A Parent's Prayer
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Tefilla of the SheLah Hakadosh
It is essential to pray for good and upright children. When you are praying this prayer, ask HaShem to provide your children with all their needs and to send them their life’s mate. This special prayer was composed by the SheLah Hakadosh to express the prayers of parents on behalf of their children. The SheLah Hakadosh said the optimal time for parents to recite this prayer is Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan for that is the month when G-d gave us the Torah, and when the Jewish people began to be called His Children however it may be recited anytime. On that day, (the SheLah Hakadosh) writes, fathers and mothers should give charity to the poor and repent. They should even fast, if they are able to. This prayer may be recited anytime.
A Parent's Prayer
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It was You, HaShem, our G-d, before Creation, and it is You HaShem our G-d, since Creation. From This World to the World To Come, You are G-d. You created the world in order to make Your G-dliness known though your holy Torah, as the Sages, of blessed memory, taught: “In the beginning…” (Genesis 1:1) [The world was created] for the sake of Torah and for the sake of Israel,” for Israel is Your nation and Your heritage. It is the nation You chose from all others, to whom You gave Your holy Torah, and which you brought close to your great Name. To insure the continuation of Your Torah, we received from You, HaShem, our G-d, two commandments: You wrote in Your Torah “Be Fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28) and You also wrote “You shall teach them to your children” (Deuteronomy 11:19). These two commandments have a single purpose: You did not create the world so that it be desolate, but rather that it be inhabited by people; it is for Your honor that You made, created and fashioned the world, so that we, our offspring, and the offspring of all Your people, the House of Israel, know Your Name and study Your Torah.
And so I come before You, HaShem, King Who reigns over kings, and I cast my supplication before You. My eyes dependently look toward You until You will be gracious to me and hear my plea and grant me sons and daughters. And may they too be fruitful and multiply- they, their children, and their grandchildren until the end of all generations-so that they and I might be engrossed in Your holy Torah, learning, teaching, safeguarding, performing, and fulfilling all the words of Your Torah’s teaching with love. Enlighten our eyes in Your Torah and attach our hearts to Your commandments, to love and fear Your Name.
Our Father, merciful Father, grant us all long and blessed life. Who is like You, Merciful Father, Who recalls His creatures mercifully for life. Remember us for eternal life just as Avraham our father prayed, “O that Yishmael might live before You” (Genesis 17:18)- with Fear of Heaven.
It is for this reason that I come to ask and plead before You that my children and grandchildren be upright offspring; that no blemish or imperfection be found in my children or grandchildren; that they enjoy only peace, truth and goodness; and that they be upstanding in the eyes of G-d and man. May they become people of Tora, masters of Scripture, Mishnah, and Talmud, masters of the secrets of Torah, people of mitzvots and acts of kindness, people of sterling character, and may they serve You with love and with true, internalized fear of Heaven, not merely apparent fear. Please give each individual among my descendants all their needs in an honorable fashion. Grant them health, honor, strength and give them stature, beauty, charm and kindness. May there be love, brotherhood, and peace among them. Provide for them proper mates from families of Torah scholars and righteous G-d fearing Jews. And may their mates also be blessed with everything I have asked You to grant them, since one prayer can affect the lives of many.
You, HaShem know all deep secrets, and before You all the recesses of my heart lay bare. You know that all which I ask is for the sake of Your great and hallowed Name and for the sake of Your holy Torah. Therefore, answer me, HaShem, please answer me, for the sake of our holy patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because the forefathers assist the offspring so that they grow to be branches which reflect their roots. Do so for the sake of King David, the fourth leg of the Holy Chariot, who sings, inspired by Your Holy Spirit.
A song of ascents. Praiseworthy is each person who fears HaShem, who walks in His paths. When you eat the labor of your hands, you are praiseworthy, and it is well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the inner chambers of your home; your children shall be like olive shoots surrounding your table. Behold! For so is blessed the man who fears HaShem. May HaShem bless you from Zion, and may you gaze upon the goodness of Jerusalem, all the days of your life. And may you see children born to your children, peace upon Israel (Psalms 128).
Please, HaShem, Who hears our prayers, may the words of the prophet, “And as for Me, this is My covenant with them,” said HaShem, “My spirit that is upon you and My words that I have placed in your mouth shall not be withdrawn from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” said HaShem, “from this moment and forever” (Isaiah 59:21) be fulfilled regarding my. May the expressions of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart find favor before You, HaShem, my Rock and my Redeemer.