{"id":51127,"date":"2019-10-04T16:05:11","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T22:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=51127"},"modified":"2019-10-04T16:05:11","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T22:05:11","slug":"gods-prayer-and-ours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/gods-prayer-and-ours\/","title":{"rendered":"God’s Prayer \u2013 and ours"},"content":{"rendered":"

By RABBI DAVID WOLPE<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the Talmud, in tractate Berachot, there is a curious question \u2014 What is God\u2019s prayer? The Rabbis answer that God prays, \u201cMay My mercy overcome My anger.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In a deep sense, the prayer that the Rabbis attribute to God is a prayer we need to offer on Yom Kippur. We, too, pray that the best parts of our souls prove stronger than the worst. We, too, try to develop the characteristics that enable others to love us and hold us close. We, too, try to suppress or redirect those aspects of character that pose challenges to intimacy, to goodness, to spiritual growth.<\/p>\n

Dear God, in this coming year, may our mercy prove stronger than our anger, our kindness stronger than our cruelty, our love stronger than our hate.<\/p>\n

(Rabbi David Wolpe is the senior rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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