Analysis of Directing My Heart in Prayer
(To be read responsively):
Standing [in prayer] in Exile:
I focus my heart [יכוין את לבו] on the Land of Israel…
Standing in the Land:
I focus my heart on Jerusalem…
Standing in Jerusalem:
I focus my heart on the Temple…
Standing in the Temple:
I focus my heart on the Holy of Holies…
Standing in the Holy of Holies:
I focus my heart on the ark-cover [kapporet/כפורת] atop the ark…
Standing behind the ark-cover:
I visualize myself [יראה עצמו] in front of the ark-cover.
Standing in the East:
I turn to face West.
Standing in the West:
I turn to face East.
Standing in the South:
I turn to face North.
Standing in the North:
I turn to face South.
(all):
All Israel shall find themselves
focusing their hearts on one place:
The Holy of Holies.
(leader):
From there,
God is speaking to us
even now.
(all):
Exile is from the Land.
Never from God.
(based on Berachot 30a)
| Scheme | a aa bc ca ad dx ee fg gf hi ih Addd exdx Abx x |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 1111 101101 11011111011100 10001 1101110100 1000100 110111010 100010 11011101011 10001011 1101110110110101 10010110 1101110110110 10001 11111 10001 11111 10001 11111 10001 11111 1 11001101 10011111 01011 10 11 111011 101 1 11101 1011 1110 |
| Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
| Characters | 974 |
| Words | 204 |
| Sentences | 10 |
| Stanzas | 15 |
| Stanza Lengths | 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 3, 1 |
| Lines Amount | 33 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
| Words per line (avg) | 5 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 43 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 11 |
About this poem
I took a section on “the direction of praying” from the Talmud and arranged it as couplets; a responsorial poem for congregational reading or singing. I changed the language to a series of affirmations. I edited out the proof-texts, made the language more gender-inclusive and the phrasing as uniform as possible. Where I felt it necessary, I included the original Hebrew form, even where it doesn’t conform to my English translation. This poem can serve both educational and devotional purposes. more »
Written on February 12, 2022
Submitted by elimallon on February 12, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:01 min read
- 4 Views
2 fans
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Directing My Heart in Prayer" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/120203/directing-my-heart-in-prayer>.
Discuss this Rabbi Eli Mallon, M.Ed., LCSW poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In