I Am My Prayer

The #1 goal of this blog is to start a conversation on the state of prayer today and gather resources to help educators grow professionally; it hasn't been very easy.  A lot of the resources online and in books on the topic of tefilla are either limited to a specific age group or population and there doesn't seem to be so much cross pollination.  There are only few national leaders or educators that have picked up the banner to improve and evaluate the pedagogical framework of tefilla today.  I appreciate those who have participated in the conversation here, but I pray that more people will spread the word, share, and help connect tefilla minded educators and individuals to collaborate.

For me, one of the most powerful sentences in our liturgy is the following from Psalms 69:14:

ואני תפילתי לך ה' עת רצון

One translation of this pasuk is: But as for me, let my prayer be unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time. (An aside, it was fascinating to see the greater context of this verse which it is not usually read in - I recommend the jump).

Today I'd like to offer an alternate translation: But I am my prayer, to you Hashem, at a propitious time.  The key idea being that I am a prayer - the life I live is an expression of tefilla. Too often people compartmentalize their prayer and their actions, and think their spiritual world does not or cannot flow into their professional lives.  One thing to consider is that we, with our power of prayer, have the ability to make an עת רצון  - a favorable time to daven whenever we want and it isn't always dependent on the season or location and thus carry our prayerfulness whenever or wherever we are.

The reveal here is that this blog is an extension of my own personal tefilla, and not just a professional endeavor. I always pray that my tefilla will go higher and higher, and now add to it that as a collective, we can push the professional field of tefilla teachers and leaders to have a greater impact.