Mindfulness in Jewish Text and Tradition

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments and has commanded us on the washing of the hands.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the ground.

(16) You give it openhandedly, feeding every creature to its heart’s content.

How is intent (achieved)? A person should turn his heart from all thoughts and envision himself as if he is standing before the presence of God. Therefore he must sit a while before prayer in order to direct his heart and then he can pray with ease and supplications. And he should not treat his prayer like one who is carrying a burden and throws it down and moves on. Therefore he must sit a while after prayer and then take leave. The early pious individuals would wait an hour before prayer and an hour after prayer and would draw out their prayer for an hour.

(63) And Isaac went out walking in the field toward evening and, looking up, he saw camels approaching.

Rav Aḥa bar Minyumi elaborates: As it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer says: A person should request his own needs first and afterward recite the Amida prayer, as it is stated: “A prayer of the afflicted, when he is faint and pours out siḥo before the Lord. O Lord, hear my prayer” (Psalms 102:1–2). These verses indicate that one first requests help concerning his afflictions and pains, and only afterward pours forth his siḥa. And siḥa means nothing other than prayer, as it is stated: “And Isaac went out to meditate [lasuaḥ] in the field” (Genesis 24:63).