Prayer - A Prayer for the Month of Elul

54

BS"D

An Awesome Prayer for the Month of Elul

Master of the Universe, the Omnipotent One from whom no purpose can be withheld, grant me the merit in this awesome month, the month of Elul, during which a terrible dread and fear fall upon me, and my entire body trembles, and my knees knock against each other from the magnitude of its awe. Grant me the merit to pray all of my prayers during this month with immense concentration (kavanah), word by word, letter by letter, and that not a single letter should emerge from me without proper intention. Please, Merciful and Gracious One, grant me the merit in this month and throughout the entire year, that I should not see any forbidden sight, Heaven forbid, and that I should not speak any lashon hara (evil speech) about any person in the world, and that I should not be jealous of anyone. And even if they humiliate me with all the humiliations and insults in the world, grant me the merit even then to rejoice in them with exceedingly great joy, just as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "Those who are insulted but do not insult, who hear their reproach but do not reply, who act out of love and rejoice in suffering—about them the verse states, 'And those who love Him are like the sun going forth in its might.'" And may I merit in this awesome month of Elul to reach the spiritual level of Devorah the Prophetess, the wife of Lapidos, that when she would prophesy, they would see torches of fire above her tent, just like at the Giving of the Torah. Grant me the merit, through the teshuvah (repentance) of this month—which is the beginning of the forty days that are a preparation for the Second Tablets, to receive them on Yom Kippur—to be especially careful with the commandment of "You shall not commit adultery," and to do complete teshuvah for all the forbidden sights that I have seen and gazed upon, whether inadvertently or intentionally, whether by force or by will. And grant me the merit that I will never again stumble in any forbidden sight until the end of my life, and that I will sanctify my eyes with the ultimate holiness and purity, and that I will not be jealous of any person in the world. And may I merit to be like Rav Achai bar Yoshiyah, who, in the merit of never being jealous of anyone, his bones did not rot, and he merited that his body remained whole even after his passing. And may I merit what Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi merited, who, in the merit of learning Torah with everyone and bringing every person in the world closer to Hashem, entered the Garden of Eden with his physical body. So too may I merit, in the merit of the teshuvah that I will do in the month of Elul, to enter the Garden of Eden with my physical body.

BS"D

An Awesome Prayer for the Month of Elul

Master of the Universe, the Omnipotent One from whom no purpose can be withheld, grant me the merit in this awesome month, the month of Elul, during which a terrible dread and fear fall upon me, and my entire body trembles, and my knees knock against each other from the magnitude of its awe. Grant me the merit to pray all of my prayers during this month with immense concentration (kavanah), word by word, letter by letter, and that not a single letter should emerge from me without proper intention. Please, Merciful and Gracious One, grant me the merit in this month and throughout the entire year, that I should not see any forbidden sight, Heaven forbid, and that I should not speak any lashon hara (evil speech) about any person in the world, and that I should not be jealous of anyone. And even if they humiliate me with all the humiliations and insults in the world, grant me the merit even then to rejoice in them with exceedingly great joy, just as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "Those who are insulted but do not insult, who hear their reproach but do not reply, who act out of love and rejoice in suffering—about them the verse states, 'And those who love Him are like the sun going forth in its might.'" And may I merit in this awesome month of Elul to reach the spiritual level of Devorah the Prophetess, the wife of Lapidos, that when she would prophesy, they would see torches of fire above her tent, just like at the Giving of the Torah. Grant me the merit, through the teshuvah (repentance) of this month—which is the beginning of the forty days that are a preparation for the Second Tablets, to receive them on Yom Kippur—to be especially careful with the commandment of "You shall not commit adultery," and to do complete teshuvah for all the forbidden sights that I have seen and gazed upon, whether inadvertently or intentionally, whether by force or by will. And grant me the merit that I will never again stumble in any forbidden sight until the end of my life, and that I will sanctify my eyes with the ultimate holiness and purity, and that I will not be jealous of any person in the world. And may I merit to be like Rav Achai bar Yoshiyah, who, in the merit of never being jealous of anyone, his bones did not rot, and he merited that his body remained whole even after his passing. And may I merit what Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi merited, who, in the merit of learning Torah with everyone and bringing every person in the world closer to Hashem, entered the Garden of Eden with his physical body. So too may I merit, in the merit of the teshuvah that I will do in the month of Elul, to enter the Garden of Eden with my physical body.