A prayer from Talmud

MAY it be Thy will, O God, that we return to Thee in perfect penitence, so that we may not be ashamed to meet our fathers in the life to come.

Unite our hearts, O God, to fear Thy name; keep us far from what Thou hatest; bring us near to what Thou lovest; and deal mercifully with us for Thy name’s sake. May it be Thy will, O God, that love and peace and brotherliness dwell among us! May our hopes of Heaven be fulfilled! Grant that the good inclination may uphold us. Fill us with the desire to fear Thy name, and do Thou give us our soul’s peace. Amen. 

TALMUD.

Real religion

DO not seek for the City of God on earth, for it is not built of wood or stone; but seek it in the soul of the man who is at peace with himself and is a lover of true wisdom.

If a man practises ablutions of the body, but defiles his mind—if he offers hecatombs, founds a temple, adorns a shrine, and does nothing for making his soul beautiful—let him not be called religious. He has wandered far from real religion, mistaking ritual for holiness; attempting, as it were, to bribe the Incorruptible and to flatter Him whom none can flatter. God welcomes the genuine service of a soul, the sacrifice of truth; but from display of wealth He turns away.

Will any man with impure soul and with no intention to repent dare to approach the Most High God? The grateful soul of the wise man is the true altar of God.

PHILO JUDAEUS, 1st cent.

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A person should be soft

The Rabbis taught: "A person should always be soft like a reed and not hard like a cedar." 

Once R. Elazar the son of R. Shimon was coming from his teacher's house in Migdal Gedor, riding on a donkey. He was traveling along the bank of the river with a feeling of great joy and a sense of arrogance, because he had learned a great deal of Torah. 

A very ugly person happened upon him. The ugly person said: "How are you Rebbe?" 

R. Elazar did not respond. [Rather,] he said: "Empty one - how ugly this fellow is! Are all the people of your town as ugly as you?" 

The ugly person responded: "I don't know, but you should go to the craftsman who made me and tell him how ugly is the vessel that he made." 

R. Elazar knew that he had sinned. He got off the donkey, prostrated himself before the other fellow and said: "I have pained you. Forgive me." 

The man said: "I will not forgive you until you go to the craftsman who made me and tell him how ugly is the vessel he made." 

R. Elazar followed him until they came to his town. All the townspeople came out to greet R. Elazar and they said: "Welcome, our Rabbi, our Rabbi, our teacher, our teacher." 

The ugly fellow said: "Who are you referring to as your rabbi?" 

They said: "The one who is walking behind you." 

He said to them: "If this is a rabbi, let there not be more like him in Israel." 

They said: "Why?" 

He said to them: "This is what he did to me." 

They said to him: "Nevertheless, forgive him because he is a great Torah scholar." 

He said to them: "For your sake I forgive him, but on condition that he not become accustomed to act this way." 

R. Elazar immediately entered [the study hall] and taught: "A person should always be soft like a reed and not hard like a cedar." (Ta'anit 20a-20b)

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