אלהי נצר לשוני מרע ושפתי מרמה ולמקללי נפשי תדום ונפשי כעפר לכל תהיה׃ פתח לבי בתורתך ובמצותיך תרדוף נפשי׃ וכל החושבים עלי רעה מהרה הפר עצתם וקלקל מחשבתם׃ )ברכות ט"ז:-י"ז.(
My G-d, keep my tongue from evil, my lips from guile. Help me ignore those who would insult me. Let my soul be truly humble before all. Open my heart to your Torah and my soul will pursue your commandments. Discourage the plans of those who plot evil against me; speedily destroy their schemes.
(Brachot 16b-17a)
Let's understand the text
We recite this text at the end of the AMIDA.
- What are we asking Hashem to help us with?
- Why do you think this paragraph is at the END of our prayers?
- How might lashon (the way we speak to others) affect our Tefillot and our performance of mitvot (our deeds)?
Adapted from Rabbi Frand
http://www.torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5764/tazria.html
…We have a long laundry list of requests for G-d -- three times a day, 365 days a year. But so many times, we feel that our prayers are deficient.
If a person has a radio transmitter that he has just smashed with a sledgehammer, he should not be surprised if he turns it on and it does not work properly. "Why doesn't it work? Because he broke it!"
Our mouth is a transmitter. We use it to utter our prayers. If every day, so to speak, we would take a sledgehammer and slam our mouth it might impact the quality of our prayer. If however we use our mouths in positive and constructive ways we will transmit our tefillot to Hashem in a meaningful manner.
Mar bar Ravina (composer of אלקי נשמה ) ended his prayer with the request that his prayers be accepted and desired by G-d. But he prefaced that climax to his prayer with good advice as to how to make one's prayers most effective. The key is having a tongue and lips that are guarded from speaking evil.
Let’s understand the text
The Power of the Tongue by N. Abramson
Rabban Gamliel, Nassi (leader) of all the Jews in Israel during the time when the Romans ruled, once said to his trusted servant Tevi, “Go, Tevi, and buy an especially good food.”
Tevi, who was famous for his wisdom as well as his loyalty, soon returned with a package of tongue. Rabban Gamliel smiled and gave Tevi a new mission.
“Now, Tevi, go out and buy something especially bad.”
The clever servant left and soon returned carrying another package. Rabban Gamliel opened it and saw that it too contained tongue.
“Are you making fun of me, Tevi? I sent you for something very good and for something very bad, and both times you brought me the same thing.”
“But, Master, I did just as you asked. When a man’s tongue is used for the right things, there is nothing in the world that can do more good. But when he uses it for wrong, it can be the most dangerous thing in the world.”
Of course, Tevi was right. Every one of us can think of times when someone said just the right thing to us and made us feel as though we are on top of the world. We can also remember times when someone said something cruel, by accident or on purpose, that embarrassed and hurt. Pain like that, pain caused by careless tongue, often lasts long after bruises and cuts that have been healed and forgotten.
http://www.torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5764/tazria.html
…We have a long laundry list of requests for G-d -- three times a day, 365 days a year. But so many times, we feel that our prayers are deficient.
If a person has a radio transmitter that he has just smashed with a sledgehammer, he should not be surprised if he turns it on and it does not work properly. "Why doesn't it work? Because he broke it!"
Our mouth is a transmitter. We use it to utter our prayers. If every day, so to speak, we would take a sledgehammer and slam our mouth it might impact the quality of our prayer. If however we use our mouths in positive and constructive ways we will transmit our tefillot to Hashem in a meaningful manner.
Mar bar Ravina (composer of אלקי נשמה ) ended his prayer with the request that his prayers be accepted and desired by G-d. But he prefaced that climax to his prayer with good advice as to how to make one's prayers most effective. The key is having a tongue and lips that are guarded from speaking evil.
Let’s understand the text
- According to Rabbi Frand, how can we make our prayers most effective?
- What message is Rabbi Frand teaching us about our mouths and our words?
The Power of the Tongue by N. Abramson
Rabban Gamliel, Nassi (leader) of all the Jews in Israel during the time when the Romans ruled, once said to his trusted servant Tevi, “Go, Tevi, and buy an especially good food.”
Tevi, who was famous for his wisdom as well as his loyalty, soon returned with a package of tongue. Rabban Gamliel smiled and gave Tevi a new mission.
“Now, Tevi, go out and buy something especially bad.”
The clever servant left and soon returned carrying another package. Rabban Gamliel opened it and saw that it too contained tongue.
“Are you making fun of me, Tevi? I sent you for something very good and for something very bad, and both times you brought me the same thing.”
“But, Master, I did just as you asked. When a man’s tongue is used for the right things, there is nothing in the world that can do more good. But when he uses it for wrong, it can be the most dangerous thing in the world.”
Of course, Tevi was right. Every one of us can think of times when someone said just the right thing to us and made us feel as though we are on top of the world. We can also remember times when someone said something cruel, by accident or on purpose, that embarrassed and hurt. Pain like that, pain caused by careless tongue, often lasts long after bruises and cuts that have been healed and forgotten.
- How does this story relate to our Tefillot?
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