל means to hold together – like "נפלתי" (ויצא ל, ח)

- נפלתי is the embodiment of prayer – the commentators use "אמרי שפר" (בראשית – מט – כא)  = a beautiful name.

- the image of נפלתי has become feminine and so תפילה is also a feminine term.

- something to do with the power of speech.

- נפלתי is imagined as running on the hills.

- שופר  is part of תפילה.

- rashi talks about נפלתי same "צמיד פתיל" – sealed shut container full of purity תהרא. Like פתיל תכלת where you bind ציצית  together. Naftali is tightly bound (?). A race of children between רחל and לאה.

- rashi – פתיל attached to the goal – tenaciously attached like being attached to prayer.

- so i kept pushing and trying, even though i went in different directions.

- onkelos says the letters of פ-ת is swapped around and chopped & changed to arrive at communicating to connecting with H'.

- a strong sense of attachment using many different ways of using תפילה, all different ways of spelling and different words, in order to make that attachment to H'.

- rashi says נפתלתי – "my prayer was accepted"

- rashi shows by contradiction that נפתלתי is multi-dimensional in explanation – there is both tenacious means to connect in תפילה but also that תפילה is accepted.

"נפתלתי"

- נפתלי acts like a speedy carrier (between Egypt and Israel) which shows his ability to be transcendent especially for communication. נפתלי has דביקות – attachment to prayer.

בראשית מט – כא

- reference of נפתלי to הודיא giving thanks (not בבקשה).

(moshe blessed him that he achieved his good  - when moshe was blessing the tribes.)

- נפתלי's land of Ginosar is a beautiful and fertile land with magnificent and luscious fruits. (SW of Kineret)

= שפר = beautiful. נפתלי was given that area because they are the most beautiful people and poets and awareness of giving words to the שפר land.

- נפתלי gave שפר ביקורים and they were the 1^st to give.

- פלל = judgement.

- rambam shows 3 elements

1. שבח = creates image/vision

2. בקשה = request – evaluation – what's lacking.

3. הודעיה = manifesting – giving thanks – דביקות – creates inspiration

Leads back to element 1.

rabbi aron - tefilla - 8th sept

- מודה = תודה = יהודה
- Yehuda was the 4th child and there should have only been 3 – therefore giving thanks to H'.
- Thank you for the light – the הוד – specially for H'
- It is a unique identity (expression) – part of the supernal light.
- Part of the emunah because it is a cycle of giving greater thanks for receiving my unique part.