Abraham Joshua Heschel
"Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement… get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed".
- Is this possible?
- Is this possible daily?
- How is this possible?
“i thank You God for most this amazing”
by e.e. cummings
i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any–lifted from the no
of all nothing–human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
e.e. cummings
1894-1962
Poem written circa 1950
Imagine that your consciousness is consonant with this poem upon getting up in the morning!! What would that take?
מודֶה [מודָה] אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ חַי וְקַיָּם, שֶׁהֶחֱזַרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְּחֶמְלָה, רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ
Compare modeh ani to the e.e. cummings poem. What's different? Similar?
אֱלהַי. נְשָׁמָה שֶׁנָּתַתָּ בִּי טְהורָה הִיא. אַתָּה בְרָאתָהּ. אַתָּה יְצַרְתָּהּ. אַתָּה נְפַחְתָּהּ בִּי. וְאַתָּה מְשַׁמְּרָהּ בְּקִרְבִּי. וְאַתָּה עָתִיד לִטְּלָהּ מִמֶּנִּי. וּלְהַחֲזִירָהּ בִּי לֶעָתִיד לָבוא. כָּל זְמַן שֶׁהַנְּשָׁמָה בְּקִרְבִּי מודֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ ה' אֱלהַי וֵאלהֵי אֲבותַי. רִבּון כָּל הַמַּעֲשים אֲדון כָּל הַנְּשָׁמות: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' הַמַּחֲזִיר נְשָׁמות לִפְגָרִים מֵתִים:
My God, the soul which you have placed within me is pure. You have created it; You have formed it; You have breathed it into me. You preserve it within me; You will take it from me, and restore it to me in the hereafter. So long as the soul is within me, I offer thanks before You, Lord my God and God of my fathers, Master of all creatures, Lord of all souls. Blessed are You, Lord, who restores souls to the dead.
Babylonian Talmud, Brakhot 60B
How does this amplify Modeh Ani? How might we relate to the end of this prayer regarding restoring souls to the dead? How does this tefillah compare to the e.e. cummings poem?
Abraham Joshua Heschel, God In Search of Man, p.49
"The sense for the miracles which are daily with us,' the sense for the “continual marvels,” is the source of prayer. There is no worship, no music, no love, if we take for granted the blessings or defeats of living. No routine of the social, physical, or physiological order must dull our sense of surprise at the fact that there is a social, a physical, or a physiological order. We are trained in maintaining our sense of wonder by uttering a prayer before the enjoyment of food. Each time we are about to drink a glass of water, we remind ourselves of the eternal mystery of creation, 'Blessed be Thou…by Whose word all things come into being.' A trivial act and a reference to the supreme miracle. Wishing to eat bread or fruit, to enjoy a pleasant fragrance or a cup of wine; on tasting fruit in season for the first time; on seeing a rainbow, or the ocean; or noticing trees when they blossom; on meeting a sage in Torah or in secular learning; on hearing good or bad tidings – we are taught to invoke His great name and our awareness of Him. Even on performing a physiological function we say 'Blessed be Thou…who healest all flesh and doest wonders.'
This is one of the goals of the Jewish way of living: to experience commonplace deeds as spiritual adventures, to feel the hidden love and wisdom in all things".
Do you agree?
Disagree?
How so?
Awakening
בֶּן אָדָם, מַה לְּךָ נִרְדָּם
Hey you, human being, what are you doing fast asleep?!
Zohar
The Hevrayya / Companions
The voice returned as before and said:
O high, hidden, concealed ones, open-eyed, roaming the entire world, gaze and see!
O low, sleeping ones, close-eyed, awake!
Who among you turns darkness into light, tastes the bitter as sweet before arriving here?
Who among you awaits each day the light that shines when the King visits the doe and is glorified and is called the King of all kings of the world?
Whoever does not await this each day in that world has no portion here.
Zohar 1:4a Pritzker edition. (Translated by Daniel Matt [revised])
What does this text say about the power of the morning?
Upon hearing the sound of the rooster, one should recite: Blessed…Who gave the heart [sekhvi] understanding to distinguish between day and night.
Upon opening his eyes, one should recite: Blessed…Who gives sight to the blind.
Upon sitting up straight, one should recite: Blessed…Who sets captives free.
Upon dressing, one should recite: Blessed…Who clothes the naked.
Upon standing up straight, one should recite: Blessed…Who raises those bowed down.
Upon descending to the ground, one should recite: Blessed…Who spreads the earth above the waters.
Upon walking, one should recite: Blessed…Who makes firm the steps of man.
Upon putting on his shoes, one should recite: Blessed…Who has provided me with all I need.
Upon putting on his belt, one should recite: Blessed…Who girds Israel with strength.
Upon spreading a shawl upon his head, one should recite: Blessed…Who crowns Israel with glory.
Hevrutah:
Physically reenact these motions of waking up in the morning with these blessings.
Having done so, what do you think are the function of these blessings?
Before putting on a tallit:
My soul, bless the Lord! Lord my G‑d, You are greatly exalted; You have garbed Yourself with majesty and splendor. You enwrap [Yourself] with light as with a garment; You spread the heaven as a curtain. Psalm 36
What does this kavannah/intention say about the meaning of tallit?
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing
Praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world
Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass
Mine is the sunlight
Mine is the morning
Born of the one light Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise ev'ry morning
God's recreation of the new day
Morning has broken
"Morning Has Broken" is a popular and well-known Christian hymn first published in 1931. It has words by English author Eleanor Farjeon and is set to a traditional Scottish Gaelic tune known as "Bunessan" (it shares this tune with the 19th century Christmas Carol "Child in the Manger"[1]). (Wikipedia)
Adapted by Cat Stevens.
How might this hymn relate to your experience of morning? How might it add to the tefillot/prayers above?