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A Shabbat Prayer

This is my prayer to You, my God:
Let me not swerve from my life’s path,
Let not my spirit wither and shrivel
in its thirst for You
and lose the dew
With which you sprinkled it
When I was young;

Be my heart open
To every broken thing,
To orphan life
To every stumbler
Wandering unknown and
Fumbling in the shadow.
Bless my eyes, purified me to see
Man’s beauty rise in the world,

And my people’s grandeur
In its land redeemed,
Scattering its scent
On all the earth.
Deepen and broaden my senses
To absorb a fresh
Green flowering world,
To take from them the secret
Of the ferment in my blood.

Grant strength to yield fine fruits,
Quintessence of my life,
Steeped in my very being,
Without expectation of reward;
Asking nothing from You, God.
And when my time comes-
Withdraw into the night's realm.
-Hillel Bavli

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