Listen to this song
Prayer for Peace
may it carry your prayers today
and if you are still hungry for words
you can sit beside me and look together through an ancient window
it's here
a tiny gift from Onkelos
the first known translator of the Torah
the first person who tried to put The Sacred
into street language
He saw a verse where Jacob said,
וַאֲנִ֞י נָתַ֧תִּֽי לְךָ֛ שְׁכֶ֥ם אַחַ֖ד עַל־אַחֶ֑יךָ אֲשֶׁ֤ר לָקַ֙חְתִּי֙ מִיַּ֣ד הָֽאֱמֹרִ֔י בְּחַרְבִּ֖י וּבְקַשְׁתִּֽי׃(Gen 48:22)
"I give you the portion... I took from the Emori
with my sword and bow"
When Onkelos went to translate,
he remembered or prophesied
a baraita - an early rabbinic nugget:
it says in Tehilim
For I trust not in my bow, neither can my sword save me” (Psalms 44:6–7)
אֶלָּא ״חַרְבִּי״ – זוֹ תְּפִלָּה, ״קַשְׁתִּי״ – זוֹ בַּקָּשָׁה
so it must be that "sword" means prayer
and "bow" (b'kashti) means plea (bakashati)
and Onkelos translated Jacob's verse to say
וַאֲנָא יְהָבִית לָךְ חוּלַק חַד יַתִּיר עַל אַחָיךְ דִּי נְסֵיבִית מִידָא דֶאֱמוֹרָאָה בִּצְלוֹתִי וּבְבָעוּתִי
"I give you the portion...I took from the Emori
with my prayer and with my plea"
as if prayer and plea is the real place of combat, the place of
acquiring greater expanse and security.
My friend Bina shared this teaching with me from R. Yossi Fruman:
That this year, we might need to try a different tool
If your swordfighting prayer - the direct hand-delivered insistence - isn't working
try with your bow and arrows
let each arrow be your plea
and let your plea be launched from a bow
of gratitude for the abundance that is here
This is why צדקה tzedaka - giving -
is a core practice of this time
start from the place of seeing what is already in your hand
what do you have that you can release?
that you can give?
What is the abundance in and around you?
Bathe your pleas in awareness of what you are blessed with
and launch them forth.
Prayer for Peace
may it carry your prayers today
and if you are still hungry for words
you can sit beside me and look together through an ancient window
it's here
a tiny gift from Onkelos
the first known translator of the Torah
the first person who tried to put The Sacred
into street language
He saw a verse where Jacob said,
וַאֲנִ֞י נָתַ֧תִּֽי לְךָ֛ שְׁכֶ֥ם אַחַ֖ד עַל־אַחֶ֑יךָ אֲשֶׁ֤ר לָקַ֙חְתִּי֙ מִיַּ֣ד הָֽאֱמֹרִ֔י בְּחַרְבִּ֖י וּבְקַשְׁתִּֽי׃(Gen 48:22)
"I give you the portion... I took from the Emori
with my sword and bow"
When Onkelos went to translate,
he remembered or prophesied
a baraita - an early rabbinic nugget:
it says in Tehilim
For I trust not in my bow, neither can my sword save me” (Psalms 44:6–7)
אֶלָּא ״חַרְבִּי״ – זוֹ תְּפִלָּה, ״קַשְׁתִּי״ – זוֹ בַּקָּשָׁה
so it must be that "sword" means prayer
and "bow" (b'kashti) means plea (bakashati)
and Onkelos translated Jacob's verse to say
וַאֲנָא יְהָבִית לָךְ חוּלַק חַד יַתִּיר עַל אַחָיךְ דִּי נְסֵיבִית מִידָא דֶאֱמוֹרָאָה בִּצְלוֹתִי וּבְבָעוּתִי
"I give you the portion...I took from the Emori
with my prayer and with my plea"
as if prayer and plea is the real place of combat, the place of
acquiring greater expanse and security.
My friend Bina shared this teaching with me from R. Yossi Fruman:
That this year, we might need to try a different tool
If your swordfighting prayer - the direct hand-delivered insistence - isn't working
try with your bow and arrows
let each arrow be your plea
and let your plea be launched from a bow
of gratitude for the abundance that is here
This is why צדקה tzedaka - giving -
is a core practice of this time
start from the place of seeing what is already in your hand
what do you have that you can release?
that you can give?
What is the abundance in and around you?
Bathe your pleas in awareness of what you are blessed with
and launch them forth.