Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 106, No. 21, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 1, 2013 Page: 3 of 20
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Jewish Herald-Voice
August 1, 2013
Elohai n’tzor I’shoni mei-ra
- Silent self-examination
By RABBI SCOTT HAUSMAN-WEISS
Toward the end of the Amidah, a
prayer, meant for silent reflection,
opens with the following words:
Elohai n’tzor I’shoni mei-ra
usfatai midabeir mirmah. ...
“My G-d, guard my speech from
evil and my lips from deception.
“Before those who slander
me, I will hold my tongue; I will
practice humility. Open my heart
to Your Torah, that I may pursue
Your mitzvot. As for all who think
evil of me, cancel their designs
and frustrate their schemes. Act
for Your own sake, for the sake of
Your power, for the sake of Your
holiness, for the sake of Your Torah,
so that Your loved ones may be
rescued. Save with Your power, and
answer me.”
Powerful poetry and yet,
no matter your movement, this
paragraph often finds itself passed
over and unattended to when we are
gathered for public prayer. As we
have discussed in this column, our
Jewish spiritual practice is built on
a meaningful set of rubrics: warm-
ups and reminders of our blessings,
focused efforts toward expressions
of love, of rest, of kindness and
sensitivity and reminders of our
historical roots and our individual
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paths to a meaningful relationship
with G-d. But, then we come to
moments for silent prayer and,
with an often too quickly turned
page, we forget about one of the
most damaging acts with which we
can nullify our prayer efforts and
upturn the world: gossip - lashon
hara.
For thousands of years, going
back to the earliest days of the
Torah and the teachings of our
ancient sages, gossip has been
understood as one of the most
detrimental acts that can plague
a family, a community, a society.
Why? Because, as the rabbis teach,
it undermines the trusts of all those
involved - the gossiper, the gossiped
and the one with whom the gossip
is shared.
The one who gossips not only
breaks confidences today, but will
be presumed to be less trustworthy
in the future. The one who is
gossiped about loses a genuine
sense of security which is required
in creating healthy relationships.
And, the one with whom the gossip
is shared may imagine that passing
on the gossip is harmless and be
that much more emboldened to
do so. He/she has the tendency to
think that the worst of the damage
was done by the one who broke the
confidences, in the first place. And
yet, if this prayer reminds us of
this world-altering set of plaguing
human behaviors, why do we
remain silent?
Perhaps, it is because only in
real and meaningful silent prayer
can we read these words and ask
ourselves how well we guard our
own tongues. In our heart of hearts,
this prayer asks us to sit in silence
and reflect on the hardest questions
of all: When have I gossiped? Why
did I gossip? And, about whom?
Did I share confidential
information, despite my promise
not to?
Did I pass along information
that only my title or relationship or
environs make available to me?
Did I share innuendo, hearsay
or perhaps my own jealous
ruminations because, by doing so,
in some way, I feel better about me?
These are the questions of this
silent prayer. And, only in silence
and a willingness to allow them,
can they truly inject us with a
truth serum that completes the
Amidah - the central prayer of
the service in which we are meant
to encounter G-d as an intimate
face and a strong reminder of the
cherished values by which we seek
to build our lives. □
LET US CONTINUE YOUR RECOVERY.
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Samuels, Jeanne F. Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 106, No. 21, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 1, 2013, newspaper, August 1, 2013; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth544149/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .