Tuesday, May 31, 2005

"The Way of G-d" Ch.6, Paragraph 15

RAMCHAL

-- A Reworking of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's "The Way of G-d"

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org

__________________________________________________

"The Way of G-d" Ch.6, Paragraph 15

We then go on allowing for G-d's blessings to infuse the world with the remainder of our morning prayers.

We recite "Tachanun" next each morning (as well as in the afternoon), which is meant to remind us to submit ourselves to G-d's will and to thus be worthy of His Presence. It also enables us to rectify ourselves enough to be fitting vehicles for the holy task we're engaged in and to not prevent its success. (The truth is, just knowing the sorts of things we manage to allow for -- inside and out -- while interacting with G-d like this on a daily basis should be enough to automatically purify the whole of our beings. But we're quick to forget.)

And some communities add a reading of G-d's Thirteen Attributes of Mercy to that as well in order to draw from that Divine trait, to deter G-d's anger in the process, and to enable His goodness to flow downward in love and abundance.

We've thus laid out the details of our morning service. Know as well that all the other things involved in it, like the Psalms we recite, the selections from the Torah we read out, and all the other details that we haven't expanded upon here all touch upon other vital things our daily service is intended to fulfill in heaven and on earth.

We'll now start to discuss the rest of the day's rituals.

(c) 2005 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

********************************
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*! You can order it right now by logging onto www.tinyurl.com/49s8t (or by going to www.rowman.com and searching for it). Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon "The Gates of Repentance", "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). And his new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available from Judaica Press.
His works are available in bookstores and in various locations on the Web.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal".