Illustration credit: Rebecca Kerzner
Prayer in the Parashah תְּפִלָּה
In the first blessing of the Amidah we describe God like this:
...הָאֵ-ל הַגָּדוֹל הַגִּבּוֹר וְהַנּוֹרָא...
...The great, mighty, and awesome God...
These words might make you imagine God as a great miracle-worker, doing impressive things like creating the world or splitting the sea.
But the words actually come from our parashah, and the context here is something else entirely.
...הָאֵ-ל הַגָּדֹל הַגִּבֹּר וְהַנּוֹרָא
אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִשָּׂא פָנִים וְלֹא יִקַּח שֹׁחַד׃
עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפַּט יָתוֹם וְאַלְמָנָה וְאֹהֵב גֵּר לָתֶת לוֹ לֶחֶם וְשִׂמְלָה׃
...The great, mighty, and awesome God who doesn’t favor people unfairly, and doesn’t take bribes.
Who does justice for the orphan and widow, and loves the stranger, giving them food and clothing.
What is it that makes God great, mighty, and awesome? According to Parashat Eikev, it’s the way God takes care of people fairly, and helps people who are in trouble or who don’t fit in.
- The next verse tells us that we must love the stranger too. How might we help others who are in need, like God does? How can we pay special attention to people who are “strangers” or who don’t fit in?
- Try it! When you say these words in the Amidah, can you focus your thoughts on people that you know, or people that you know about, who need help? How does that change your experience of saying the Amidah?
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