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Share(1) There was a man from Ramathaim of the Zuphites, in the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
(2) He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah; Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.
(3) This man used to go up from his town every year to worship and to offer sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh.—Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD there.
(4) One such day, Elkanah offered a sacrifice. He used to give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters;
(5) but to Hannah he would give one portion only—though Hannah was his favorite—for the LORD had closed her womb.
(6) Moreover, her rival, to make her miserable, would taunt her that the LORD had closed her womb.
(7) This happened year after year: Every time she went up to the House of the LORD, the other would taunt her, so that she wept and would not eat.
(8) Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why are you crying and why aren’t you eating? Why are you so sad? Am I not more devoted to you than ten sons?”
(9) After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose.—The priest Eli was sitting on the seat near the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.—
(10) In her wretchedness, she prayed to the LORD, weeping all the while.
(11) And she made this vow: “O LORD of Hosts, if You will look upon the suffering of Your maidservant and will remember me and not forget Your maidservant, and if You will grant Your maidservant a male child, I will dedicate him to the LORD for all the days of his life; and no razor shall ever touch his head.”
(12) As she kept on praying before the LORD, Eli watched her mouth.
(13) Now Hannah was praying in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk.
(14) Eli said to her, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Sober up!”
(15) And Hannah replied, “Oh no, my lord! I am a very unhappy woman. I have drunk no wine or other strong drink, but I have been pouring out my heart to the LORD.
(16) Do not take your maidservant for a worthless woman; I have only been speaking all this time out of my great anguish and distress.”
(17) “Then go in peace,” said Eli, “and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him.”
(18) She answered, “You are most kind to your handmaid.” So the woman left, and she ate, and was no longer downcast.
(19) Early next morning they bowed low before the LORD, and they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah and the LORD remembered her.
(20) Hannah conceived, and at the turn of the year bore a son. She named him Samuel, meaning, “I asked the LORD for him.”
(21) And when the man Elkanah and all his household were going up to offer to the LORD the annual sacrifice and his votive sacrifice,
(22) Hannah did not go up. She said to her husband, “When the child is weaned, I will bring him. For when he has appeared before the LORD, he must remain there for good.”
(23) Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do as you think best. Stay home until you have weaned him. May the LORD fulfill His word.” So the woman stayed home and nursed her son until she weaned him.
(24) When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a jar of wine. And though the boy was still very young, she brought him to the House of the LORD at Shiloh.
(25) After slaughtering the bull, they brought the boy to Eli.
(26) She said, “Please, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you and prayed to the LORD.
(27) It was this boy I prayed for; and the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him.
(28) I, in turn, hereby lend him to the LORD. For as long as he lives he is lent to the LORD.” And they bowed low there before the LORD.
(א) וַתִּתְפַּלֵּ֤ל חַנָּה֙ וַתֹּאמַ֔ר עָלַ֤ץ לִבִּי֙ בַּֽה' רָ֥מָה קַרְנִ֖י בַּֽה' רָ֤חַב פִּי֙ עַל־א֣וֹיְבַ֔י כִּ֥י שָׂמַ֖חְתִּי בִּישׁוּעָתֶֽךָ׃
(1) And Hannah prayed: My heart exults in the LORD; I have triumphed through the LORD. I gloat over my enemies; I rejoice in Your deliverance...
Rav Hamnuna said: How many significant halakhot can be derived from these verses of the prayer of Hannah? As it says: “And Hannah spoke in her heart, only her lips moved and her voice could not be heard, so Eli thought her to be drunk” (I Samuel 1:13).
The Gemara elaborates: From that which is stated here: “And Hannah spoke in her heart,” the halakha that one who prays must focus his heart on his prayer is derived.
And from that which is stated here: “Only her lips moved,” the halakha that one who prays must enunciate the words with his lips, not only contemplate them in his heart, is derived.
From that which is written here: “And her voice could not be heard,” the halakha that one is forbidden to raise his voice in his Amida prayer as it must be recited silently.
From the continuation of the verse here: “So Eli thought her to be drunk,” the halakha that a drunk person is forbidden to pray. That is why he rebuked her.
Freiha, daughter of Rabbi Avraham, 18th century Morocco
Turn to us in mercy
In the merit of the righteous Abraham
Have mercy on us from on High
Almighty; my Redeemer.
Hear me at dawn.
Have mercy upon Your chosen nation
For they are Your people and Your inheritance
Speedily gather Your congregation / to the mountains of the Galilee
Hear me at dawn.
One and only elevated, hidden One,
Redeem Your children, like mute sheep
Rebuild Your Temple and Sanctuary / and aid my destiny.
Hear me at dawn.
Ladino women's prayer, before candle-lighting:
To fulfill the commandment
That You have commanded us,
To light candles On holy days:
May it be Your will Lord our God And God of our forefathers
That You multiply in my home
The light of joy
And blessing and peace
And good, unclouded life,
And that You illuminate our souls
Converso women of Portugal
A prayer while preparing the wicks for Shabbat candles:
May the pleasantness of the Lord [prevail]—an exceedingly holy pleasantness. I pray You, Lord: I knew not how to observe Your holy Torah, but now that I know, comfort me well through my observance of Your holy Torah.
So may You watch over me and protect me, and grant me that which I know not how to ask of You: salvation for my soul and graciousness, that I may serve and exalt the God of the heavens. Amen.
O, my Master; save us and deliver us and have mercy upon us, and have mercy upon my children and their father. Imbue them with wisdom, elevate their path, and smooth their life's trails. Grant them favor and acceptance, endow them with complete health, and fulfill their wishes. Keep troubled times from them, and allow no tormentor or enemy to prevail over them. Guide them in Your way, to observe the Torah. Please, God, watch over them.
Fanny Neuda, 19th century Germany
Grace is deceiving and beauty is transient; a woman who fears God—she shall he praised, [PROVERBS 31: 30]
Our God Who is in heaven and on earth, God Who is good: You attend to all of Your creatures; faithful Father, all of Your creations take refuge under Your wings. You have called me, too, Your daughter; to me, too, You extend Your love—an eternal love. My childhood has passed in green pastures; I thank you for my happy youth; I thank You for what I am. You have given me all kinds of goodness: a dear mother and father at my side, guiding me with gentleness and love, with advice and help, caring for me and sustaining me, enhancing my life with sweet and heartwarming joys.
Toby Trackeltaub, Auschwitz, Pesach 5705/1945
We wish to celebrate but we are unable to, we desire to believe and that is the only thing that we have that they are unable to take from us; in it is memory that alone can give us hope for a better and more beautiful future that we wish to think about and not to lower our heads. And if God redeemed our forefathers from Egypt, He will also save us from our bitter enslavement, and restore us to the land of our forefathers.
early 13c., "ask earnestly, beg," also (c. 1300) "pray to a god or saint," from Old French preier "to pray" (c.900, Modern French prier), from Vulgar Latin *precare (also source of Italian pregare), from Latin precari "ask earnestly, beg, entreat," from *prex(plural preces, genitive precis) "prayer, request, entreaty," from PIE root *prek- "to ask, request, entreat" (source also of Sanskrit prasna-, Avestan frashna- "question;" Old Church Slavonic prositi, Lithuanian prasyti "to ask, beg;" Old High German frahen, German fragen, Old English fricgan "to ask" a question).
Online Etymology Dictionary
פלל
PLL
(ח) וַיַּ֥רְא יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יוֹסֵ֑ף וַיֹּ֖אמֶר מִי־אֵֽלֶּה׃ (ט) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יוֹסֵף֙ אֶל־אָבִ֔יו בָּנַ֣י הֵ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־נָֽתַן־לִ֥י אֱלֹקִ֖ים בָּזֶ֑ה וַיֹּאמַ֕ר קָֽחֶם־נָ֥א אֵלַ֖י וַאֲבָרֲכֵֽם׃ (י) וְעֵינֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ כָּבְד֣וּ מִזֹּ֔קֶן לֹ֥א יוּכַ֖ל לִרְא֑וֹת וַיַּגֵּ֤שׁ אֹתָם֙ אֵלָ֔יו וַיִּשַּׁ֥ק לָהֶ֖ם וַיְחַבֵּ֥ק לָהֶֽם׃ (יא) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ אֶל־יוֹסֵ֔ף רְאֹ֥ה פָנֶ֖יךָ לֹ֣א פִלָּ֑לְתִּי וְהִנֵּ֨ה הֶרְאָ֥ה אֹתִ֛י אֱלֹקִ֖ים גַּ֥ם אֶת־זַרְעֶֽךָ׃ (יב) וַיּוֹצֵ֥א יוֹסֵ֛ף אֹתָ֖ם מֵעִ֣ם בִּרְכָּ֑יו וַיִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ לְאַפָּ֖יו אָֽרְצָה׃ (יג) וַיִּקַּ֣ח יוֹסֵף֮ אֶת־שְׁנֵיהֶם֒ אֶת־אֶפְרַ֤יִם בִּֽימִינוֹ֙ מִשְּׂמֹ֣אל יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְאֶת־מְנַשֶּׁ֥ה בִשְׂמֹאל֖וֹ מִימִ֣ין יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַיַּגֵּ֖שׁ אֵלָֽיו׃
(8) Noticing Joseph’s sons, Israel asked, “Who are these?”
(9) And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” “Bring them up to me,” he said, “that I may bless them.”
(10) Now Israel’s eyes were dim with age; he could not see. So [Joseph] brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.
(11) And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see you again, and here God has let me see your children as well.”
(12) Joseph then removed them from his knees, and bowed low with his face to the ground.
(13) Joseph took the two of them, Ephraim with his right hand—to Israel’s left—and Manasseh with his left hand—to Israel’s right—and brought them close to him.
(יא) לא פללתי לֹא מְלָאַנִי לִבִּי לַחְשׁוֹב מַחֲשָׁבָה, שֶׁאֶרְאֶה פָנֶיךָ עוֹד פללתי לְשׁוֹן מַחֲשָׁבָה, כְּמוֹ הָבִיאִי עֵצָה עֲשִׂי פְלִילָה (ישעיהו ט"ז):
(11) לא פללתי - I HAD NOT CONTEMPLATED:
I had never dared to cherish the thought that I would again see your face.
פללתי is an expression for thinking, like the noun in (Isaiah 16:3) “Give counsel, carry out the thought (פלילה)”.
(Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchak, France 1040-1105)
(יא) לא פללתי - לא דנתי בלבי. כל פילול לשון דין.
(11) לא פיללתי:
The word פילול whenever it occurs describes judgment.
פלל means: To inject a spiritual element into thoughts or circumstances, infuse them with an idea, a truth, a principle, etc. And thereby integrate and unify them. Thus, it refers to the task of the judge, who introduces justice into the midst of things, thereby turning discord into unity. Hitpallel then means: To penetrate into oneself by way of Divine ideas. Jewish prayer is not an outpouring from within oneself; rather, it means infusing the heart with truths that come from outside oneself...in our verse, רְאֹ֥ה פָנֶ֖יךָ לֹ֣א פִלָּ֑לְתִּי means: the idea of seeing you once again seemed to me so remote from any possibility of realization that I could not allow it to enter my mind.
(Germany 1808-1888)
Hithpallel, from which 'tefilla' is derived, originally meant to deliver an opinion about oneself, to judge oneself or to make an inner attempt to do so, as the hithpa'el (reflexive) form of the Hebrew verb denotes...Thus it denotes stepping out of active life in order to attempt to gain a true judgment about oneself...about one's relationship to God and the world, and the world to oneself...
(Germany 1808-1888)
א"ר יוחנן משום ר' יוסי מנין שהקב"ה מתפלל שנאמר (ישעיהו נו, ז) והביאותים אל הר קדשי ושמחתים בבית תפלתי תפלתם לא נאמר אלא תפלתי מכאן שהקב"ה מתפלל. מאי מצלי אמר רב זוטרא בר טוביה אמר רב יה"ר מלפני שיכבשו רחמי את כעסי ויגולו רחמי על מדותי ואתנהג עם בני במדת רחמים ואכנס להם לפנים משורת הדין.
Rabbi Yohanan says in the name of Rabbi Yosi:
How do we know it that the Holy One, Blessed be He, says prayers? Because it says: Even them will I bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in the house of prayer. It is not said, 'their prayer,' but 'My prayer': Hence [you learn] that the Holy One, Blessed be He, says prayers. What does he pray?
Said Rabbi Zutra ben Tuvia in the name of Rav:
May it be My will that My mercy may suppress My anger,
and that My mercy may prevail over My [other] attributes,
so that I may deal with My children in the attribute of mercy and, on their behalf, stop short of the limit of strict justice’.
