What are some stories from Torah, Jewish History etc that tell of concentration on prayer and the examination of one’s actions?
Prayer is called many things in the Torah. Jacob has an "encounter" on Mount Moriah; Pinchas conducts a "judgment" with G-d; Isaac and Rebecca "entreat" for a child; Jonah "cries out" from the belly of the fish.
The Midrash surveys the Five Books of Moses, the Book of Psalms and the Prophets, and finds 13 ways to say "prayer": cry, howl, groan, stricture, song, prostration, encounter, judgment, entreaty, standing, appeal and beseeching.
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"Wow! What an extraordinary, enormous fish! I must buy it in honor of the Shabbat!" exclaimed a jewish lady excitedly to the maid who accompanied her to the marketplace. "How fortunate that we came nice and early this Friday."
Because the fish was so large it was expensive but she could well afford it. Her husband, a noted scholar and leader of the community was also quite wealthy.
She herself was an exceptional woman. As the daughter of Rabbi Meir of Constantine and granddaughter of the famed Rabbi Yaakov Emden, she well appreciated the delight and importance of a Torah atmosphere on Shabbat.
Seeing her purchase energetically thrashing around in her basket she joyfully thanked G-d for enabling her to enhance the Shabbat table in such regal fashion.
That afternoon, a carriage pulled up in front of their door and a distinguished-looking man alighted. No one knew who he was, but it was obvious from his deportment that here was a true Torah personality. Her husband welcomed him heartily and with respect and deference invited him to stay for Shabbat.
The guest, who chose not to reveal his identity, was none other than the holy Rabbi Yitzchak of Drohovitch. While Rabbi Yitzchak definitely enjoyed the Shabbat with his scholarly host in the luxurious setting, the whole time, night and day, he was nagged by puzzlement.
What was the reason for the amazing chain of events that led him to spend the Day of Rest far from home? Surely it was not just to have a pleasurable Shabbat. What was he supposed to accomplish here?
After the Third Meal, the holy Rabbi retired to his room to rest for a bit but his feeling of unfulfilled purpose gave him no peace. He decided to do a shaalat chalom ("query by dream"). Before he lay down, he composed his mind carefully and focused on his query: "May Heaven inform me why I have been sent to this town. Where are the hidden sparks of holiness that I am supposed to elevate? What must I achieve?"
When he awoke he had his answer. There is no special task for you to fulfill here, he was informed while he slept, nor anything to rectify.
But on Friday morning, the lady of the house had purchased a large fish in honor of the Shabbat, and on her way home from the marketplace she had prayed: "Master of the Universe! You granted me this extraordinary fish in honor of Your holy Shabbat. Please also grant me a suitably pious and learned guest to enjoy this fish tonight." As nobody in this generation is more worthy than you, you were "summoned" by Heaven to arrive here for Shabbat.
After Havdalah and the Melavah Malkah meal, Rabbi Yitzchak made his departure. The host and his sons escorted him out to his carriage. Much to their surprise and at variance with accepted custom their distinguished guest requested of them that they call the hostess out for the farewell too.
When she arrived he said to her: "Please Rebbetzin be careful with your prayers. I was a great distance from here, but because of your prayer yesterday, I was compelled to travel all the way here to spend Shabbat with your family!"
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The great Chassidic master Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov would pray for many hours every day. His disciples, who had long concluded their own prayers, would form a circle around him to listen to the melody of his prayers and feast their eyes on the spectacle of a soul soaring in meditative attachment to its Maker. It was an unspoken rule amongst them that no one abandoned his post until their master had concluded his prayers.
One day, a great fatigue and hunger befell them. One by one, they slipped home for a bite and a few moments rest, certain that their master’s prayers would continue for several hours more. But when they returned, they found that he had finished praying while they were gone.
"Tell us, Rebbe" they asked him "why did you conclude your prayers so early today?"
The Baal Shem Tov answered them with a parable: Once, a group of people were journeying through a forest. Their leader, who was blessed with a keen eyesight, spotted a beautiful bird perched atop a tall tree.
"Come" he said to his companions, "I wish to capture this beautiful bird, so that we may delight in her song and gaze upon her wondrous hues."
"But how can you reach this bird you see," asked they, "the tree being so high and ourselves held captive by the ground?"
"If you each climb up onto the shoulders of your fellow" their leader explained, "I will climb on to the shoulders of the topmost man and reach for the treasure that beckons to us from the heights."
And so they did. Together, they formed a chain reaching from the earth toward the heavens to raise their leader to his aspired goal. But they soon wearied of the exercise and went off to eat and rest and the man who had sighted the bird tumbled to the ground.
How two keepers of the jewish faith have been able to cling to their beliefs during the last 35 difficult, post revolutionary years in Cuba.
What’s Your Story?
http://JewMorals.com Jozsef Faludi’s powerful stories and haunting pictures take us from the First World War until the very present. A rare look at 20th Century Jewish history through the lens of one family. Synopsis: Jozsef Faludi – Life in the orthodox jewish community in the small Hungarian town of Kiskoros. Jozsef’s father, Emanuel Fogler, an orthodox Jew, served in the First World War and had a small leather goods shop. Jozsef attended both a religious school and a secular one, and paints for us a picture of growing up in this bustling, small Jewish community. Jozsef attended yeshiva, and in 1939 emigrated to Palestine, where he worked in a dressmaker’s shop in Tel Aviv Jozsef left his orthodoxy behind and married a Yemini woman, Zarum Mazal, who he met through the Communist party. His family, who remained in Hungary, were all killed during the Holocaust. Jozsef and Zarum returned to Hungary in 1948 and changed their name from Fogler to Faludi (more Hungarian sounding). They had three sons; all were circumcised (unusual for someone who became a Communist in Hungary). Although not in the film, Jozsef did not pass on Jewish traditions to his sons; none married Jews. Jozsef joined the Communist Party in 1949, which helped him find a job as a manual laborer. Jozsef never returned to judaism, but gives private Hebrew and Yiddish lessons at home (English subtitles)
Michael Collins Piper and Mark Glenn from American Free Press and Republic Broadcasting tackle the controversial topic of the Khazars Ahskenazi and Sephardic Jews.
Michael Collins Piper and Mark Glenn from American Free Press and Republic Broadcasting tackle the controversial topic of the Khazars Ahskenazi and Sephardic Jews.